Late this summer, it appeared Erich wouldn't be admitted to the private German preschool we were looking at, so I took matters into my own hands and started up a cooperative preschool with some other German mothers in our area. Wouldn't you know it, a couple of weeks later, I got a letter from the German school asking if we were still interested. We decided we'd found a better solution and could save a buttload of cash in the process. Seriously, what were we thinking?? All I did was send out an email to some German parent groups that I'm a part of and I got a really good response. We met, all of us for the first time, and discussed details in German as I tried to desperately to understand what the H they were talking about. Let me tell you, I was a rag doll by the time they left my house. But I had made it through the first meeting and they didn't kick me out of the group! Bonus!!
We decided to meet for 2 hours twice a week and rotate houses and responsibilities (snacks, reading/singing time, craft). We have 6 parents - all native Germans with the exception of me - and 7 children. Luckily, the children get along really well, although that could be because there are only 2 boys in the group... and even though my Erich isn't much a fan of sitting, or potty training, or eating, he's doing pretty well. He'll repeat words he hears, he's starting to ask for things more clearly, and socially he's becoming more... um, normal. What I mean is, instead of walking up to another kid and making weird animal noises, more often he'll say hi or tell me they're in his way (hey, to me that's progress!).
Overall, it's working out great - even better than I'd expected. Everyone is involved and commited, and I'm incredibly happy about my idea coming to life. However, it's been three weeks and I'm still feeling insecure about my place - whether I'm not fitting in, or what the other mothers think of me. They are all really nice and creative and easy to be around, and so are their kids, but I just wonder if they think I'm crazy or silly for only speaking to my son in a language neither my husband nor I fully understand. My biggest fear is that they'll eventually call me out as the fraud I am, deciding that my German is too sub-standard, and that my child is too young and disruptive for the group anyway (a result of my poor parenting). I feel like my only recourse is to do my best at developing relationships; however, even this is difficult because I don't understand everything they say. During our first meeting, I could only understand about 1/2 of everything that was said, and now I understand about 3/4 of the conversations, which is at least encouraging. I go home every day and look up words they used, but I still get get hung up, and even though I'm frustrated, the last thing I want is to force everyone to speak English to me. It would defeat the entire purpose of immersing Erich (and me). I also hope I can show them I have a lot to offer when it's my turn to lead. I've been sharing German translations of English songs that they don't know, maybe that will be my niche?
As I said though, I really believe this preschool is a good thing for us. I have faith that I'll grow more comfortable overtime. Erich and I are both improving in the language and it's providing more structure and social opportunities for him. Plus he LOVES going to see his "deutsche Freunde," as he calls them. I'm grateful that we gain so much from the our new friends, I just hope we can offer as much back.
I just love the little surprises Erich leaves for me. For example, last year, a week before Valentines Day, he made a little heart shaped poo in his diaper. (Naturally we used the photo for E-valentines to our closest friends.) He's also been known to store his little toy treasures behind the sugar or inside the pots and pans. And today, he left me a slug in his apple. 
Time: During McCain/Obama Presidential Debate.
Setting: In the car on the way home from dinner. Listening to the debate via NPR.
Players: Me (Moderate. Obama supporter.), Hubs (Depends on the setting; in DC: Moderate. In Utah: Hard-core liberal. Obama supporter.), Opa (My pops. Republican. McCain supporter. Listens to Rush Limbaugh "for fun."), and Lil' E (Undecided).
Earlier in the car ride, while passing the White House, Marc successfully trained little E to say "Bush" on command. This brought Opa great delight, and it was so dang cute, even the "liberals" had to smile. Marc wouldn't let this stand though, and tried to rectify his doings before things could get ugly. He was too late.
Marc: Erich, say Bush!
E: Bush!
(cheering and laughter ensue)
Marc: Bush!
E: Bush!!
Opa: Erich, say McCain!
E: Cane!
(cheering and laughter again, and Marc cuts in)
Marc: Erich, say Obama!
E: Bush!
(we look at eachother, laughing with our jaws on the floor)
Marc: Erich, say Obama!
E: BUSH!!
We couldn't help it, we were all roaring. Of course, little E thought he was quite the comedian and laughed right along, repeating his punch line a few times to see if it still worked.
I just love that little man - even if he is a Republican.
Poor dog.
And yes, E was victorious in his refusal to sleep, so we let him stay up to watch America's Got Talent. Go Nuttin' But Strings!
(I should probably just go ahead and rename this blog to "The Erich Days" since that's all I write about lately...)
To track Erich's progress in learning German (and hopefully to translate at least a little bit of his gibberish for everyone else), I've documented all of his current vocabulary. As you can see a few English words have slipped in there - 'no' being his favorite. I only wish I could include some recording of him saying these words, but this kid simply refuses to be a trained monkey. So I just wrote the phonetically spelled version of how Erich says the word, then the correct German word and the English translation in parenthesis.
Much to my chagrin, today marks the beginning of the end of binky use in our house. No binkies will ever be allowed in Erich's mouth again. My once beloved and trusted soother and scream stopper has slowly been doing it's dirty work on my son. I felt so betrayed by my little assistants when the pediatrician told me today that they have given E a pretty significant overbite. Ah!! Stupid me - of all people, as someone who wore braces for 3 years to repair the damage of my own finger-sucking, I should have known better. But he is so young and it's something that I never really considered, especially since he really only uses them at night (and occasionally as the previously mentioned screecher plug). Sorry everyone for being away the past few weeks. Every once and a while I have to go anti-internet and focus my energies elsewhere. Just something that keeps me sane.
Hoping you'll forgive me, here is one of the latest things my adorably awesome kid has been doing. Regularly, I might add. I seriously doubt anyone else's child does this and I couldn't be more proud.
Have you ever thought to yourself:
1) This is not how I want my child to act in public, and
2) Maybe he's getting mixed messages when I tell him to stop from behind the camera?
For me, this was one of those moments.
Customer Service Agent,
I am very upset about your "Keep-it-Kleen Pacifier". When my 14-month-old son awoke in the morning a few days ago, I went to his crib and discovered your KIK Pacifier broken into 5 pieces right next to his head. I don't know how it broke, but the fact of the matter is, this product is too fragile and hazardous for children. I hate to think of what could have happened had he awoken and felt around him in the middle of the night or if I had waited longer to enter his room. This could have been a lethal situation had my son ingested any of those pieces. There were two pieces in particular that gave me tremendous cause for concern: the nipple, which would have blocked his windpipe instantly, and a small, sharp, metal ring. The ring is not much larger than a Cheerio, but the damage and internal bleeding it could cause is sickening. Hypothetically, if my son had ingested that ring and nothing else, I would have examined all other pieces and assumed that nothing was missing. If he began crying I would have had no idea what type of internal damage was occurring and may not have realized that he needed immediate medical attention.
The Keep-it-Kleen Pacifier that you have on the market is extremely dangerous and inappropriate for use by any child, especially infants. I plan to tell everyone I know not to purchase this product until the item has been recalled and all potentially hazardous parts have been removed.
I'm seriously considering changing the title of my blog from The Salad Days to The Monkey House. I immediately clung to this expression when I heard Tim Gunn say it to Chris on Project Runway. After an entire season of examining Chris's wacky creations, Tim made the greatest analogy when Chris presented to him garments that used human hair as fringe. He told Chris in a very Tim Gunn way that only Tim Gunn could pull off, that he had been living in the monkey house for too long. His analogy goes something like this: So when you first walk into the monkey house at the zoo, what do you do? You cover your nose and think, "Dang this place stinks!" Then, after 15 minutes or so you start to think, "Well, I guess this isn't so bad." And then, after about 45 minutes you don't even notice it anymore. However, the place never stopped smelling like sh**; you just stopped smelling it."We have a little tradition of doing something special for Palm Sunday and we thought it would be fun to gather with all of you at the same time. If you can make it, come with some kind of tree branch in hand. We lay down the palm fronds and then read a few scriptures and then sing Easter songs mixed with Christmas songs (so O little Town of Bethlehem sung to the tune of O Savior thou who Wearest, etc) and then we end with a wild rendition of Popcorn popping and gorge ourselves on popcorn and fruit and other beautiful growing things to usher in spring. It goes along with our traditional merging of pagan festivals with holy Christian/Jewish/Muslim holidays."Well, they were telling the truth, that's exactly what happened, with the exception of an Easter egg hunt. It was great!! I stumbled through the first couple of hymns, but once I got the hang of it, the change of pace was oddly refreshing. The children all participated with the singing and waving of branches-my favorite being the giant IKEA leaf. Erich had a great time and certainly accepted the invitation of gorging himself on the delicious berries (we are definitely going berry picking this summer!). Hopefully this will be the first of many pagan rituals we are invited to blend with our dear friends. Thank you for the great evening, Olsen's!!
