Perhaps Overly Entertained

May is the most notoriously busy month in the year: if there's a performance, recital, banquet, award ceremony or program of any importance to any one of your children, its guaranteed to be scheduled right on top of another activity of importance to that child or one of his or her siblings. Constant, nonstop. And precious. Certainly precious. Just ridiculous.

In the spring of 2009, we were the giddy ticket holders for U2's 360 tour...then Bono wrecked his back. And was nearly paralyzed for life, apparently. But, now that we're two years older, our favorite Irish boys came looping back through North America, and Matt, Evie and I were among the 70,000+ who thronged Mile High Stadium on the day of the predicted Rapture to witness the fellas who are so consummately professional as to make their arduous task seem effortless...less than a week later, Matt and I headed out to SLC to witness it all over again with our dearest friends, Steve and Jodi...I think we've converted them. Tee-hee.

Shane and Eve rocked their piano recital - if you must know, we're very haphazard about their musical education. We feel it's wildly important, but are we sticklers about practice times? Do we reschedule lessons willy-nilly as it fits or does not fit our Saturday morning schedules? Could we be more dedicated? Yeah, well, whatever.

The best things in the world are produced by Kindergarten kids. Bono would agree. Gracie delighted us with "I Can Sing a Rainbow" and "Wind, Wind, Wind the Thread" and "The Chicken Song/Dance." Heartbreaking.

Cub Scouts continues to go smoothly - because of building scheduling nightmares and our boys' affinity for playing sports whose teams hold practices on Scouting nights, we just tidy up the requirements before the school year ends, just so the entire summer we miss in the Pack doesn't impact their achievements.

And, most importantly, we freakin' survived.

Performances

The 2011 Edition of Crawford Education Comes to a Close

The year-end classroom hoopla was kept, mercifully, at a minimum - Gracie's kindies enjoyed a pizza party in Bison Park, Shane's 1 and 2nd grade combo class also availed themselves of the Park and munchies, and Ty's 4th grade ice cream social...well, that was extraordinary. On all levels. Most notably for its lack of 'partyness' altogether: we brought in some ice cream, cones and toppings, and the kids proceeded to sit criss-cross-applesauce on the floor, participating in a classroom discussion revolving around the things they gained this year as students: how they grew regarding reading comprehension, mastery of math skills, critical thinking. They did this willingly, excitedly, eloquently, for nearly an hour. In an orderly fashion, taking turns, building on one another's thoughts.

The grand finale was their phenom first-year teacher, Ms. Sellers, and her explanation to the assembled parents the benefits of the classroom's location directly next door to the lab used by the SSN (Students with Special Needs) kids - how in the beginning, when a child with Down's or autism would wander into the class, the reaction was horrified silence, averted eyes, or pleas for help from the teacher to put them where they 'belonged'. By Christmas, they knew each visitor by name, exchanged high fives, and even learned along with their favorite 1st grade visitor Ainsley, a special song titled "There's No One Who's Just Like Me, There's No One Just Like You."

As we watched those 30 kids cheer when she came into the party and sing with her, hands waving in the air in unison...how blessed I felt that Ty had this experience in this classroom. All of the private and charter schools in the world couldn't give him what this room did. What a wonder a public school education is. Hallelujah.

Field Day and Class Parties