I went to a self-defense class tonight. It was so empowering. We got to simulate kicking the crap out of an attacker. I don’t know if I would remember ANYTHING we were taught tonight in the event of a real attack, but I hope that I would. If you have not taken a class like this I highly recommend it. He taught us how to attack in a way that will throw the attacker off since most of them aren’t expecting someone to fight back. He also taught us when to play along with the attacker and do what they say and when to fight like crazy. Reader’s Digest version: go for the groin and poke out their eyeballs. If they want your purse, jewelry, etc.-give it to them and walk/run away.
Archive for November 30th 2007
Liam really, really, really wants me to write a note to his teacher so that she will use one of her special magnets and put it up on the doorframe. See, if you write her a note saying that someone else is going to pick your child up after school or you are going to be taking one of your child’s classmates home with you after school (for, let’s say, a playdate), she puts it by the door so she has it at the end of the day when they are walking out the door. Liam REALLY wants one of these notes! So, today as we are pulling into the school parking lot he asks me if I have some paper. No, I don’t, I tell him, but I know where this is going. (This is not the first time he has asked about this.) He wants to me to quickly find a piece of paper and write her a note telling her that we are going to pick Carson up after school. I explain to Liam that I would have to call Carson’s mom and make sure that is okay with her before I can write a note. I also explain to him that I probably wouldn’t have to pick Carson up since he lives right behind us and he could probably just walk over after school. By the silence coming from the back of the car I could tell that he realized his plan was foiled, for today….
Another thing I love about Liam’s school is that they don’t get grades on their grade cards until they are in fourth grade. Their grade cards are various continuums with certain skill levels within a discipline on each continuum. The child’s ability level on each continuum is marked. This is a good way to show progress. As the year progresses, the continuum stays the same, but the mark on the continuum should gradually move down the continuum to more advanced skills as the year goes on. If a child gets letter grades that does not tell the parent what their child can/can’t do it just gives them a letter.