Snowflakes,and,Shrunken,Heads, family Snowflakes and Shrunken Heads

A lot of women avoid wearing nice clothes when they getpregnant because they believe that they look fat or ugly. You know that there’snothing more beautiful than a pregnant woman glowing and smiling, so youshouldn’t hide your body during p Raising a family can be challenging and stressful at times. However, the common goals and emotional, financial, and physical investments made can be a common bond between husband and wife. One that compliments their marriage relationship.Of

I'm getting a second education.No, I haven't gone back to school yet again. I'm watching,through the keen eye of a parental observer, the experience my son has as hewalks his way through elementary school. I may be more skittish than most afterall, even in my most enlightened moments, I witness my son's experience througha lens that is colored by the memory of my own school days. I didn't enjoy school. It wasn't so much that I had otherthings to do, it's just that I remember spending long hours looking outwindows, thinking (or perhaps wishing) that I had more important things to door more important places to be. I have vivid recollections of gazing throughthe glass at Brookdale Avenue School in Verona, New Jersey, somehow justknowing that there was more to life than memorizing mathematical equations orlearning how to dissect a sentence.On the other hand, I really enjoyed art class and runningaround during gym period, so it wasn't all bad...When I really stop to think, I find my early relationship toeducation rather amusing! I am, much to the chagrin and dismay of certainmembers of my family, a passionate lifelong learner. It's not unusual for me tobe reading several books at one time. Occasionally, I even finish one."Maybe it was the influence..."Somehow, in spite of my "schooling," to quote MarkTwain, I ended up with a boundless curiosity and an insatiable hunger tolearn...Here's the funny thing: I don't remember my education beingas high pressure a situation as I perceive Cai's to be. Maybe it was theinfluence of Dick, Jane and Sally, to say nothing of Spot. Maybe it's just thatmy memory is fading. Maybe the expectations placed on seven-year-olds 40 yearsago were different...One way or another, my perception is that the amount of"knowledge" being pushed at my son and his peers far exceed what wasasked of us way back when.There's something odd about what I see when I look at Cai'sschool situation. There's a drive toward conformity that I'm uncomfortablewith. In fact, it kind of gives me the willies...The week before holiday break, I planned my schedule suchthat I was able to make it to Cai's class holiday party. A hefty batch ofDanielle's finest chocolate chip cookies in tow, I marched into the classroomafter scanning the entire school lot in search of a parking space. By the timeI crossed the classroom threshold, the kids were already involved in theirholiday craft project. Each child had been given three small kits withinstructions for creating little hanging ornaments.The irony of a little Jewish boy making Christmas treeornaments notwithstanding, what happened next is where the real story lies..."Included in the kits were precise instructions"I must also let you know, before I dive into the crux of thetale, that one of the challenges we've been having with Cai at school isfollowing through with instructions and completing his work. Doing, in otherwords, what he is "supposed" to do. The kids each had a penguin, a mitten, and a smilingsnowflake project in front of them. Included in the kits were preciseinstructions and diagrams on how to make each individual ornament. All aroundus children - and their parents - were making cute little penguins orsnowflakes or mittens. Cai, on the other hand, had his own ideas. Settingpaste-on eyes, scarves and other assorted parts aside for later use, Cai wentabout creating his own personal object d'art.Beginning with the snowflake, Cai took off on a differentroute. Rather than using the different shapes that came with the kit, hedecided to use his pencil and give the snowflake a strange, toothy mouth.I'd be lying if I said I was disappointed in his creativedeparture from the norm.After drawing a couple of lizard-like eyes on thesnowflake's "face," Cai pulled out a blue ribbon that was fraying onone end. The ribbon was meant to be folded neatly and glued from behind toserve as a loop for hanging the ornament. Tugging on the frayed end, Caiseparated the ribbon’s warp from the weft, leaving him with a handful of wavyblue hairs, which he joyously affixed to the snowflake's chin. The end result of Cai’s creative detour was a wonderful sortof shrunken-head looking snowflake with a long blue beard."The penguin ended up as a four-eyed alien"To make a long story short, the penguin ended up as afour-eyed alien, inverted for added effect. The snowman in the leftover partsfrom the other ornaments became their own characters, each completely differentand wacky and original in its own way...Initially, when Cai began creating things other then whatthe kits were intended for, I had the thought to redirect him. After all, whatwould the other kids think about Cai's creations? What would the other parentsin the room think about me?After a millisecond of consideration, I let it all go..."There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all teachingsystem"The pressure to learn and fit in are tremendous, at least asI perceive them. I see the educational system slowly chipping away at my son'sspirit, at his desire to express himself creatively, at the energetic core ofwhat makes him the wild and fiery little man that he is. I also see a systemthat has the very noble agenda of really teaching our children. As fine as theintentions of the schools are, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-allteaching system. There is a certain meter and pace that's designed to move mostof the children through at a given rate. Naturally, compromises are made...The goals of this particular system often seem at odds withthe very nature of children - and they don't have much space for the effusive,crazy energy of little boys... especially if the little boy in question is,like his father, a strong-willed daydreamer. We're not ready just yet for home-schooling or privateschool, even though they've come up in conversation as possible pathways...Homework has had its stressful moments, and I'm sure there'smore to come.  Danielle and I are learning to stretch and strengthen themuscles of our patience.  Cai is learning, along with the “three R's,”that not every situation in life is comfortable.  He's also learning alittle bit about the fallibility of his parents. The current circumstances arecalling on all of us to grow in many ways.We left Cai's school holiday party with six or seven wonderful,fantastically different ornaments. It was a glorious, fun afternoon, and I gotto spend it with my son.We've all heard the cliché about making lemonade fromthe lemons life hands out.  I find hope in knowing that my son can makeblue-haired shrunken heads from snowflakes while I look on, grinning