Tuesday was just the right weather,
not dripping hot, not cold,
sunny, blue sky.
The Munchkin and I went to NYC and told each other stories
on the PATH, on the walk to Mr Husband's work, while waiting for
Mr Husband to get out of a meeting that went over,
stories involving pizza, lots of Middle Earth via JRR Tolkien and
later stories were inspired by the Hardy Boys :)
***
After lunch we took the subway to Central Park and walked to the
Central Park Zoo.
We saw a Grizzly Bear, a Snow Leopard, Seals, Penguins, a very
brightly coloured social Parrot, and many other things.
Then we had a break and, after some discussion,
as the Munchkin was tired from all the walking
(he was leading the way in the zoo!)
we decided to stick with the original plan,
which was to cab from the zoo to my NYC library,
where we had permission to visit and for the Munchkin to see
the children's library section.
He found, to my pleasure, the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew (the 1950/1970 version)
books as well as the new Diary of the a Wimpy Kid, a series he loves.
On our way to the subway, we went to a vintage Luncheonette and we
split a small root-beer soda in 2 small glasses and the soda was made from
the syrup and the soda water, really neat.
The Munchkin is really observant and has a strong geospatial ability...
he understood where we were when we were in the World Trade Center PATH station
underground (it looks like a futuristic space station to me) and saw the
narrow window on top and realized immediately that one could see the
Freedom Tower ... he is a very intelligent boy, beyond his nearly 11 years!
Once we were home,
just after Mr Husband arrived home as well,
I made dinner for us all and then we played our
second game of Dominion.
We helped the Munchkin at the beginning because he did not understand
how to use the Action cards and in the end he won the game!
Then we did short prayers, blessing the beds for sleep and
that was the end of the perfect blue sky ....
The next day was a grey day and it was 'finish the book report day'
and I worked along side of him, ready to help when he needed it.
I read the rubric sheet (wow kids do a lot of work compared to when I was in school)
and made sure that he completed all the requirements and explained them
if he did not understand them.
I did a lot of quick reading and helped him understand how to find the
information he needed. Part of the book report was about
the characterization and part of it was about the plot and at the complications in
the story. It was a lot of work as the book was a historical novel about
WWII and the Soviets, so not easy reading to say the least.
I would ask him questions based on the rubric requirements and the book.
I often asked him what a page meant and talked it through with him in terms of questions
such as what does that mean?
And how would you write it?
And then I would tell him, ok, write what you told me.
Once he was done,
and of course we had lunch and cookie breaks and he read other books before
he did his school work (he read all of
Spyridon's Shoes and finished his
Wimpy Kid book)
and we played 2 more games of Old Maid before his Mother came
to pick him up...we had a lot of good talks with him and I was glad
we had that fun day in NYC....
After he left, Mr Husband and I went to our local upscale grocery store
near church and got some things.
And then, we went to the last presanctified liturgy at our local church
for Great Lent.
Now we are almost at Holy Week.
May God have mercy on us all!
