April 2025
April 1, April Fool's Day.
Dada taught the boys about pranks, so today was very adventurous. I had a less than delicious Oreo filled with Samurai sauce, and a bit of chocolate that turned out to be baker's chocolate. It was actually worse than the oreo!! BLEH!!
My students tried to prank me too, but it's hard to organize a lot of people at once and they gave it away. 💜
April 2, Last Day for DP2. 💜ðŸ˜
Oh this is so sweet and sad. I taught some of them three years in a row. They are the brightest and I just love all of them. Babbling aside, I had them play Natural Selection (random mutation for each island, then restrict the food). It's the most fun activity I have and I die laughing every time. One group always cheats. One group always steals. It's supposed to show advantages but end up showing a whole array of survival behaviors. I love it.
April 4, Eid al Fitr
The boys attend a Roman Catholic school and celebrate the major Catholic/Christian holidays. But the school has children from all over the world, with diverse cultures and backgrounds. "In the context of citizenship and identity, we find it important that children know each other's customs and habits and also have respect for them". Every year they choose two other cultural events to focus on. This year they are Eid al-Fitr and Keti Koti, and Today they had Suikerfest for Eid al-Fitr. Muslim moms brought in breakfast and read stories the kids. I love that they do this!
April 9, Field Trip
Nemo's class got to go to a playground farm. The only photo I got of him is of him laying in a sand pit at the bottom of some ramp, so he must have been having fun.
April 10, Dutch food
Just a note. I bought an "egg sandwich" at a corner store and expected egg-salad, but it was a whole boiled egg tucked into a roll. That is all.
April 15, Heights
I took the boys' heights! Hobbit is about 128 cm, which puts him at about the same height his friend was when he was 5, ha! He gained 3cm in 4 months. Nemo had a major growth spurt, jumping 3.5 cm to 104cm in just 4 months. Tall boys!
April 16, Biochemistry Club
I stayed after with Biochem Club to do a classic experiment: extracting DNA from a strawberry!
April 17, Thursday.
The boys had a dual holiday at school! They had an Easter Breakfast in class! They brought in homemade Easter baskets (designed by Dada) with decorated hard- boiled eggs, nutella-filled croissants, and powdered poffertjes. Then, as they'd dressed in orange shirts and had a King's Day Games in the courtyard. After school, they'd officially begin May Vacation. I'm not off until next week, and I still go on to invigilate exams!
April 20, Easter
The boys dyed Easter Eggs and overnight the Easter Bunny hid them, and some chocolate ones too! Then, they hunted chocolate eggs with friends in the park. The crows kept stealing them!
April 21-24
Then we immediately got sick. Nemo got conjunctivitis and I got strep that turned into tonsillitis. The GP said I didn't need antibiotics as my body would fight it in about a week. So I missed a whole week of work. An important week, with grading to do and next year subjects to choose for students and an intern to train and evaluate. The worst possible time to be sick. OH AND IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY. I'm actually still sick. But I'm conscious which is a step up from yesterday.
April 25: I'm conscious. Exhausted. But conscious.
April 26, King’s Day
I'm still tired but it's time to push through. We biked to East Amsterdam to see a new King's Day Festival. It's always one huge garage sale, with games and food stalls and music wedged inbetween. I got the boys each a few new jeans, Hobbit got a bunch of new pokemon cards, and Nemo picked out a neon braided bracelet and a chocolate cookie. Good choice kid. We saw a rock band consisting of 10 year olds, a couple violinists and a cellist busking, and games where we could smash tomatoes on either King Alexander or President Trump. I thoroughly enjoyed some paella, and Nemo rode a wooden merry-go-round (the flying chair one). All in all, a short and interesting trip. We topped it off at a playground, that had once been a greenhouse that hid people and ammunition for the Dutch Resistance in WW2.
April 27, (Sunday) Birthday Raincheck
Dada made the boys their usual Sunday pancakes but with homemade whipped cream and cherry pie filling. My coffee and pancakes were waiting for me when i woke up. The boys cuddled up to do some stitching, and Nemo hopped from interest to interest, of course.
It was a good day.
April 29, Sport!
I took the boys to the local sporthall and they had a fun afternoon centered mainly on voetbal and archery. Hobbit seems to be a natural with the bow, and Nemo was shooting basketball-style shots through the max-point hole in the game.
April 30, Bamboo Labyrinth
Bamboo Labyrinth
I had to work today so Dada took the boys to a bamboo maze in Uithoorn. They loved it. Dada forgot to take pictures.
Life in general:
* Riddles at mealtime.
* "Your 5-year-old now: Most 5-year-olds have outgrown the tantrum stage. But that doesn't mean they're done pushing your buttons" (BabyCenter Newsletter). Oh boy, this is soooo right.
* Your 7-year-old: It's time for your child to learn how to set a table and the proper way to conduct themself when they're seated at it.
* Also, if he tosses a wet towel on the floor right in front of you, instead of nagging him to pick it up, simply say, "Re-do. Seven-year-olds are still highly impulsive. The re-do gives them a chance to redirect their behavior and ups the odds that they'll do it right the next time, without nagging or prompting (BabyCenter Newsletter)."
We Watched:
*Adolescence, a mini series about the the dangers of online toxic masculinity. Terrifying. Well done.
*Sinner, I only saw the first and last season, but they were interesting. A Detective searches for the truth behind strange crimes without clear Motive. The first season was based on a book, and pretty good. The last I found very interesting. Maybe I'll see the other two.
I'm reading:
*I finished yet more Beast Quest with the boys and and have convinced them to let me start Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, by Bruce Coville. It was my first book about Dragons and I hope they love it as I did.
*I'm behind on all my other books, heh.
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