Voting, Through a Child's Eyes.

The other day, I was out and about knocking out errands right and left when I remembered that early voting was taking place in polling locations all over town, including a library directly next to me! I was a weeeee bit nervous about having Ava in tow, since she is definitely going through the torrential, terrible and tear-filled threes, but I believe in the power of leading by demonstration and want to teach her the power of the political process, so in we went.

Between the time I decided that I would vote that day and arriving at the voting location, I took a few minutes to explain in two-year-old terms what exactly we were going to do. It went a little something like this:

A: "Where we going, mommy?"
Me: "We're going to the library, honey, but not just for books. Today is a special day. Today mommy is going to vote, and you can help me!"
A: "What vote mean?" (she can't quite add "does" to her vocab for some reason...)
Me: "Well, sweetie, there are two men in our country currently who want to be our leader. One's name is President Obama, and the other's name is Senator Romney. When we vote, it's like raising our hand to tell the country who we want to be in charge. Mommy wants Obama to be in charge for a lot of reasons, some of which revolve around protecting your future and your rights and the rights of your Uncles.
A: "Is the other man a bad man?"
Me: "No, honey. He's not a bad guy like Jafar or Gaston. He's just not the person we want making our decisions for us and who we want to get to decide what we can and cannot do with our bodies, or in our homes, or who we are allowed to love."
A: "Bama a nice man?"
Me: "I think so, honey, yes."
A: "Bama, baby!"

Ha - not quite sure where she came up with that last chant (maybe we've watched a few too many football games in her life?!), but she was cracking me up while saying, "Bama, baby!" repeatedly when we were waiting at the polling location. There was no secret who we were there to vote for, and I surely did let Ava hit the "enter" button while casting my ballot :)

I know I talk to Ava like a much older child sometimes. Sure, most of what I said may have sailed right over her head. Sometimes D comes in and I'll be explaining something to her or defining something and I can hear him just snickering. But I firmly believe in the importance of never underestimating our children's intelligence and treating children with respect and like the little citizens they are and who we want them to grow up to be. I was treated as a member of a team growing up in my family, as opposed to a powerless child who had no say. Sure, there are some things I had no say in. Some decisions are for adults alone, obviously. But in growing up with the general feeling that my opinion mattered, and that somehow, I could change the way that things were? The value of that just cannot be stressed enough, and has become a defining way in which I choose to parent Ava. I don't want her to ever remember a time when she did not believe that things could change; a time when she didn't have faith that the world could improve and that we are not helpless and powerless to help it to do so. Shouldn't all women have such a belief instilled in them from a young age? Wouldn't so many great things happened if women grew up feeling empowered?

No matter what she took from today, I hope that when she's old enough to do her civic duty and vote, she remember the importance of the act and know that she, in fact, can change the world.

Wordless Wednesday: The Moment I Knew...

...that my child would not grow up and reveal that she is a lesbian:

(For the record, though, I wouldn't care in the slightest if she did. I just thought this picture - and her obvious crush - was hysterical!)

Things to Do in Austin: Tiny Tails to You Petting Zoo (Fall Edition).

Yeah, yeah, I've written about them before here. And maybe here. But we like to go as often as we can, and there is clearly a reason for that: we love Tiny Tails to You Petting Zoo!

I was joking with the owner, the very wonderful Chelsea Phillips, that I always come with Ava and a different child, and that really does speak to the fact that we just can't say enough good things about the experience.

As always, it starts with an applicable story for storytime. This time, we read A Boy and His Bunny and Bark, George! - both of which were adorable stories! We definitely are adding those to the Christmas/Birthday list!!!

After that, it's time to get right to it and hop into the fenced in area with the animals for the hands-on, petting zoo portion! So fun! Ava always adores the animals, and one mom even commented how brave and compassionate she was, holding each of them and cuddling them up to her! Aww!

My sweet, sweet girl :)

After we've spent a good twenty minutes in the pen, we come back out and do an animal-related craft, which has ranged from putting together pre-cut shapes to form an animal (a lion or elephant, etc), to a coloring page with sequins, etc. We still have all four or five that we've made this year on her bulletin board in her room because she loves them so much!

Have YOU been to Tiny Tails to You Petting Zoo and Storytime yet? If not, what are you waiting for? They've expanded their days and locations to include Westlake, Pflugerville and Round Rock, as well as the centrally located BookPeople that we frequent, so there should certainly be one to fit your schedule! You can view their full schedule of events on their website above!

Our Annual Trip to the Elgin Pumpkin Patch: 2012 Edition

As you'll likely remember if you've been reading for any length of time, we are fortunate to be surrounded by pumpkin patches, corn mazes, farms and the like, which is funny, given we live in a major metropolitan area! As such, we've made it a tradition since Ava was born to take her to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm to their Pumpkin Patch and Festival, and we LOVE it! There are many in this area (Sweet Berry Farm, church-owned pumpkin patches, and the newly opened Barton Hills Farms, but we just love the one in Elgin - more on that to come!).

As a comparison, here is Ava each year we've gone:

2010:

2011:

2012:

Oh my word, how she's grown up! I can't believe it!

Her supersonic growing aside, we had such a fun time this year. Last year she was old enough to enjoy it, but this year she was even more interactive, enjoying the "crazy maze" with us and favoring the hayride to anything else (she went on it two or three times!)! She didn't even want to get off at the playground stop!

Part of the hayride included a spooky, Halloween theme, but she wasn't scared (she's not afraid of ANYTHING!) at all, and enjoyed every second! 

And what would a post about a visit to the pumpkin patch be without the inclusion of the many photo ops provided?

Happy Autumn, everyone! We sure do love fall around here!!!

Wordless Wednesday: The Paci Fairy.

...coming, December 2012.

Ava's First (and Second!) Day of School!

So this post is extremely belated, but as I explained earlier this week, things have been a bit crazy around here. Anywho, at long last, here's a bit about Ava's first (and now, second) day of school!

Here's the big preschooler as we left the house:

She was so excited. So much so, that she couldn't even look at the camera. Whomp, whomp.

The entire drive there our car was abuzz with excitement. I can neither confirm nor deny that we sang "Call Me Maybe" and "Love You Like a Love Song" at the top of our lungs, but I can say for sure that we had an extremely fun time, high on nervous energy at the enormity of the milestone we were facing. As far back as her first year of life, Ava has had a desire to go to school like the big girls she spends her days with, and there was no denying the excitement she felt at getting to do just that. Even so, she's also still a two-year-old who is realllly attached to her mother, and so that inevitably factored into our morning when we arrived and her lip turned all trembly.

"I don't want to go to schoooooool. School is not fun place!"

Despite the slight hiccup, I knew better than to linger, and got her settled in quickly and left to make things easier on all of us: me, her and her lovely teacher, Ms. Elaine. I know firsthand how awful it is when a parent won't just head out and drags out the whole separation ordeal, and so instead the nice people at Plug & Play let me take up residence in the very front (out of sight, out of mind!) and checked on her for me, ensuring me she was recovered and ready to have a great day!

I will say, and this could potentially be attributed to how I spent my morning, I was surprised at how I felt driving off. On the toughest of mornings, I just knew that when Ava eventually went to preschool I would feel an overwhelming sense of joy and freedom. Instead, and maybe it's because we weren't having a tough morning by any stretch of the imagination, I felt alone for the first time in a long time. Heading out to face the unknown alone, I found myself wishing I had my baby girl beside me.

Thankfully, when I arrived back for pick-up, my baby girl was waiting for me with the type of smile that could make a mother forget the worst of mornings, leaping into my arms! Rather than focusing on how much she missed me, though, and how she had been sad at drop off, Ava instead told me how much fun she had, and when I asked, said, "I can't wait to go back to school!" WOOHOO! That's exactly the attitude I hoped she would have about it, but I'm so glad to know that she enjoyed it as much as I knew she would.

As for her day, it was chalked full of story time (Polar Bear, Polar Bear - who doesn't love Eric Carle?!), music and dancing (her personal favorite - she talked about it all day long!), circle time and art, where they practiced learning colors in Spanish ("azul!" she exclaimed proudly when asked about it) and made a collage of the letter "Q"!

When it came time for her second day of school, she held true to her previous excitement and exclaimed proudly when she woke up, "I can't wait to go to school today!"

She started to tear up slightly when I took her potty before I left, but she composed herself and didn't cry! Victory!

When I picked her up, she was playing happily with two other children (boys - go figure! she's definitely into the boys!), and was so excited to show me her awesome art project she made (an awesome R in the shape of raccoon - how cool!).

I can't wait to see what she makes this week!

For those following along, I have an appointment with my surgeon this week while Ava is at school, so we'll know more about what we're looking at (taking the mass out or not) then and I'll update :)

Ava Goes to Church.

I've made it a goal for myself and Ava to attend church more frequently. Our Sundays are notoriously busy, whether due to a late night at work the night before and the need to decompress from a packed week, or navigating the children's birthday party circuit (unfortunately the only party circuit I am familiar with these days!), and so we frequently sacrifice going to church - something I'm less than proud of. As we close out 2012, I've chosen to start my resolutions early, and am attempting to take Ava to church as often as we can. This past Sunday was one such Sunday.

We went to a new church, since the church I am a member at received a new Rector a couple of years back and my feelings towards the particular locale have been waning ever since. He's a lovely person, but he doesn't inspire me the way that the interim Rector who was there at the time of my baptism and joining the church took place did, and so I'm looking around so as not to neglect our spiritual education due to a poor fit between myself and the current Rector. Anyhow, this past Sunday we attended a different location. It went a little something like this:

Ava, once we were officially settled in and quiet for the service to begin: "But where's God?"

HA. I explained to her that he was with us, but that he was present above, watching and feeling proud from Heaven. This seemed to freak her out more than anything.

Ava, when I'd shushed her gently during the sermon, "Why is that man talking so loud?!"

Two things were wrong with this statement. The obvious: the Pastor/Vicar/Rector was talking so loud because she was delivering the sermon. Also, it was a woman with a short haircut, not a man. Thankfully her face did not give away that she heard Ava's question. Whew.

Ava, after I'd asked her to read quietly for the 129038120938th time: "SHHHHHHHHHH!!" to the man coughing a few rows behind us.

Awesome. She even put her finger to her lips. At least I knew she was getting the point?

The best part came, however, during communion (doesn't it always?). As the Rector blessed the bread and wine, Ava asked first, "What that? Yucky bread?" and then, "That your wine, mommy?"

Thankfully we Episcopalians aren't exactly known for our teetotaling, and so that got quite the laugh from the small congregation, as opposed to a look of shame. Whew!

Despite all the mishaps and laughs, everyone came up to us to introduce themselves afterwards and told me how wonderfully she behaved. Maybe she was speaking more softly than I thought.

And now, a beautiful quote I came across the other day, that sums up my choice to join the Episcopal church a few years back quite perfectly:

"The Episcopal Church is the perfect paradox: firmly based in tradition, but never afraid to change; deep and meaningful theology without the headaches; and a strong community of believers who don't all believe exactly the same thing, but love each other anyway. "