Ein Fest für Alex

This is what happens when you ignore your two-year-old

As you might have noticed, I had a bit of writing to catch up on this morning. Meanwhile, Joey alternated between curling up in my lap like an angelic cat and tearing around the house, throwing toys and scraps of paper about with wild abandon.

I had a second project as well, this morning: today, some of the parents from Alex's school threw a little party to celebrate the end of the year.  I'd promised to bring cookies and banana bread, so there was that to manage.

I'm usually pretty good at multitasking, but today I found out what happens if you forget to add a full cup of flour to your banana bread: your children revel in eating a full loaf of overly-mushy banana bread for lunch. Unfortunately, I singed the second loaf a little (my oven timer is still something of a mystery to me), but I was out of bananas by that point, and culinary ambition, as well.

Ella came home skipping, and curled up on the patio, right away, to get her homework finished.  I commented on her good mood, and she told me that, yes, she was feeling really happy today.  And then she said something I never thought I'd hear: "Mom? I don't want to go home.  Can we stay here forever?"

I think it comes from having nochElla as a friend, two or three kids that she's become especially friendly with, besides.  And also, Dennis and I have made a little conscious project of being extra light-hearted and silly with Ella, trying to help her see that playfulness on her classmates' parts is just that, and that sometimes jokes and pranks are meant for fun and smiles.  She's always been rather a serious girl, our Ella, and I'm beginning to realize that maybe she needs a little help in learning to lighten up.


Anyway, she was a real joy this afternoon: she was really excited about going to Alex's party, and, to pass the time before we left, she made up a new game for the boys, using a doodle she'd drawn in class today.  Interestingly, each school kid is issued a Zeichnungsheft each year, a drawing notebook, in which they can color and sketch when they finish their work.  It's kind of a nice idea.

We walked up to the party, Alex and Ella importantly carrying our treats. Only, Alex's plate was kind of slippery, and a few of the sugar cookies I made tumbled off.  Clever little Joey walked forty paces behind and helpfully picked up all of the fallen cookies and stored them carefully them in his tummy.

The party was pretty adorable: it was just held at the school playground, and the kids all ran around in a cluster, playing and squealing.  They presented their teachers with their handmade gifts: Frau Langen with her banner, and Frau Simmen with a little hand-made schoolhouse, filled with treasures from the kids.

Ella had a classmate there at the party, as well, and they played a little tag and hide-and-seek; Joey spent most of his time splashing around in the mud puddle that is the school sandbox.

And I did my best to be friendly and to make conversation: it amazed me, the summer plans that everyone is making. Trips to Denmark, to Italy, to the mountains, for three or four weeks. I've heard that, despite their interest in recycling and public transportation, the Swiss are among the worst offenders in the world in terms of pollution, because they fly so far and so often on their vacations.

After dinner, it was so still so hot that Dennis offered to take Ella and Alex for a quick evening swim.  He offered to let me take them as well, but I told him, no, I'd just spent two hours trying to make small talk in German, and that was just about all the activity I could handle today.

At this point, Alex looked at me and said, "Mom, I think you're a really lovely parent."

"Oh? And why is that? Is it because I'm peeling you a bowl full of peaches?"

"No. Well, yes, it's that, too. But it's because you try really had to talk to people in German even though it's so hard."

Oh...Alex!

I was pleasantly surprised to meet Alex's German teacher today, a very sweet, kind, mother of two named Frau Jenny.  Alex had mentioned having a German teacher once or twice, but I'd never heard anything about it from the school, and I wasn't sure that she actually existed. But no, she tells me, to my amazement, that she's been giving Alex German lessons once a week, and that, after summer, she hopes she'll get to teach him twice a week. And she invited me in, to sit in on one or two of his lessons, so that I could see what she does with him.  How wonderful that would be. And she offered to help me with translation of any of Alex's papers that I can't read--I'm extremely grateful for that!

She also tells me, and I think this is true, that Alex seems to understand quite a lot of German, and that he's very recently been improving a lot.  Dennis and I will have to think of some clever ways to keep the kids' German fresh over the summer.

Although I'm sure watching German cartoons will play no small part. We all deserve a break.