I'm Writing Too: June 2017

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme started by Sheila at Book Journeys and now hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

This is what I read in June. Actually, this is what I have read since vacation started. I'm succeeding with my #bookaday challenge! I especially enjoyed The Other Half of My Heart, The Right Word, Tiny Creatures, and All We Have Left. Great books for (in order listed above) white privilege, word choice, info book mentor text, and 9/11 historical fiction/Muslim American relations.

Kristi's bookshelf: june-2017

Sidewalk Flowers

by JonArno Lawson

Flora and the Flamingo

by Molly Idle

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909

by Michelle Markel

Draw!

by Raúl Colón

Paper Wishes

by Lois Sepahban

That's Me Loving You

by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

The Farmer and the Clown

by Marla Frazee

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus

by Jennifer Fisher Bryant

Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes

by Nicola Davies

The Girl from Everywhere

by Heidi Heilig

The King Of Little Things

by Bil Lepp

Counting Thyme

by Melanie Conklin

Highly Illogical Behavior

by John Corey Whaley

The Other Half of My Heart

by Sundee T. Frazier

All We Have Left

by Wendy Mills

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Filed Under "Observations of a Third Culture Kid"

As we walk from the parking lot to the sanctuary I look over and notice she is cowering under her hands.

"I need an umbrella," she comments.

Chuckling to myself, "It's just mist."

She isn't satisfied with my answer.

"You aren't from around here, are you?" I add.

This gets under her third culture skin. As we cross the street she shares the strategy she has come up with.

"I'll just think of it as blowing sand - you just squint and tilt your head down for both."

This observation of hers has stayed with me. Not only is it true, but it is such a clear illustration of my child who is 'from' Seattle and lives in the sandbox known as Saudi.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

My daughter

My daughter
no longer a little girl.
So big
and smart
and sassy!

"Mom!" has replaced the cherished "Mommy!"
She's 8 and heading to third grade and
So big

Until I go to wake her up
and gently pull the hair back from her face
unearthing the sweet face that belongs to
my little girl.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Cycle of Life - Overseas Version (And a Parenting Lesson)

When you live overseas the comings and goings of people around you is part of the ebb and flow of life. This can happen at any point throughout the year, however the end of the calendar year and the end of the school year are the two most prevalent times for good-byes.

So, after 14 years outside our home country we have become accustomed to these seasons of good-bye. Generally we have months between the news of someone leaving and the reality of the last known day together, but not always. In the last week we've been hit with two surprises that hit very close to home (as well as several more in the past two weeks in our wider circles).

While I came to know about these two instances several days apart, they became public knowledge on the same day. This alignment of stars meant that I was breaking tear inducing news to my daughter TWICE in one day.

My daughter is a natural crier. Her eyes overflow when she is filled with emotion. Her eyes leak at a satisfying end to a story, be it happy for sad. Tears are a common part of how she experiences emotions. Sometimes the tears turn to sobs and take several moments before she can continue. She and I both know this. I have to proceed with caution.

At the end of a school day the email went out to all staff that a teacher was moving - next week. Since my daughter usually stops by my room at the end of her day I wanted to make sure I was the one to break the news to her, rather than have her over hear it somewhere.

"I have something to tell you, and it might make you cry."

Her eyes got wide as she settled into my arms. "What is it?"

"Mr. [favorite teacher that she desperately hopes to have one day] is moving."

She trusts herself around my neck and holds on tight. Eventually she slowly pulls back and asks, "To where?"

At this point I am surprised that, while there is shock and sadness written all over her face, there aren't any actual tears.

***Four hours later***

"I am some more news that might make you cry."

I will spare you the details of the story. (It was absolutely precious, but this news still isn't widely known and while it isn't a secret, I sure don't want to be the one to spill the beans!) What I will tell you is this; there weren't any tears!

Reflecting upon these two incidents I am now wondering if by simply prefacing potentially devastating news with "you might cry" allows her to be prepared enough for the emotion that she can steal herself to the extremity of her feelings. Or, it could just be that she's now eight. One thing I do know, we live overseas, and there will be more opportunities to test my new delivery method.

Monday, June 5, 2017

What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

This is what I read in May...