August 10, 2010

• Masculine type stuff

  This last weekend a bunch of us MAFers took our kids to the race track to race go-carts. I opted out since i’m realizing that i’ve developed a rather annoying habit of getting motion sickness (probably the reason i’m always sick when i go along with Josh on a trip in the plane) and the road to the track is a bit… um… sick-inducing as Asher pointed out to us (to me mostly) when he ralphed all over my legs and shoes. ugh.
  
  Josh and Judah went for a few rides around though, sporting Judah’s new motorbike helmet (did i post a photo of that on the blog yet?) This (above) is Josh and Ash watching the racers together with Bastiaan (our new Program Manager) and two of his three boys Daan and Rick (the middle son is in the bush with his mom doing a medical safari or something). These boys are great influence for Judah as they do lots of ‘boy’ type things

  I have posted this, it seems, but i’ll post it again so you remember the helmet that goes with the go-carting story.
  

  Somewhat less masculine is the stationary holder i “whipped up” (actually, painstakingly and with many do-overs to get it right without a pattern and to fit exactly the size of jumbo pencil crayons and Crayola markers, ruler, scissors, and sharpener that i’d bought already for Judah’s new school supply supply). I used some car fabric left over from a baby blanket my neighbour sewed for Asher for the inside and put a felt truck on the outside to make it a bit more manly.
  
  (that green truck box looks a bit putrid in this photo, it’s not that bad in real life)

  

  
  the crayon-cozy examples on the internet that i found usually had tie-closures, which i thought too difficult for an almost 5 year old. I could just see the case left lying about at school with the ties flailing about and all the stationary escaping their confines. So i imagined up this new one with some hair-elastics i had on hand. Clever huh?
  

  There, you see the manly car fabric background and the car pocket for the sharpener? Tres masculine!

  

  
  As a school-supply aside, this last July when i picked up Judah on the last day of school together with all his school supplies i realized anew that the stationary one can find in this country lacks! All of the markers that came back were dried out (and he only had had them since February when we returned from furlough!), all the pencil crayons were in bits. They have what they refer to as a “protege“, which is a thin plastic cover for notebooks. We’re to purchase the colours pertaining to his particular year at school and the books’ functions. I am disgusted with these things because A1, they dont fit right in the first place and A2, by the end of the term they’re in shreds! What a waste of money! So this year i decided that i will not buy them. I’ll get the notebooks in the colours of the proteges and they’ll simply have to be content with that. His painting apron was also in shreds due to its quality as well. bah. So, in September even though he may arrive at school with imported Crayola markers and home made pencil case, at least i know that they’ll stay together and last throughout the year (i hope). Hopefully these better quality items stay where they belong and dont disappear into everyone else’s trourche. Really though, what’s the point in spending all that money on crappy things that dont work after 2 weeks?! Dumb. I am quite stoked about his newest item on his kindergarten supply list: a slate and chalk set. I very keenly sanded the wooden frame down the other day and painted it bright colours so he can tell which one is his. I suspect they’ll use the slate for practicing letters and whatnot.

  I have just finished John Eldredges’ Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul. Although it’s a bit cheesy at times, i did learn a lot of things about men/boys from it and in the end i declare it a helpful resource for a woman who has a husband and 2 sons. Once i’m in the writing zone i’ll attempt to post a more literary blog about the things i found to be particularly helpful.

  I’m off to pick the kids up from the school where they’ve been having french playdate.

  • 3:38 am
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