Dinner and a Movie, Intermediate Walking, etc.

Tonight, Michael and I are getting to go on our first real dinner-and-a-movie date night since we had Penelope. I say "real" because we have had literally a handful of nights out without PJ, but they have all been for specific events and not just go do something together, or not very long and we had to kind of hurry back so I could feed her. We have nights out separately all the time, where one of us gets to go and be social while the other one is home. So, we are looking forward to it.

PJ has leveled up to intermediate walker. She's pretty good, but still loses balance every once in a while. She had a great time swimming today, and has had a pretty normal week.

The cats continue their occupation of space and eating food without paying rent.

A Playful Weekend

Penelope has been lucky to check out two cool parks this weekend she hadn't been to before. Saturday, she got to go to a Livvi's Place in Five Dock with Michael and a few other frisbee Dads and their babies. This morning, she got to go to Pirrama Park for a birthday party (for a friend in her swim class). The park has a nice sand pit area and water play area, and it overlooks the water.

Part-time Weeks

I'm really grateful that I am able to work part-time while Penelope is small. Some days, I get to spend a lot of time with her, and then a few days she learns and grows with other people. It also breaks up my week nicely into different parts. 

I had another week of polar-opposites teaching. Tuesday was working with small classes at the behavior school - expectations are different than mainstream schools because the kids are prone to having outbursts where they could be violent or break things. The school building is very old and stuffy - there isn't air conditioning. Wednesday was working at a newly-renovated school in a gigantic classroom, the size of six classrooms at any other school. The class was a combined class; essentially it was two combined third and fourth grade classes, so 60 kids, shared with another teacher. The classroom was comprised of multiple rooms and styles of workplace areas (booths, lap desks, short desks you can sit on the floor and work at, standing desks, tables for about five students, a separate art room, even an outdoor balcony), three different air conditioning units, three smartboards. It was more like an open-plan office than a classroom. Because there are so many kids and a big space, the teachers have set up a lot of ground rules to make transitions easier, and most of the kids did a good job of following them. I have yet to see much of the benefit of these large classes, and think it mainly makes it easier for lower performers, kids with learning disabilities, and kids with hearing difficulties to slip through the cracks. I guess it might make group projects easier, and it would help teachers standardize the curriculum across the grade level. They just really require kids to be independent in a lot of ways, which some can handle and some can't. 

Penelope was given a clean bill of health, and therefore, returned to daycare. For the first time, she celebrated "Harmony Day", which is basically a multicultural celebration that happens each year in schools across Australia. The other kids returned to daycare, so she had a more social time too. Today, we returned to swimming lessons and she had a blast. She has started walking (stumbling is more like it), and gets better at it every day!

The weather has been very hit or miss lately - mostly miss. I guess that's the mark of autumn around here. It's been very rainy, on and off. It's good because the plants definitely need it, especially since NSW has experienced pretty bad drought in recent years, but I'd be happy for some sunnier days for a little while now. 

Om

Michael was working in New Zealand for the second half of last week. The day he flew back was the day of the horrible shooting. Fortunately, he was in Wellington and flying through Auckland, and not near Christchurch. 

The general reaction everywhere just seems to be shock - how could this happen in such a progressive, liberal, relaxed country like New Zealand (and an Aussie guy, nonetheless)? That is exactly why NZ was picked, it seems. This is different than the shootings that happen so regularly in the US. The national and international reaction is different. There was no talk of very fine people on both sides. The PM, Jacinda Ardern, she immediately identified the event as an act of terrorism and condemned it, and she said straight away that the gun laws will change. It was refreshing to hear a leader speak after a tragedy who talked about what would be done immediately to make everyone safer. You rarely hear that when there is a tragedy (man-made or a natural disaster) in the US. You usually hear about excuses, blame, thoughts and prayers, and calls to not change existing laws. 

One thing that event has in common with some US shootings, though, is that the main perpetrator was a white extremist who was afraid of people of different backgrounds. Also similar, he was inspired by previous acts of violence that got media coverage. He used social media to post big warning signs, and yet they slipped through the cracks and nothing was done to stop him. It is clear that white extremism has resurged around the world in recent years, and steps need to be taken to both quell it, and make it more difficult for anyone to cause widespread harm to a group of people. 

In other happier news, Penelope is starting to take a few steps by herself. I wouldn't call what she does "walking" quite yet, but any day now she will take a few more steps and then a few more. And then, she will probably run a marathon. 

After Penelope goes to sleep, I actually have started using my new basic screenprinting skills to make gifts for a few people. I can't give any details yet since I haven't given the gifts yet, and I don't want to ruin the surprise. I've officially used this new ability in a practical way more than I've used my beekeeping knowledge. To be fair, though, it's pretty hard to keep an apiary on your apartment balcony. I still hope to one day have a hive or two when we have our own yard. 

I also made my return today to the yoga mat. For my birthday, Michael bought me a ten-class-pass to Humming Puppy, and I was finally able to go. I'd been less motivated to go since the one friend I would go with moved away. At the beginning of a class, I usually feel antsy and want to move, but I always feel better during the second half - more calm, muscles stretched and more relaxed, etc. Also, Humming Puppy is great because they always have some unique tea blends and coconut water for you to drink after the class for free (well, included in the price you play to go to the class), and also it's a 2 minute walk from home. Anyway, It was a great way to spend a rainy morning.

Here's to the start of a hopefully better week full of less illness and bad news, and more yoga and socializing. 

Quarantined

PJ has "hand, foot, and mouth disease", and Michael is in Wellington, NZ for work for a few days. This means that I am just taking care of PJ and don't get to do any fun activities with her out and about, like swimming, since she is contagious. Grown-ups can carry the virus, but aren't likely to experience the same symptoms as their immune systems are better developed. Luckily, I haven't had any issues so far. Even though she shouldn't be around other babies, we can at least go out for walks in her stroller in the morning and in the late afternoon to get some fresh air.

PJ goes through times where she is her usual silly self, and then times where she is a little crankier and more tired from the fever. She's also getting annoyed with me because I keep giving her medicine. Sorry, kiddo. You'll thank me one day.

Anyway, so far I am just thankful it's mild. The timing isn't the best, but it could be worse. Mike watched her yesterday before leaving, while I taught for the day. I have easily freed up my schedule for the rest of the week, so we are fortunate with our flexibility. For now, we wait.

Busy Box

Mike worked really hard for several days - planning, gleaning and buying pieces, borrowing and buying tools, and putting it all together - making a busy box for Penelope. One side is done, and he plans to add to it in the future, based on her interests. 

We are all pretty happy with the end result.

Hectic Skeptics

It has been a special education week at work for me. Michael has been busy with work too. Penelope has adjusted to daycare, but such that she is more fussy at drop off time now that she knows what it means. We are pretty sure she stops crying quickly, though. The cats sleep most of the day and bother me for food. And that's what's going on with all the Chirlins this fairly ordinary week.

I feel like the theme lately has been conspiracy theories. I recently watched Behind the Curve about "Flat Earthers" on Netflix, and similar topics keep coming up at work. Every school where I teach, one or two kids in each class just spontaneously tell me about NASA conspiracies, Katy Perry being a cannibal, the Illuminati, etc. I remember being fascinated with mysteries and conspiracies around the later primary grades too, but I can't help but think it's somehow worse now because of the spread of so much misinformation on the internet. When I was a kid, it didn't matter if I thought some weird government stuff happened at Area 51 because I watched the X-Files. Now, people read something on the internet and they decide vaccines are dangerous, and then make decisions that actually affect the public health negatively. Or, they see a video on youtube and decide that climate change isn't real even though the vast majority of scientists and academics agree it is a pressing issue, and most of the world is experiencing weather patterns that support the phenomenon. Then, those non-believers make decisions that affect how communities are able to adjust on local, national, and international levels. 

Today, one of the students told me that he believes in these conspiracies because science used to say one thing and then years later it says something else. Yeah, that's how science works. It's because researchers continually are testing and retesting hypothesis so that there can be improvements in our understanding of a million topics. If they weren't saying new and different things all the time, I'd think they weren't doing any research. The scientific method and scientific research aren't perfect or infallible, but a better more accurate model has yet to come about. 

I think all these science skeptics should read How to Invent Everything by Ryan North. He basically runs through every major breakthrough throughout the course of humanity. Everything we have now, we owe to thousands and thousands of years of trial and error. Thanks, science!

Penelope Turns One!

We had a fun picnic on a gorgeous afternoon in Centennial Park to celebrate Penelope's first birthday. I keep not having enough time to write much about it, and right now is still one of those times.