Let's play catch up: Day 2 Rule

Growing up I felt like I had so many rules dictated to me by my parents. It felt like I was constantly being told to not do this and not do that. And that's probably not the way that it was, but I guess that's the perception that I had as a child. There was one rule in particular that constantly rings in my memories: NO ENGLISH AT HOME!

My parents were born in Mexico, so their primary language was Spanish. Both my brother and I were born in the U.S. so of course, English was constantly surrounding us, especially when we started school. However, before starting school, my babysitter was Mexican as well, so all I ever heard was Spanish. Rarely was the tv on at her house, and if it was on at our house, it was always on Univision. My parents had very little to worry about me losing my native language at that time. Then pre-k came into the picture.

I remember my first day of pre-k, surrounded by all these students that spoke a language I did not recognize. I sat there pretty quietly. I remember playing with the dolls, coloring some pages, sitting by the teacher during outside time, and nap time. I remember that I cried during nap time because I was so confused and scared. I wanted to go home. I didn't want to be around these strange people. It was a rough first day.

I guess the teacher told my mom because when we got home, Univision was no longer the only thing on tv. I started watching PBS every day. I remember starting off with the wonderful Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. Right away I picked up some words. You have to understand, I did not speak a lick of English. Within that week, I began to gain some confidence as I picked up words from the class AND tv. I guess it was a sink or swim type of situation. My parents immediately figured out that I was learning a second language. And they were fine with it initially simply because they knew that it was important. Then came the days that I didn't want to speak Spanish.

I remember talking to my stuffed animals in English once at home and my mom immediately put a stop to it. I wasn't sure why back then, but she warned me to never speak English at home, The only time that I could speak English was when I was at school with my friends. I remember once almost getting slapped for talking back to my mother in English. After that I think I got the message quite clear.

Today I understand the whole reasoning behind them pushing this rule of Spanish at Home, English at School. They wanted me to make sure I knew both languages. My parents weren't fluent in both, still today my dad knows a bit more English than my mom although both can communicate very well. Either way, the important factor was that I needed to learn both languages, for the benefits it would bring me later on in life. Like now, for instance, I'm currently a Spanish teacher. It wasn't my full intentions of falling into a teaching career after having decided that that is not what I wanted to do. However, during my last semester in college, a girl that I helped pass Spanish class was hired at a school for a teaching job and immediately gave them my name. I was hired right on the spot. I know that if I wanted to, I could go out and get practically any job that I want simply because I'm bilingual. I'm very thankful that my parents pushed this rule on me today; I wasn't so much back then of  course.  If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have the many opportunities that I have now.

I wish I could say the same for my daughter. Problem is you have one parents that doesn't speak any Spanish while the other one does, so it makes it kind of hard. But we're working on it...

365 days of writing: Day 1

So of course I haven't been on here in FOORRRRREEEVVERRR!!! So I have decided to challenge myself. I've put a reminder in my phone for the same time every night. Just a few minutes. A different topic every day. Different thoughts. Etc. Writing used to be such a wonderful outlet for me, so this is kind of exciting.

So let's start with day 1: Favorite shoes

I've never been a shoe shopper. My mother-in-law drives me crazy sometimes because of her obsession with shoes. Every time she comes, she's got a new pair of shoes for my girly. I've never thought of shoes as a big huge thing. I've always had my standard black and brown pair of flats for work, tennis shoes for every other day, and flip flops. That is until recently. The same person that drove me crazy about shoes has opened my eyes to a new habit: shoe buying. I'm by no means the girlie-girl. Never have, never fully will. But after a recent trip to DSW shoes, a new interest was sparked.

Tennis shoes were always my go-to shoes, next to flip flops. However after developing plantar fasciitis, flip flops are just a no no for me now. So I've had to find a different type of shoe that I can easily just put on and go. I have a 2 year old that's always wanting to go-go.

While at DSW shoes, my MIL offered to buy me a new pair of shoes. She kept coming up with every reason in the book to buy me a pair knowing how much I hate shopping. She started with looking for shoes for work, then flip flops that I could wear, until she got to the casual wear shoes. Now I know this is by no means a brand new style, but for someone that doesn't shop, what can I say. So this is what I walked out with that day.

   

I have never been more excited about shoes. This is a new style for me. I can dress with just about anything, of course with limitation, and be comfortable about the shoes I'm wearing. I was actually excited about the upcoming summer and not worrying about my plantar fasciitis killing me.

So I've had these shoes for two weeks now and already I was ready to buy myself another pair of shoes. Well, I guess I can say I was ready to buy myself a pair of shoes considering my MIL bought the first pair for me.

While waiting for Iron Man 3 to start this past weekend, the hubs and I walked around a shopping center in my hometown. We walked into a Payless. I had no intentions of buying a pair of shoes. I mean, I love this new found interest but I'm a teacher with a child so money is another story. Anyway...we walked in and I went straight to my size. I told him I really wanted a pair of Sperry's, but we didn't have time to go all the way to DSW. I saw these shoes, tried them on, and thought OMG I'm in love again. Suddenly the feeling of new, comfortable, casual shoes has taken over my life. And because he's so amazing (and in exchange for the popcorn I would have bought) he bought me the shoes. I haven't even worn them yet and I'm already looking at sales on more shoes. What has my MIL done to me???

So what are my favorite shoes? It's more of the style. This is my favorite style of shoes....pretty sure that won't be changing any time soon either!

And there you have today's entry.

Trick-or-Treat Success

I started telling Emma early in the morning, "You've got to say 'Trick-or-Treat' so you can get candy tonight". I think in all of that she heard "candy". Either way, the excitement started growing more and more as the evening came around. Being the procrastinator that I am, I hadn't really thought of what Emma would be this year. We had one costume that Bela had brought her from Mexico, but I just didn't know if I was thrilled by it. Then we tried putting together a Doc McStuffins costume because she is ALL about Doc McStuffins. I even spent the night before cutting up a boys button up shirt and sewing it all over the place to make a doctors coat. My mistake? I forgot that the bottom of the shirt is rounded and not straight. So it just didn't look right. And I tried on the other costumes, Dora, but she wasn't thrilled about wearing the big Dora hair. Ultimately it came down to an "I don't care you're wearing the hair" attitude. No matter what, we were going out and trick-or-treating.

Light bulb coming on of "Oh, if I say trick-or-treat I get CANDY!!!"

 
We kept saying, "Emma, you have to wear your hair so they'll give you candy". Nice, right? Well, we went to the first house and knocked. She freaked and demanded that Daddy pick her up. But as soon as she saw that they put candy in her bag, that was it, she was ready to go! She took off running, I kid you not! She was screaming the entire time, "I DID IT, I GOT IT, I DID IT!" It was so frikin cute. She had us running a good hour straight from one house to the next. I don't know how many times I had to say "Stay on the sidewalk!" She didn't care, she just knew she had to get to the house next door!

Action shot of her running to the next house

She never ceases to amaze me with how smart she is. She talks here and there. To be honest, her vocabulary has grown SO MUCH in just the last month it's incredible. But to see her pick up on the concept of trick-or-treat+thank you=candy plus including the thought that we put in of "you've got to wear your hair". There was once or twice when she felt it fall off and she herself picked it up for us to put on her. She knew it was necessary.

Telling Daddy to hurry up and knock

My kid is just so smart and cute! I know a mommy it's my job to say that. But her intelligence is just incredible for her age.

How time flies...

Before I know it, it's been months since I've blogged. I wouldn't even be able to tell you when was the last time I'd been on here. That's sad. Sometimes I wonder why I bother to keep this going, but I get in these moods where I just want to write. So here goes...

We've had plenty going on in our lives. Started the summer off with just relaxing. My hubby busted his butt interviewing for a few places before we headed off for a week to Galveston with my mother-in-law. We took her for her 50th birthday. Let me tell ya, driving from the Texoma four hours to Arkansas is not so bad. But nine hours from Arkansas to Galveston, even I was wanting to complain, and I love to drive. Highways are so much better than back roads. Either way, we made it. We had a good time, a few hiccups here and there, but it was all good. The best part of the trip was taking Emma to the beach for the first time. We both are water girls, so I was excited to show her the sand and the water. She loved it when she first went in. She would only let me take her into the water, not her daddy or her Mimi. We had a great time.

 

We also got to go to Moody Gardens and several of our favorite restaurants. Our time in Galveston was just way too short. I really wish we could have stayed longer, but then again who doesn't. 

After returning from Galveston, we continued our summer with a few summer trainings (woohoo!). My hubby kept interviewing with no luck at getting a job. He started getting very discourage, and not going to lie me too. The week after an interview, and a week before our daughter's birthday party, we stayed at my parents because we had 3 trainings to go to. During the afternoon break of the first day of training, he got a call from the school we'd been praying about. He had interviewed at this school back in June, but they never called him back. They had called him to offer him a job. We were stoked! Because we were an hour away from his school, he called his principal to see if he could get out of his contract. The principal didn't hesitate, he immediately said no. We were crushed! We didn't fee like dealing with the rest of the training. We were so burnt out by the no's and no answers, that we decided to ditch the second day of trainings and go to the movies to take a break from life. In the middle of watching Dark Knight Rises (which btw I was already paranoid), he got a call from his boss. "You are free to pursue the job offer." We were speechless. I immediately got on Facebook and asked my friends to pray because Chris was calling the principal back to see if the job offer was still available. Nearly an hour later, he got the call! The job was his! Prayers answered! He finally had the job we'd wanted for him, he got a bump in his pay, and now we have a bit more security financially. We just couldn't believe it. We'd questioned why the house hunt seemed impossible, we weren't getting the homes we wanted, he wasn't getting responses to the job offers. Just so many things going wrong. God simply had a different plan from ours. And we were fine with it in the end.

The rest of that week we prepared for Emma's 2nd birthday party. Last year, for her 1st birthday, we went all out. We rented a water slide, cooked food for about 75 people, stayed out in the heat until we about died. My goal this year was to make it easier on both my mom and I. We were going to go the "white" route, as my hubby likes to say. We were going to have a set time, if my side of the family didn't make it, well they didn't make it. We were only going to have cake and ice cream. Then my mom and dad chimed in, "What do you mean no food for the adults? Yes, we'll have food. We'll pay for it and cook it." OK! Then came the question, "What about a piñata?" So we had a piñata. Needless to say, it turned into another big party. We cooked food like there was no tomorrow, well my dad cooked. We had so much piñata candy left over I was able to bring some home to enjoy. Don't get me wrong, it was a wonderful party for my angel, surrounded by people that love and care for her and us. But never again, NEVER again will we have an outside party. Both my hubby and I got busy when people started showing up that neither of us ate or drank nearly enough for 100+ degrees of heat. Worse part is that he is diabetic.

Like I said, it was a wonderful party. And the most important thing: my baby had fun!

 So what did this mom decide to do the morning after the birthday party? Move. Stupid (now that I think of it), but I thought it was best. We had decided in mid-July that we were moving from our old rent house to something better, if we couldn't buy a house. Our rent house was super old, spiders all over the place, and just not comfortable for me anymore. We found an apartment where teachers are actually appreciated, I got a discount on our rent for being a teacher in the city's district. So we began moving the morning after the birthday party, and didn't stop for nearly 4 days. We had to get rid of so much stuff considering we moved from a house to an apartment. Here I sit, a week later, and we are more moved in than we ever were at the house. Funny thing is, we're waiting a couple of months after my hubby starts his job to see what kind of mortgage we can afford. I can only pray that the next time we move, it will be a more permanent move and into our own home.

So what's left of this summer? Well we have birthday parties and baby showers to attend in the next week. Might have my mother-in-law visit for a few days next week. My hubby starts at his new job next Wednesday, and I the Monday afterwards. Somewhere amidst the rush of going back to school, we will go shopping for work clothes and perhaps get a date or two in. Until then....we will see what life has to bring our way. I just hope it's not months til the next time I update.

It isn't that often that I question where I come from or my parents decision to have me in this country over their native country. But listening to certain close-minded people has caused me to open those flood gates of thoughts. I was joining my coworkers at lunch in the teachers lounge. As we were talking, I heard someone say "These Mexican kids..." I immediately stopped what I was doing and started eavesdropping. Shame on me, I know, but I can't help it. The next thing I hear is "Those kids are always speaking in Spanish. Anytime they start, I shut them up and say 'What country are we in? Speaking English! We are in America, we speak English in America". SERIOUSLY!?!?! I'm sorry, I know that this is America, and that main language spoken is English. But what about the Filipinos, the Asians, Germans, Russians, Hindus, and all the other races that are represented in our country whose native language is NOT English.

I understand that if people are going to come to this country they should learn to speak what is the common language, English. But people that come from other countries that want to make sure their son/daughter doesn't lose all of their native background, like me, is probably going to be asked to remember their native language. Growing up, my parents had a rule, "No English at home, only Spanish". Guess what happened the first time I came home talking to my mom in English? I got slapped. Never again did I speak English at home. I knew that it was against the rules. But I also knew why it was a rule, because my mom wanted to make sure that I learned for sure our native language while learning the "native language" of America. I was born here, but my parents are Mexican (now U.S. citizens). I have always been thankful for that slap, because it enabled me to understand how important it is to maintain your culture and background in you, and not lose it. So many people come to this country looking for a better life. If we all conformed and lost our native background customs and culture, we wouldn't be the "Melting Pot" that America is known for.

So why so much hostility over someone talking their native language? I don't get it and I probably never will. And what's sad is that growing up, I never had to face teachers saying that to me or putting me down because of my culture or racial background. And it seems that so many teachers do that to students here at this school. And I hate it. How can these kids feel like they are actually a part of something when they are made to stand out? I don't understand it, I just don't!!! When I hear these teachers talking like this, it makes me feel like I don't belong, and again I was born and raised here. It's moments like these that I actually wish my parents had just had me in Mexico. Who cares about the opportunities that exists here? I'd rather be among loving and peaceful people over hateful ones....just saying.

This generation....

Sometimes I wonder if I should just give up in this battle or if I should find my way to victory. That's my question every day with students that come in and talk back, don't bring supplies, don't participate, dress clothes that just isn't right for their age, and so on. I don't understand this generation. It makes me feel old when I say that, but it truly is a constant battle. My parents would say this constantly as I was growing up, they still do, but it's now about this generation of teenagers.I guess every generation is questioned in the same way, we just neglect to see it because we feel our parents had different expectations than the parents of teenagers today. But have the expectations truly changed?

I worry so much about my 21 month old and her future. As a teacher, I see so many things through my students that I pray my child will not have to experience. There are so many things I pray will not take hold of my daughter later on in life. But one thing I do know, I have high expectations for her. I expect her to be responsible, respectful, take care of her stuff and be on top of things at all times. I expect her to be able to tell when someone might be using her and when someone is truly loving her. But will my expectations be enough. I can only hope that my expectations are stronger than my wants for her, and that she'll be able to recognize that as she grows every year.

I think what many of my students lack, unfortunately, is a parent to show them how much they are loved, and to encourage them instead of bringing them down. Just today, I had a student come in and say "My mom is not paying for summer school because I told my dad she had been talking to another man for the past couple of weeks. She's taking everything away and making me responsible for my 7 year old sister". Really! You punish your kid for calling you out on your sinful ways. Instead of commending your kid for recognizing what is wrong, you're going to treat him like he's nothing because you didn't get to have your fun?!?!?! How can this parent call themselves a parent!!! I felt so bad for this kid. If I could, I would have offered to pay for his summer school, kept his sister, and let him work on furthering his education...but I can't.

So it is all about this generation? Are the kids at fault for everything that is going wrong in the generation we question constantly?  I don't think so. Have their parents forgotten that they should have expectations? Probably. There are actually a few parents, more than you'd think, that still hold their child accountable for their actions. However, more often than not, adults have forgotten their own expectations for themselves, which in turn has caused them to forget that their child needs them as well.

It's unfortunately that in this day, more parents depend on technology and entertainment to be the parent. I pray every day that technology will NOT be the parent to my child! Has my child learned how to unlock my smartphone? Yes. Do I have games downloaded on my smartphone to keep her busy? No. Do I think it's wrong that parents have games on their smartphones, iphones, ipads? No. Should they be used as the primary form of entertainment for kids? No. But that's a whole other topic for another day. I'm simply saying that communication between my 21 month old is more important to me than her staying busy so she's not in my way. The communication that I build between my child and I will enable me in the future to encourage her. We will have open lines of communication between the two of us so that I can express my concerns to her about her life without it just being a one-sided relationship. My expectations will be made known in a loving way, and I will have expectations, and she will know about them. And I will enable my child to somehow see that she doesn't have to be a part of that generation that everyone frowns upon. On the other hand she, as so many kids today that don't realize it, will have the power to change that generation. Am I being naive by believing this is how it will be in the future with my daughter? Perhaps. But that's what I expect in our relationship. Having that knowledge will enable me to work on that, so that she will know that that's what I desire for her and in turn she can do it with her child. Again, it's all about expectations....at least that's how I feel.

What do you think is causing the changes that we see in this generation of teenagers? Is it the kids? Parents? Lack of parenting? Society? They all go hand in hand, but what weighs in on it the most?

Day 5: Fruit

I'm not going to lie, fruits aren't a part of my daily meals. As a matter of fact, it is absolutely rare when I do go and buy fruits. But now that my baby is 18 months old and observing everything we do, say, and eat, that I feel it's important I incorporate fruits a bit more. She loves grapes and bananas. They happen to be some of my favorites too. Kiwis are also great, as are pears and mandarin. But for someone with a tight budget, these two will have to do.

I will add one last thing. I totally love grapes in my chicken salad, especially when made by someone else. :-)

Day 4: Wide angle

I remember this summer so well! 2010! We had just moved to our current location, and as we were driving down the road, we spotted this field of beautiful sunflowers. It was breath-taking! They were so big. I had never seen these so up close.

Apparently, the town these were in had agreed to let a man grow them on a trial basis. I'm guessing they didn't do the trick because this beautiful sight was not present this past year to see. It was a bit sad. :-(

Day 3: Low angle

This was as best as I could think of...it could be better....

This is a picture of the National Cathedral in Washington. I saw this place in person in 2006, and it was absolutely amazing! I was so fascinated by the architectural uniqueness of it. I'd love to go see this again, one day soon.

Day 2: Orange

 Well, this is pretty much my life from 8-5. These ORAGE books say it all. My husband calls me a cheater for teaching Spanish when I speak it, read it, and write it fluently. I hadn't even planned on teaching Spanish until a girl suggested I apply for a job at the same school she'd been hired at. I got hired right away. And that's what I've been doing for the past 4 years.

I have an 18 month old and it's important that I try to teach her Spanish. My parents speak it to her, which is great, as does her uncle (well every once in a while). But I just can't seem to find it in me to actually speak it to her. She's learned "zapatos" or shoes...and that's about it. I think the fact that my husband speaks 0 Spanish has a lot to do with it. Everyone always tells me, even strangers, "You better teach her Spanish!" Cause I don't need any pressure or anything!

When I was growing up, my mom had a rule: No English at home, Spanish only. You can learn English in school and with friends. And that's exactly how I learned to speak English, in pre-school. She always tells me that the first day home from pre-school, I was talking to my "students" (stuffed animals) in English and teaching them. Too bad my child can't go to a Spanish only school. Guess I'd have to go to Mexico for that. Hmmmm????

I think it might be time I suck it up and just start talking it. This is the crucial time for her to learn it. If she's ever going to pick it up, it's going to be now. Besides, might as well shove it into my husband's brain too. Maybe he'll eventually be able to understand her one day! :-)