Father's Day

This is not a post about Father's Day. I meant to write these thoughts last week, but I never found the time. Now, with a family nap in progress, I found that time.
Last weekend Anders "graduated" from daycare kindergarten and we had a farewell party with my advisory students at our house before we move.  Over the past three years all of these kids have grown up quite a bit, and it was gratifying to see.
So much of what you do as a parent and a teacher feels like pounding your head against a brick wall that will not fall down, no matter what you do.  Then on one weekend, you see so much growth that your heart swells with pride and you see real progress on the wall.
Anders had a rough go of it in his Christmas programs both at daycare and at church.  It makes sense.  His baby brother was in the hospital, he was not with his extended family for Christmas, and the weather was not seasonally appropriate (Anders reads so many Christmas books where there is cold and snow that green grass and warm weather frustrates him).
Anders' teacher Ms. Rosella cajoled, threatened, and praised Anders just as we did in the lead up to the performance.  You might also add "bribed" to my list of tricks as Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream has a very strong appeal.
Anders memorized all the words to the songs and his spoken part, along with the spoken parts of the other kids.  His movements were crisp for the choreography that went along with the songs that he sang.  After graduation, I told Anders that he did a wonderful job and he was amazing.
"Better than the Christmas program?" he asked.
"Much better, but let's just try to forget that, " I replied.
"I cannot forget it, I cannot forget anything," Anders truthfully replied.
We saw him grow up right before our eyes.  He could not sleep the night before because he was so intent upon getting the moves right and doing everything flawlessly.  It was gratifying to see such dedication and focus in a four year old.  It made us feel like all of our hard work was paying off.  Deep down you know that your children are always changing and maturing, but when you see it so dramatically, it's quite memorable.
Meanwhile, Anders' love for the Presidents of the United States of America (not the band) continues to grow.  Last week, he told me that I look like William McKinley because we both have an angry resting face, but then he told me I sound like West Virginia.  I'm not sure that's such a good thing!  His favorite president right now is Dwight Eisenhower, but "I just love them all so much!"  Jimmy Carter or "Jimmuh Cartuh" as Anders calls him, used to be his favorite.  Anders wants to travel around and meet the living ones.  He makes up true/false questions about the presidents and his latest game is asking me what made each of them mad.  I had my students bring a fact about a president with them before coming to our house last week.  Anders loved matching wits with them.  He also had a great time calling the room to order before he knocked down a tower of numbers blocks that he built and rebuilt.
Last weekend was truly special, and of course Father's Day is nice.  The family treated me today to Ouzo 12, flaming cheese, Horiatiki, and a pot of seafood at our Father's Day spot, Yia Yia Mary's.  I'll post the ten best things about moving back to MN in a few weeks after we have some time to enjoy them.  In the meantime, Anders now doesn't want to move because Texas is the only state with an "X" in it. To wit, one of Anders' favorite songs is "All My Exs Live in Texas" or his interpretation "All My Xs Live in Texas."
See you on down the trail.