Soccer. And soccer. And my 2 cents.

This is from Friday morning. It was foggy and very cool.

So, Thursday afternoon Amena had a dentist appointment at 3:00. In order to get there on time, we really needed to leave within about five minutes of when she got home. I was in the middle of making cookies (oatmeal raisin for Paul because he likes them and I never make any and snickerdoodles because I like them and hadn’t made them for a long time—like since we were in Idaho I think) when she got home. She went upstairs and did something and came back down and looked at the calendar on the refrigerator and said something about going to the dentist. I’d completely forgotten about it and it was about 2:40 right then. I turned off the oven (I had two cookie sheets full and was working on the third—none were in the oven yet) and got what I needed to go and Amena brushed her teeth and we were off. We were fifteen minutes late because we left at 2:45 and it takes about half an hour to get there. I’m glad she was still able to get in, I know some places are really picky about that.

Cedric did really well today.

When we got home, it was time to finish making cookies and then get supper eaten and get ready to go to Open House at school. Cedric wanted to get there half an hour early because Paul and Jacob were going to be there playing on the playground. I knew that Paul was off and on his way home. I wasn’t sure if he would be meeting us there or coming home so we left between 6:00 and 6:15. Paul said he tried calling at 6:00 and there was no answer. It could be that the clock in the dining room is a fit on the fast side.

There he goes!

Anyway, we got to the school and Amena and the boys played on the playground until it was time to go in. I always like to start with the youngest so we went to Joseph’s classroom first. I really do like his classroom this year better than the one Ms. Mankowsky had before. Cedric wanted to get on to his classroom but I wanted to take my time. With only three boys, we had a total of 20 minutes that we could have spent in each classroom. We finally got to Seth’s classroom and looked around and then to Cedric’s. It is pretty clear that Cedric and Seth both like their teachers. I am glad about that. When we were done, everyone wanted to play on the playground again. I was ready to go home but I’m almost always ready to go home so I thought I’d let them play for a while. They did until it was getting dark and we had to leave.

Oh, yeah!

Yesterday morning I had a dentist appointment. The x-ray machine decided to fizzle out so I had to move to another chair for x-rays. That was pretty exciting. We usually get right in and usually get right out so I was on my way home by 10:00 (my appointment was at 9:15). I like that. Still, because it takes half an hour to get home, I kind of felt like my morning was wasted and didn’t get a whole lot done. In the afternoon I did a bunch of laundry and reading and that’s about it. Children got fed supper shortly after 5:00 so they could watch a movie and Paul and I went to SS Lobster when he finally got home at almost 7:30.

Joseph going for the ball.

This morning Seth and Cedric both had games at 9:00. Seth’s was in Hardwick and Cedric’s in Barre. Seth got to ride with Riley and his mom and I took Cedric. The game got started a bit late. When we got there, it was early (there was only one other boy on his team at that time) so I walked across the street to the cemetery that has some cool ironwork and that I always meant to take a camera to one of Seth’s practices in the spring to take pictures of but never did and took pictures. When I got back, most of the boys had arrived. There were at least three boys on Barre’s team that were on Seth’s Quabbin team in the spring including the goalie and the assistant coach of his Quabbin team was the coach of the Barre team. That was kind of interesting.

Joseph and Cedric were passing the ball while Joseph wasn't in the game.

On the way home, I asked Cedric how today’s game compared to last week’s. He said it was better because the score last week was 9-2 and today was 5-0. I asked how the playing was compared to last week and he said worse. He said that they just weren’t passing today and that is true. There were some really good plays but it has to be frustrating knowing that you can do better.

Even though you really can't see Joseph (he's behind the dark haired girl in the maroon shirt), this is an important picture because he kicked the ball.

As we were leaving the game, we overheard the dad of one of Cedric’s teammates saying that they had to hurry home to get a younger brother to his game in Hubbardston. We had to hurry home to get Joseph to his game. We were home for about fifteen minutes before we left. We actually could have waited ten or so minutes longer but it never hurts to get there early. Cedric went with us; Seth was still at Riley’s with an expected arrival time of 3:00. In Cedric’s class he has a friend named Christopher. Christopher has a younger brother on Joseph’s team so Cedric and Christopher kicked an available soccer ball around and sat by the team cheering them on and offering suggestions. At the U8 level, which is what Joseph is at, they don’t keep score. That is a good thing because if anyone had been keeping score, it would have been Hubbardston 2, Hardwick 11. Yikes! But, hey, who was keeping score?

I just have to smile! He did well today.

As we were leaving that game, we saw the dad of one of Cedric’s teammates with the younger brother. They didn’t have to hurry home quite as quickly as we did, I guess.

Cool, yes?

Seth got home just a few minutes before 3:00 and he and Riley’s mom both reported that the game was good. Hubbardston won 5-0 against Hardwick. I am glad that someone won today. Cedric’s game was fun to watch, for the most part, but anyone who says it isn’t about winning doesn’t know a whole lot.

And again. More on Facebook.

During Cedric’s game, I overheard the dad of another teammate who is a teacher. He was talking about, get this, school. This was particularly interesting because I’ve read a couple of articles in the last couple of days about homework and how many parents feel that students have too much and what students are expected to learn. This father was expressing some opinions that I thought were interesting and that I mostly agree with. He said that the federal government decides what needs to be taught without looking at how long it will take to teach it. The school year is 180 days long and if that isn’t enough time to learn, what are they supposed to do? He said he’s not against extending the school day or even the school year but the federal people need to be realistic (in my opinion, that’s a joke). If local school districts don’t agree with what the feds say, they don’t get federal money. Another parent expressed his thought that that is extortion; I don’t remember the exact definition but it kind of sounds like it to me. The father, who I guess teaches math, also said that every three or four years, the whole math curriculum changes. It isn’t a matter of a little (or even a lot) tweaking—it’s a matter of completely changing it.

Ready for my opinion? I don’t think that kids need summers off now like they did a hundred or a hundred fifty years ago. The reason for not having school during the summer was to help out on the family farm. Most people don’t have that now. So, except in areas where they are needed on family farms, let’s extend the school year. Not to take up the entire year because I think kids need some time off (I think everyone needs some time off) but an extra four to six weeks might be fine. Go ahead and extend the school day as well. However, make sure that there are sufficient breaks for some physical activities (like recess or almost anything that isn’t mandatory or school-related) and DON’T GIVE HOMEWORK. One or the other—extended school year OR extended school day—though, not both. And slack off with the standardized testing for crying out loud!!! Stop teaching to test, for goodness sake!!!

And that that’s that. I hope you have had a wonderful day and that tomorrow is as well. I need to go make a cheesecake (it is Joanna’s birthday tomorrow!).