Status Quo

I'm starting to realize I'm inclined to start each post with it's been awhile since the last post.  It's mainly because each time I get time to just sit, I've been knitting or trying to study for my deputy exam at the end of this month.  On the brighter sign, I can make lacy designs now with yarn overs.

I failed my deputy exam at the end of last month.  I definitely knew a lot more than I did when I last attempted it in July 2019.  Usually the exam is done in front of a panel of three people.  This time, it was a phone call.  At one point, I froze while answering and the panel started to worry there was something wrong with the phone.  Luckily it was just me.  I caught up with a friend who was actually taking his exam at the exact same time and one person on his panel actually had the call dropped so he had to start completely over.  The exam is timed, and so you can guess how scary that might be.  I'll be much more ready (and third times the charm, right?) for the next try in November/December 2020.

Ro has been doing pretty good with everything.  He finished an online reading program a month ago and now has a much better idea of how letters and reading works.  He was actually pretty good at recognizing the differences between what Spanish and English look like, but we may have screwed that up for him.  He picked up his copy of "The Cat in the Hat" and B and I excitedly replied, "Oh! Esta 'El Gato Emsombrerado!'"  He looked at the book again and asked, "Wait.  Is this book in Spanish?" and has been questioning himself ever since.  He also wrote a few good stories:

Captain Shipbeard  

Captain Shipbeard was on his ship one day. Captain Shipbeard went to a lake. He had his ship right in the lake. He had a ship because he was a pirate. A pirate ship has a little steering wheel on it that is wooden. He was steering the ship with it. The ship went into that same water until it got to a soggy seaweed ocean. When Captain splashed down the anchor, the seaweed splashed up into the boat with some water. The water made the seaweed move and tie up the wooden wheel. The other part of the seaweed tied into loops and tied the Captain up forever. The seaweed was tied in a double double superknot. Not even one person came to save the Captain. The Captain was finally able to save himself by finding a pair of scissors in the ship to cut the seaweed so he could steer the ship again.  

Captain Shipbeard then went to the toughest water yet — Scary Sea Animal Ocean. Then a big sea animal with five tentacles caught his ship right in its tentacles and took the ship right down into the water. Lucky for the Captain, he was just about to swim to shore. But before he got to shore, that same sea animal grabbed onto his legs and pulled him down with the ship.  

The End

I've been trying to keep him in contact with a few of his friends from daycare over video chat.  We haven't been as good with video chatting with the rest of the family, but he did get to see Aunt Jane for a bit last Sunday.  He had been asking how Aunt Ev was so we had a chance to catch up with her last Sunday. She and Ricardo are still doing fine and mostly working from home.  She has to go into work every now and then, but Ricardo has all if the tools in their garage to be able to work from home more of the time.  She doesn’t think he’ll go back in to work if he can help it. 

Ro still wants to be an engineer when he grows up.  I'm a little disappointed, but I know he'll be happy as a structural engineer.  He was super interested in a Science Friday episode we listened to about a scientist who was making concrete stronger, more flexible, and more eco-friendly by using cyanobacteria.  He still really loves robots and ninjas, which means that we end up watching a lot of Transformers Rescue Bot Academy on Netflix.  

FUSD was planning on giving parents a choice between in-person and online when the school year started until they saw the writing on the wall.  It created some tension because B and I weren't in agreement on what we wanted, but then the decision was made for us.  For the moment, the game plan is to have Ro still go to B's mom (we'll say Wanda since it sounds close to her real name) and do his online learning there.  If/When Wanda has to return to work, I'll take at least two weeks off from work (I only have 257 hours banked up since there's no point in taking any time off, haha.) and drive Ro up to Mom's in Washington.  

Mom is worried about Ro getting homesick super quickly, but Ro is a bit of an alarmist and understand when things are important to change.  Our latest mantra is:  "I can't wait until this virus-thing is over." and "When this virus-thing is over..."  On the brighter side, I have a new excuse on why some things can't happen.

Ro:  My bed isn't comfortable.  Can I have a new one?

Me:  Well, you still fit in this bed, we aren't going to buy you a new one.

Ro:  Is it because of the coronavirus?

Me:  ....yes.

He's actually been sleeping on the queen-sized bed Mom bought for herself for when she stayed over in the spare room and has been doing pretty well on it.  It also worked out for us because I have a better idea on whether or not to get him a firm or medium bed.  Verdict:  it really doesn't matter.

Ro's first day of school went pretty well.  B had picked up his school supplies the day before.  Ro was excited about having his very own chalk board and white board.  Wanda had a hiccup logging Ro into his video chat for the first session, but she did figure out eventually that Ro's school issued Lenovo tablet needed to be connected to her wifi.  

So, Ro made it to the last five minutes of the first session.  Luckily, it has been smooth sailing since then.  His class size is only seven kids and two kids are from his pre-K class.  B was wondering if it was because a lot of parents opted to have their kids out of school since t-K is optional.  I wondered if they were able to have more teachers involved since even Ro's pre-K class had one main teacher and 2-3 aides.  Either way, Ro was surprised to have more English in his first class.  

"Why are they teaching me English?  I already know how to speak English!"  We may need to work on Ro's ego more than his Spanish.

I love you and miss you.