Summer camp sendoff

Jordan and Aaron started summer camp together this week. Public school is actually still in session, but we gave Jordan the choice to attend a couple days of camp this week… we figured why not, and it definitely helps Aaron to have his big bro on the bus with him. Here they are showing off some of their new gear.

And here they are boarding the big yellow bus, checking in with their "bus captain" Carly. Jordan instructed Aaron to grab a seat in the back because it’s so BUMPY back there. They got a seat together, and waved merrily to us as the bus pulled away. We shared with the other bus stop parents that strange feeling of liberation and yearning you get when your kids take another step away from you.

In the middle of the day I got an entertaining email from Aaron’s camp director. “Aaron requested I email in regards to his water bottle today,” she said. “At lunch he got confused and quite upset thinking Alec’s blue water bottle was his. He is doing great now but wanted me to ask you to make him aware of which water bottle he will have in his lunch.” Poor guy. Aaron used a blue water bottle all through last year at preschool, which must have looked like Alec’s. For camp, he has a very cool new one with anglerfish on it. We did show it to him, but there is so much new, it's got to be a lot to take in. What are you supposed to rely on, when even your water bottle changes?

End of an era

Aaron’s tenure at the Stroum Jewish Community Center Early Childhood School is over. He started there when we moved to Seattle, when he was one year old, meaning he has been going there on weekdays for something like 80% of his life. It’s been a good school for our family; the curriculum is good, the teachers are some good and some great, and the other families are a wonderful bunch of people. When you join a preschool, you are joining a pool of friends for both your children and yourself, and both we and the kids have made some very good friends at the J. A few of these families will be at our neighborhood elementary school or at temple, so we will have a continuing connection to them. For others, we’ve made a schedule of monthly dinners so we can keep in touch.

 I love having big kids. But Jordan doesn’t really fit in my lap anymore, and Aaron still does but barely, and I’m realizing how fast it all goes by. The end of preschool is the end of early childhood. When I cleaned out Aaron’s cubby, there was his naptime blanket, and I thought: The days of naptime blankets are over. The days of playtime in class are over (though at least there is still recess). The days of teachers who know you as a whole person are over – how you nap, what you eat, what your family is like; public school doesn’t support that. The sense of school as a place where you follow your own interests and set your own pace are probably over too (until maybe college?). At his next school, there will be 25 kids in his class, there will be a ton of behavior management, and the district will set the curriculum. It’s the end of an era.

Aaron in the middle is with Halsey and Clementine, in our sukkah. At the bottom is Emanuel, his current best buddy, with Spencer C. On the right side jumping off a board is his other best buddy Finn.

SJCC Completion Ceremony

Aaron is at the end of his preschool years! He's been at the Stroum Jewish Community Center since he was one year old, so the "completion ceremony" they held tonight felt like a huge milestone. Here he is all dressed up.

The children sang Alef-Bet in Hebrew, then "You Can't Always Get What You Want," and then "Leaving on a Jet Plane." They were hilariously uncoordinated and incredibly charming. They were each called up to receive their portfolio, which is a beautiful compilation photos and artwork over the year, and hugs from their teachers.

Aaron has passionate friendships from here that I hope last him a long time. Here he is with his dear friend Emanuel, and buddies Gabi and Spencer C.

As for what the future holds, Aaron has big plans. I would love to see him make this vision a reality:

Jordan at religious school

Religious school is out for the summer after this weekend. Last weekend, the second graders led a service that the parents attended. It was pretty fantastic -- spirited, authentic, musical, and with lots of original material from the kids. Here they are in action. Jordan's in the second row.

He seems to be developing some buddies there, too. Here he is with Zac, Marco, and Benjamin. Marco is the best of these friends; sometimes they have a Sunday afternoon playdate, and they get along very well. Marco also auditioned for the Boychoir. I don't know yet if he got in.

Northwest Boychoir

Jordan seems to like music a lot. He has always had an excellent ear (since he was a toddler), and he seems to be learning a ton at his music program at school. He has very good pitch, great rhythm, and an excellent memory for tunes. We're feeling like it's time to start him in some kind of formal music training, and why not choir? I loved it for many years (in fact, I'm thinking of getting back to it). Making music with other people is a wonderful thing. Seattle has a choir called the Northwest Boychoir that takes boys as young as six. I've heard them practice (they're in a community center nearby) and we know some people who were in the choir as kids; it's a very good choir, and a fun, rewarding, tight community where kids make lifelong friends as well as learning a lot musically. They don't start until the fall, though. Meanwhile, we have started Jordan on piano lessons with a neighborhood teacher who also instructs several of his classmates. That's going well, and we'll see how things shape up as he continues. 

The Northwest Boychoir makes you audition. I explained to Jordan that auditions are "tryouts," and that it's a two-way tryout: they are trying you out to see if you can do a good job in the choir, and you are trying them out to see if you like what they do. The first audition is one boy, one parent, and the teacher, whose name is Ben. Jordan had to sing a song all by himself (he sang a song he knows from choir at school). Then he sat at the piano with Ben for "piano games." Jordan couldn't resist playing the piano for Ben, which was not on the agenda, but what do I know, maybe it was informative. (He played "Ode to Joy," two hands!) He also did pitch-matching and imitating clapped rhythms. Nailed both of those. The hardest exercise was when Ben played a chord and Jordan had to sing back the individual notes; he got about half of those. He liked the teacher and said he enjoyed himself.

Jordan got the callback for the second audition, which was today. At the second audition, they gather all the new boys into a room and do an hour-long lesson to see how they are in a group. No parents. Jordan loved it. He bounced out of the room at the end bubbling about how much fun it was and singing the songs they had learned. I couldn't hear much from the lobby, but I heard enough to know that they learned Dona Nobis Pacem. I think that's a pretty good sales pitch; it's such a beautiful piece, and simple enough that they could really get somewhere in an hour. Here are the boys that were still in their places when I went to pick him up. Jordan's not in the picture because he jumped up to greet me.

Apparently the second audition went well too, because we got the call this evening congratulating him on getting in! Very exciting! We're delighted, and Jordan is very proud.