mad-eye moody

Yesterday, Binbin woke up with a puffy right eye (see pic). Question: what caused it? What is... a) conjunctivitis (aka pink eye), b) a kiddy brawl over ice cream at Cote's, or c) a black fly bite.


If you guessed (a), you are in good company with the nurse who called and left a message on our answering machine after we left the house for the doctor's office, but you would be wrong. If you guessed (b), you like the same kind of tall tales that Jack does. If you guessed (c), you're right! For a gift, you may choose from a mesh protector for your face or a sample of deet or a tiny no-see'um black fly swatter! Enjoy the long weekend!

"Course opinions" vs. "Student evaluations"

Well, it's May, and close to the end of the spring semester for many colleges and universities.

Binbin found a pile of old, unused course evaluations and while we were reading bedtime stories one evening, he went to work. You'll see the results right here. He went to office hours 50 times. He received an average grade of 4 on his first two papers. And, he expects to receive a grade of 110 in this course. How is that possible?

Perhaps it's the kind of logic that comes of having attended only 10% of the classes, while meeting with the professor 50 times outside of class.

If nothing else, he put 110% effort into this exercise. ;)

kindergarten screening

It was Binbin's "audition" for kindergarten, and he was a bundle of nerves. The idea of interacting with complete strangers, possibly or quite probably apart from Mama and Baba, was terrifying. I coaxed him out of the car and into the hallway of the community K-5 school, but that was as far as I could get him for about 10 minutes. He occasionally forgot his fear as curiosity led him a few feet down one hallway, but we returned to our "nest" the bench. Fortunately, an experienced administrator gently suggested entering through a door adjacent to the kindergarten wing. I wasn't at all sure it would work...Binbin had even rejected a trip to Target as I desperately thought of ways to entice him (forcing him to go would have doomed the whole kindergarten thing). But, it did! Hurrah! An expert kindergarten teacher nudged him into the P.E. "testing room" (the tests consisted of throwing and catching a spongy ball, running and jumping), and once he had an activity (like a dog sighting a squirrel), he was as right as rain. As I spoke with teacher and nurse, Binbin was led through his paces: hearing test, eye test, small motor coordination, basic knowledge of colors, shapes, letters. Afterward, he denied all hesitation ("I was brave!"), but remembered the Target offer.

15 minutes later, we were finally on our way to preschool, with Space Police vehicle and Squidman in hand. Victory is ours.