Thursday, January 20, 2011

PIckles and a Project

"Pickles was a young cat. 
His paws were big. 
And he wished to do big things 
with them."
from "The Fire Cat" by Esther Averill.
I think Benjamin was probably less then a year old when Grandma gave him this book. She wrote in it that he was a lot like Pickles, who wanted to do big things. It still very aptly describes him. We've been talking with him a little about kindergarten next year. We asked him what he thought kindergarten should be like, and he told us that he wants it to be "challenging." No pressure, Mom! So I've been looking at magnet schools, charter schools, half-day, whole-day, Montessori as "homeschool," and even a few private schools as options.  I have no idea what we'll end up doing. I have no real problem going the pubic-school route- that's what I did as a kid. But it has made me stop and think a little about things...if he's so serious about his education, perhaps I should be too. Even if it is just kindergarten.

In non-kid-related news, look what I found! Isn't it gorgeous? Just kidding...but for $25, I thought it would be perfect to rip apart. I intend to learn how to reupholster furniture this year, and this is going to be my guinea pig.
And I even happened to have 5 yards (the perfect amount) of green ticking stripe Pottery Barn fabric that I bought off eBay over a year ago. My upholstery book should be coming in the mail tomorrow. I'm crazy scared and excited about this project. I'll let you know how it goes.

5 comments:

The Dahle Family said...

Oh, Sarah, I understand the kindergarten dilemma! I so wanted kindergarten to be academically challenging for Xander! I went to the curriculum night his first week of school, and they showed their report cards that list everything he needs to be proficient in by the end of the year, and he could already do all of it plus. So I've tried to be very involved to help the teachers provide the challenge he needs! Good luck!

Stacy said...

That's so funny that he wants it to be challenging! Lily doesn't want anything even remotely challenging. I've tried to reupholster things before, with little success. Maybe I need a book. Huh. Food for thought. ;)

Liz said...

Best of luck with the reupholstering! Let us know how it goes. I'd love to learn it myself, but I'm pretty scared to try on my own.
Amazing that we're all old enough to be thinking about our kids going to real school, huh? Crazy. :-)

Rachel Sorber said...

Wow. You're a brave woman with that reapolstering project. Can't wait to see the results!

And kindergarten...it's interesting. Best of luck finding the thing that suits you guys. Ultimately, I think for kids that age it has much more to do with the teacher and the kid to adult ratio than it does with the actual curriculum--you can always supplement that. But you can't as easily replace a great school teacher or great kids to learn with. But that's just been my experience so far. Hope you find something that works for you.

Marc and Miriam Deru said...

I really don't see why you don't leave the chair as is. I've never seen such a beautiful fabric. It just needs a long-hair lazy cat to grace its cushion. ;)

Even so, I love the new fabric you chose and, knowing you, it will turn out great.

Good luck with the decision for Benjamin. He's going to love school, isn't he?