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Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 2,856
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Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 2,856 |
So, this is what resilience looks like. Nice.
DD8 has been hitting soft-tossed balls with a bat for at least 5 years now... mostly indoors, with a plastic bat and those balls you'd use to fill up a ball pit the kids dive into. She's been showing real ability with it for a while now, and recently expressed a desire to sign up for softball.
So, this weekend we stopped off at the sporting goods store, picked up a regulation softball, a glove, and a bat, so she could start familiarizing herself with the right equipment. We spent an afternoon, first in the backyard, and then at the park, playing with the new equipment. Among the activities were the following mishaps:
- We played catch, and DD was making the typical beginner's mistake of catching with her hand, rather than the pocket, and this alleged "soft" ball was hurting her. She changed to tossing it to herself for a while, getting the feel for using the pocket.
- Later, at the ball field, I pitched one too high and inside. DD doesn't judge balls and strikes yet, so she opened herself up to it as she swung. The ball hit her in the chin. It hurt.
- She was hit by two other pitches later, because apparently, her dad sucks at pitching, and he should stick to other things. At least these other two didn't strike solid bone.
In years past, any one of these issues would have been the point at which she declared she hated softball, or she was awful at it, and she wanted nothing further to do with it. Also, anyone asking her about her experience would have been told that it was a terrible day, and they would have only heard about the negative moments. Instead, she talked about what a blast she'd been having, how she wanted us to do this at least once a week so she could get good at it, and how lucky she was to have parents who went out there and played with her like we did.
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,181
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Joined: Feb 2011
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SHE WON!!!! OMGoodness... She did a bunch of research, and last week, during the regular meeting she delivered a SLEDGEHAMMER of a commentary on inclusive practices, the ethics of inclusion, and the LEGAL requirement for inclusion in a K-12 public environment. Let's put it this way-- she pointed out that they would be (inadvertently) sending the message that even Stephen Hawking would be "unworthy" if he were a student. But that inadvertent or not, such a stance is W.R.O.N.G. LOL. So. She got word this morning that they will NOT be "voting" on whether or not to "allow" the practice going forward after all... because the inclusive thing IS to allow those hours to count. Period. She has asked for additional clarification as to whether they count for the purposes of ELIGIBILITY in applicants, or only as "annual service project hours" for members. In part, this was the result of the national ombudsperson/compliance officer running this past legal-- at my DD's very respectful but assertive request. The local school officials got their heads delivered to them, I think. But it all happened because DD said "not on my watch, you don't, you turkeys." I feel like I just watched a DRAGON hatching.   I guess she was paying more attention all these years than I thought! WOW. This is probably an odd thing to be "proud" of, but I am very proud of my DD because this kind of thing is her real passion. She is an officer in her school's honor society chapter, and she is leading the insurrection against a unilateral policy change which apparently comes from the (first-year member) president-- a policy which she has pointed out may well violate not only the spirit of non-discrimination, but probably the letter of it as well from an ADA standpoint-- she is hot over this. But she's responding coolly, with well-considered debating techniques and professional language, and she is considering how and when to escalate her concerns. Her concerns are: that this is a change in practices, policies, and procedures which CREATES barriers to participation for students who are non-traditional, those who are non-Christian, and those who are rural/poor/disabled. She is positively alight with outrage over this-- it's pushed her social justice buttons with full force. And she's going to win. She's also probably going to succeed in taking this other (PG) kid's office from him as a result, because she dotted all her i's and crossed all her t's socially before she went after him over it-- by checking with members and other officers and explaining/persuading them to see things through the "right" lens. It's an amazing thing to watch her in full flight. WOW-- she's good. Scary good. Go, DD!!! Fighting for the downtrodden since 1999... that's m'girl.
Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,898
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Yay! Go HK's DD :-)
Last edited by ColinsMum; 03/18/13 02:35 PM.
Email: my username, followed by 2, at google's mail
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 250
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That is awesome, HK! So, so cool.
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 11
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 11 |
When my DD4 was 2.5, she was drawing with sidewalk chalk at a family party. We told her to say hi to someone, but she was feeling shy, so she wrote it instead.
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,181
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Onion, that is so sweet!
Dude, I'm really impressed at your DD-- but also at your fortitude in standing back to see what she would do. Kudos to her for seeing the big picture rather than the bumps along the way!
Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 604
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DD5 was helping me make whipped cream last night. When she got tired of holding the button down on the mixer she started dancing in circles to the beat of the mixer! When she got dizzy she stopped and said "Wow mom, that is really fast - I bet it is as fast as hummingbird wings."
She also read most of a Dora the Explorer book to me today without help. A huge deal for a kid who refused to even try to read a little over a month ago.
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 143
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I just had to share this report DD9 wrote entirely from her own inspiration one evening. It's not just that I think the writing is great. What also struck me was the contrast of this inspired and self-directed work compared to the previous 90 minutes during which she was struggling to tears with busywork/homework during which I'm sure she learned nothing. After the homework trauma I figured she was done for the night, until I shared with her an anecdote about how few Amur leopards are left in the wild. She was profoundly moved and immediately ran to the computer to begin researching and writing. The result, less than an hour later, was this report titled Endangered Plants and Animals. There are many endangered species in the world. Many of them you probably haven’t even heard of. ASPCA .org states, “Worldwide, there are about 500 animals listed as endangered and 39 listed as threatened.” If you didn’t already know this, 500 is A LOT of endangered species. Most of this is caused by humans. That’s right, us. The first reason that most animals are going extinct is because we are taking up a whole load of land. Like, thousands, or even millions, or acres. The second reason of the population of some animals dropping is because foreign species. For example, if you had a fish pond filled with goldfish, then you put a beta fish in, the ecosystem would change rapidly. The third reason, is us, taking WAY too much. We’re pushing ocean life to its limits. When we take a fish, the rest of the fish have to wait until another fish gives birth to even out the population again. As you can see, we are harming the ecosystems greatly.
If we keep taking and harming the environment, what will happen to us? Well have you ever stacked a bunch of blocks up, then tried to pull some of them out without the tower falling over? Think of the tower as our environment. If we take too many animals and plants away, the whole environment could come crashing down. Take this for example, people had been burning down the Pacific Yew trees for years. After awhile, they found a promising antibiotic to breast cancer made from its sap. What if some of the other plants had some mystery cure to a almost incurable disease? Think of it that way.
So now that you know about all these things, what can you do to help? Try helping out at your local nature park. Ride your bike instead of the bus, not only will it help stop pollution, it will also get your heart pumping, stretch your muscles, and you’ll have fun doing it! Recycle. I know it seems so simple, but even the smallest things help. Save water. Unfortunately, the world does not have unlimited water, and sadly, we are running out of it. So start saving water! You can also help out native species. Plant a few of them in the park, in your yard, or anywhere legal. Even something little can make a big difference.
Remember, saving the earth isn’t only Superman’s job; it’s everyone else’s too.
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Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 453
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Omg, Pru this is so well written I cannot believe a 9 year old wrote this. Your dd is amazing in her ability to convey such a difficult topic in such a way that it would appeal to all readers. Love the tower analogy. I am an environmentalist and that image is going to stick in my head. I also love that her essay is not all doom and gloom. She tells you what we can do to fix it. The last line is the icing on the cake. Very well done. Please tell your dd that a stranger who read her essay is mind blown:)
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 143
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Omg, Pru this is so well written I cannot believe a 9 year old wrote this. Your dd is amazing in her ability to convey such a difficult topic in such a way that it would appeal to all readers. Love the tower analogy. I am an environmentalist and that image is going to stick in my head. I also love that her essay is not all doom and gloom. She tells you what we can do to fix it. The last line is the icing on the cake. Very well done. Please tell your dd that a stranger who read her essay is mind blown:) Thank you so much for your feedback! I shared it with DD and she was clearly moved in her poker-face way. She said she likes compliments but has a hard time receiving them. It really helps me too because sometimes I doubt my own impressions as being parental bias. I don't so much want to brag as to have another adult confirm this "Wow" feeling from some of the things she's done. I've suspected DD of plagiarism more than once and always come up empty handed and embarrassed. I finally stopped doing it, and her teacher assures me she writes this way in class too. Anyway, I'm printing your feedback to keep in a folder for encouraging DD. 
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