Ouest wore a polka-dot shirt today which prompted what has become my favorite word out of her mouth—poke-a-knot. Grandmas, next time you’re buying Ouest a dress, please look for poke-a-knots.
Went in to Guaymas this afternoon. Not much to say really. It’s a city. It’s got Home Depot, McDonald’s, and all the rest. All we did today was eat and grocery shop. These kids of mine are really ridiculous with the eating. I mean, they’re kids, they’re small, they shouldn’t eat ten dollars worth of fruit a day should they? When I was a kid I ate ten dollars worth of bologna a day—I doubt if I ate ten dollars worth of fruit in a year. Nowadays I eat like one banana. The kids? They eat two mangos, three kiwis, a pound of grapes, a banana, a melon, an apple, and maybe some pineapple. People ask us what the hardest thing about cruising with kids is. I’ll tell you—and it has nothing to do with sailing. Feeding them is the hardest part of cruising with kids.
21 Comments on “Poke-a-knots”
I really like how clean and simple your blog is. It’s a treat to follow your adventures and photos. Some blogs are so fancy and busy , they take forever to load on a 3G connection.
Thanks Bob. Clean and simple is exactly what we aim for.
Dang, mang. Your kids are super cute. I hope we have as much fun cruising with ours this fall as you have with yours!
Thanks Linda. I’m sure you will. Kids are tailor made for this lifestyle.
Go ahead and start making a list of all those cute words and expressions that they will say. By the time they start school, they won’t say them that way any longer. Only three come to mind for me, Jeff couldn’t pronounce Jolea or yellow. He’d call her Loy and he say lallo for yellow. Once Jolea began reading she would pronounce words the way she saw them, like chameleon, which she’d pronounce cham-lon. We still use that word and I still call her Loy.
Speaking of school, any thoughts? If you were in the states you could be thinking about Pre-K right about now.
Pre-K? Christ, I remember kindergarten as finger painting and nap times on cots spread throughout the room. What do kids do in Pre-K? I mean, what possibly comes before finger painting?
Oh. No. No thoughts on school yet.
What kids do in Pre-K do is learn to be around other kids and away from their parents for sometimes the first time in their lives. Some learn to speak English, and they all learn to use computers, iPods and iPads. We don’t do naps in Pre-K they are only in school about 3 hours.
Okay, okay, okay everyone. I was being a smart-ass, nothing more. I know what Pre-K is for. We understand the socializing aspect and in fact Ouest has been begging us to go to school. I think mainly due to the cute little outfits they wear to school down here. 🙂 Anyway, we’ve been talking about finding some sort of pre-school program for her this summer. We’ll see. Either way, I have absolutely no strong feelings on it one way or the other. The kids are three or four years old. They’ve got about ninety years ahead of them. I doubt Pre-K or No Pre-K is going to alter that ninety years much.
I feel like I got in the middle of some sort of debate taking place at an older brother’s suburban soccer match. 🙂
I’ve worked in the Public School sector for 15 year, Elementary School to be exact, the one and only school that houses all PreK classes for our school district. Take my advice, Home School!!! There is plenty of material, plenty of advice and support. Public schools aren’t what they used to be, at least here in the US.
Are you saying the cartel people are moving to N. Dakota or was it the lady who sold her bar?
Just curious why anyone would choose that state, tho it probably is quite nice.
Are you kidding? Mexican cartels DO NOT want to mess with the Bismark, ND, cartel. That’s for sure, yep.
“POKE-A-KNOTS” priceless! My son when he was that age after a long bath would show me his “Prinkles” on his hands. (Prinkles -> Wrinkles).
Big storms came through the Twin Cities, we had First World Problems of not having power or internet. My kids were confused with what to do with themselves. I said go read a book. Their reply “My iPad needs charging”.
Thank-you for clearing up the Prinkles=Wrinkles. 🙂 Funny, Ali and I have been on the fence about getting an iPad. Feels like a slippery slope. We say, “Oh, we’ll limit them to an hour a day.” But then one day you let another hour go by, and another, because it’s just so easy when they’re fully consumed with their “education” games or books or whatever. Anyway, we’re up to what, 4th generation iPad and we haven’t buckled yet. I think iPad 8 will be the turning point. [Cue the reports from parents of how much little Sally has learned from her iPad games.]
You are probably OK skipping pre-K, as long as you read to Ouest every day and avoid the iPad.
Parents tell themselves that Pre K is to help the kids but that is a lie. Real reasons are they need day care because they work and preschool sounds better or they want a break from their kids (sad). Any parent that does not know how to teach a 3 or 4 year old colors and shapes should take some parenting classes. You guys clearly love spending time with your kids and teaching them (reading). No need to think about formal education for a bit.
Also the Ipad is not so bad, at least that is what I tell myself. You are right about the time creep though. For our kids it goes in phases some weeks playing every day and others not at all. We like games that encourage interaction with others in the real world not through the internet. For reading we like the kindle/ or kindle app. Then use our local library (Idaho) for checking out books on the kindle (free!). You may have a few years before you need that though.
David, not necessarily. Some people are looking to have their children socialize and become a bit independent. And it’s also not so sad that people may want a break. 24/7 is a lot of time spent. Everyone raises thier children differently and there is no right way, correct?
Socializing IS the big advantage of pre-K, and school/daycare in general. But home schooling and close parental care have other huge advantages. Cruiser kids must surely learn a different type of independence.
I agree with the iPad though our kids are all grown I did catch my wife yesterday playing a game on my iPad because I “don’t spend enough time on (the game)” and she’s getting me a couple of levels closer to her”. So I left and went back to building new cockpit locker hatches. Maybe we need time limits for us adults.
I started reading your blog because of a Sea of Cortez sailing vacation I took earlier this year. I continue to read it because of your children. How lucky they are! They are being given a glimpse of life and living that is truly a gift. They will be indoctrinated soon enough. Why are we all in such a hurry to rush our children out of the nest and into some facility we think can do a better job than thoughtful parents? Why is there a timeline and a list of things a child must accomplish before they are 8 years old, for goodness sake? It all seems so arbitrary.
I love seeing the world through Ouest’s eyes. It is so lovely and innocent and sweet. Thank you for sharing.
Poke-a-knots, too funny. A friend of mine was packing up the family for vacation, and one of kids wanted to know if they packed their “swim soups”. When my oldest was little, we were leaving downtown Chicago one day headed back home and he said; “oh man, looks like this could be rough-hour”; instead of rush hour. I still call it rough hour since it’s totally more appropriate!!!!!!
Hello Pat & Ali,
You seem to have stirred quite some pot here 🙂
While I have no kids of my own I do teach (at a university level). I would like to encourage all parents having a discussion here to have a look at a lecture from Sir Ken Robinson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U and give it some thought.
Greetings,
Marius