Right about this time, I had hoped to be posting with news of an upcoming move—a next step in what is shaping up to be a restless period of our lives. But alas, we have a complicated relationship with real estate these days and our plans have been thwarted for the time being. So first I’ll tell you about plans that ARE on track.
SCHOOL. Boys are happy and when boys are happy, mom and dad are happy. We’ve tried something new this year. Every day the boys write down what they need to accomplish on a dry erase board on the fridge and they decide how to schedule their assignments during the day. That’s worked well for Gus—who is like his father, Mr. Organized and Disciplined—but it has worked less well for Jeb, who is probably more like me—needing structure.
Cue Chariots of Fire! Jeb finishing his awesome 5K. (Almost as awesome was that it was cold and rainy in Texas. Hooray!) Notice the guy in blue trying to keep up with the speedy one.
After a few days when Jeb was having some motivation problems (and mom was having some “I can’t do this anymore” moments), the threat of regular 7-hour-a-day school was brought out. I know some people might think homeschooling parents force their kids into this kind of life, but I can tell you from Jeb’s reaction to the idea of regular schooling, that this is absolutely his choice. We quickly worked out another plan—where we would go back to organizing Jeb’s day into blocks of prescribed work time. That seems to have fixed the problem.
SPORTS. We have told the boys that they always need to be involved in sports. Not because we have visions of Olympics or pro contracts dancing in our heads, but because we want them to get in the habit of regular exercise. Gus is on a fabulous swim team and has been swimming four days a week (an hour and 15 minutes each session). That’s a lot of swimming and his commitment has paid off. Last week, his swim club named him “swimmer of the week” for his level. Plus, he has thinned out so much that he needs a belt for pants that used to fit snugly. (He’s also shot up—which has nothing to do with swimming of course—and now he’s actually taller than I am. The day that we realized he had passed me was one I’ll always remember with a mix of pride and the heartbreak every parent feels at those significant milestones that shout, “He’s not your baby anymore.”)
Jeb played soccer this fall and loved his position as sweeper (a defensive position that places him right in front of his goal). Now that soccer season is over, he’s looking for something else to keep him active (besides trying to perfect his flips on the trampoline). He comes from a long line of runners—Robb ran a marathon at age 13 and was on his high school track and cross country teams; I ran track in junior high and his uncle Jeff was a serious cross country and track man and his beloved cousin Alex ran track for West Point. And it’s been hard not to notice how fast Jeb is when he has done warm ups with his soccer or baseball teams.
So last Saturday Robb and Jeb ran a 5K sponsored by our local YMCA. Jeb had never run a race and has done very little training, but he came in 10th overall out of 125 participants with a time of 25 minutes, 40 seconds. He beat his Dad by 8 seconds and says he held back a bit because he didn’t want to leave Robb completely in the dust. (Ouch!) We’re hoping he’ll want to run more races and that we can find a running club for him to join.
LANGUAGE. Through the fall the boys have been working on their French with our lovely friend Isabelle Bettler and also keeping up on their Spanish grammar and writing with our new friend, Rosy Osorio. They’ve been reading books in Spanish and writing stories. (Maybe writing in Spanish is more liberating for them since their Mom can’t edit them in Spanish.)
Gulp! It's happened! Gus is taller than me now. I'm 5'8" and he's closer to 5'9". Oh my, how time flies.
But for a couple of reasons Gus has decided to switch to Chinese. He began to feel that French wasn’t enough of a challenge—since it was so close to Spanish. He’s always thought he would tackle one of the big, brain-bending languages—ones that don’t use our alphabet—and was considering Arabic and Chinese. I was always pressing for Chinese, but he was leaning toward Arabic. It turns out however that there are many more opportunities in Austin to learn Chinese than there are for Arabic. Plus, Gus may have the chance to tag along with Robb when he goes to China in the spring for a Geographic trip.
So he sat in on a Chinese class that is offered by a Chinese school that caters mostly to children of native speakers who live in the Austin area. He’s in a beginner class with four other adults and three other kids and is getting some private tutoring too. Well he’ll tell you that Chinese certainly supplies the “challenge” factor he was missing with French. When Gus was listening to a Chinese pronunciation video online, Jeb just shook his head. “I feel sorry for Gus,” he said. One side benefit of Gus taking Chinese is that it has made Jeb appreciate French more!
TRAVEL. Because we were planning on a big move this spring, no one wanted to tackle a major trip this school year (no one except me, but I was out voted. Democracy can be a nuisance.)
Instead, we’re doing two small trips during the holidays. Before Christmas we’re going up to New York City to catch a play or two and some intense holiday spirit. I don’t know if there’s a place on Earth quite as glittery and festive (and crowded) as Fifth Avenue during the holidays.
After Christmas we’ll head to San Miguel again—this time with Robb, who missed all the fun last summer. There will be friends to see and Spanish to be practiced. Then from there we’ll go to our favorite beach in the world, Troncones. It’s on the Pacific coast, just above Zihautanejo and Ixtapa. Unlike these two famous beach towns, Troncones is not developed at all. No high rises—just low-slung hotels and bungalows. For me, it’s the dream beach town. Palapas, a wide beach and surf. And what a surf. It’s a big spot for surfers, but we like to boogie board. The waves are so strong that you can get a great ride every time just hanging out close in, after they’ve broken.
After the holidays we’ll be busy figuring out our next move. Or maybe we’ll decide that the universe is conspiring to keep us in Texas. It’s a little crazy, but at the same time exciting. Round and round the Kendricks go; where they’ll land nobody knows.
Robb and Jeb (#11 and #10 finishers, respectively) after the race.
I'm laughing here, but I had a moment of tears about this monumental moment.
This was taken the last time we were at our favorite beach, Troncones--on the Pacific. We can't wait to get back there.
Tags: chinese, French, homeschooling, language, mandarin, San Miguel de Allende, Troncones
Good morning from Seattle! Thanks for the update. So great to see all of you looking healthy and happy. Safe travels to NYC and San Miguel. Merry Christmas!
We’ll keep you, since you’re stuck in Texas. (wink)
Thanks for updating, and yes, we immediately noticed after a month away that suddenly Gus shot up. My prediction came true, it seems. I heard his bones creaking.
yes, Gus has grown at least a foot since I saw him last! Congrats to Jeb on outrunning his dad! *wow* It was so good to see all of you when you were in Hereford; hope you return soon! Merry CHRISTmas!!
Good luck! Merry Christmas! Continue to be the exception….