Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts

Monday, June 30, 2008

I love you ECO CAMP!

When good friends are leaving, daily power outages are beyond control and monthly gas inflations are drilling a hole in your pocket, it really helps to find the positive in our lives. This summer, I was fortunate enough to join Marianas Trekking’s Eco Camp as a counselor. Everyday, I find something I am grateful for...
The $5 Brunch Buffet: Complete with salad, soup, any choice of meat and an array of scrumptious desserts, especially the famous fondue (aka: the chocolate fountain)

The Water: A child will do anything for you if your bargaining phrase is "do you want to go swimming?"

A crazy game: No seats for musical chairs? No problem. We've got counselors and older campers to sit on.

New Friends. You can't beat that!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Wolf's Honor!

In the land of make believe anything can happen! My kids (for non teachers, my students) love magical-mystical happenings with uncanny characters and cruel villains. Growing up, I remember the mean step-mother in Cinderella, the three bears who scared Goldilocks away and the Big Bad Wolf who huffed and puffed and blew the piggy’s house down. But lately, authors have started a series of ‘the other side of the fairy tale’. One class favorite is the The real story of The Three Little Pigs.
According to the wolf he doesn’t know how this whole Big Bad Wolf thing got started and explains “maybe it's because of our diet. Hey it’s not my fault wolves eat cute little animals like bunnies and sheep and pigs. That's just the way we are. If cheeseburgers were cute, folks would probably think you were big and bad, too.”
We also remember that he huffed and puffed to blow the pigs' houses down, it turns out that he simply had a bad cold and had a powerful sneeze. Who could blame him for eating the pigs that died when their houses fell as a result of his sneezing? “It seemed like a shame to leave a perfectly good ham dinner lying there in the straw. So I ate it up. Think of it as a big cheeseburger just lying there.”
He continues to explain that he was only visiting the pigs to borrow a cup of sugar to make a cake for his deal old granny's birthday. The pigs wouldn't even give him any sugar! When the third pig insulted his grandmother, he got a little crazy. The police found him trying to break down the pig's door, “The rest, as they say, is history. The news reporters found out about the two pigs I had for dinner. They figured a sick guy going to borrow a cup of sugar didn't sound very exciting. So they jazzed up the story with all that "huff and puff" and "blow your house down" stuff.”
After we read the story, I asked my kids whether or not they were convinced by the wolf's version of the story. One of my boys answered “Yes, because I like to eat pigs and cheeseburgers too.”

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Rough Neighborhood

Last night, on my way home from karaoke with Tracy, the streets were as dark as a raven's wing. Damn CUC! I was thinking of the worst, tataomonas, machete serial killer, the drunken rape gang (It was past midnight, of course my wheel wasn’t working right).

Then a car drove out from NMC and started tailgating me all the way to Dandan so I made a sharp turn to the vacant lot close to my apartment. The silence was deafening. I used my cell phone to light my path when all of a sudden someone jumped from the stairway followed by a scream and raucous laughter. I was ready to whip ‘em with my laptop when I realized it was the neighborhood kids. MONKEYS! I was furious! But I have to admit, last night, their crazy laughter was what made me feel secure.