Glowball Whirled Peas

The kindergarden teacher stopped me when I was picking up my daughter today. Just yesterday, she had stopped me because Wini had received a "blue card" - the kindergarden equivalent of being a hair's breadth from being sent to the principal. So I admit I cringed a little, wondering what my daughter had chosen to make a stink about today.

As it turns out, her card was green today, the kindergarden equivalent of managing to make it through the day without being a brat child. So, okay. What then?

Mrs. B related what had happened: she was telling the kids about Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. She told them about his "I Have a Dream" speech and explained some of the concepts in kindergarden terms. Wini listened to all this, and when Mrs. B was done, she stood up and said, "That's called global world peace, Mrs. B."

Mrs B. told me that she'd never have a student tell her that before. "I was stopped in my tracks!" she laughed. I was simultaneously proud but puzzled - as much as I'd like the kindergarden teacher to think we sit around discussing global, well, anything, we really don't. But I did remember eventually that sometime last month Wini read the phrase "world peace" somewhere (a bumper sticker? a sign at a museum? I can't remember) and I explained to her what peace meant when she asked. At the time, she listened as I rambled on with no comment, and I figured it went over her head. Apparently not.

Here's the future Peacenik:


What's a great way to stay cold and chilly in the winter? Wait, what? That's for the mom, at least. Wini is having a great time ice skating, while skate-challenged mom watches from sidelines. Only a week ago she had to hold the wall to make it around the rink, so watching her race another boy and win tonight was kind of fun (sorry Max).

We were kicking ourselves that we didn't have our video camera. Some of the more advanced girls were practicing their heel-toe "fishies" (as Wini calls them - I have no idea what the official name is), where you sort of make ovals without lifting your feet to propel yourself along. They had set up a line of orange cones on the ice and were doing fishies around each cone.

Wini went over to join them, but ran into a little snag: she's not as tall as the big girls, and although she was doing great fishies, she didn't have the clearance the older, long-legged girls do. So many of the cones ended up tipped over. She figured out that if she pulled up her pants as high as she could she could barely make it over the cone. It's a good thing they were skating down the cone line away from us, or she might have noticed all the parents watching and laughing.