As part of Anniversary Week, I guess I should talk about the kids, since once we're gone G and D will be our contribution to society - positive or negative.

I think the lying episodes are pretty much behind us, and G's been enjoying elementary school, his after-school activities (3 days a week - later post), and going to Korean school and Tae Kwon Do (altho the Master still scares him - LOL).  He seems to be doing pretty well at school.

Our local elementary school does an additional math program called Math Superstars, where kids get additional (more challenging) math problems to do at home.  It probably only takes 30-60 minutes a week, so it's really no big deal.  I usually review G's regular math homework, but the Math Superstars is basically an excuse for me and G to hang out in our office with our drinks (wine and Gatorade, respectively) and do math problems.  I usually will make up a few other problems that are similar, just for "fun."  Yes - I am just a barrel of laughs.  Actually, I do try and keep it light / fun.  So at the end of the year, the kids who complete a substantial portion of the weeks get an award.  What was funny was, as few Asians as there are in our school (and neighborhood), pretty much everyone getting an award was Asian.  I guess this is how the stereotype starts.  We live in a pretty affluent, well-educated neighborhood.  And overall, I would say parent involvement was *very* good.  But I was kind of surprised at how few parents actually spent time with their kids doing additional homework.  I realize not everyone can have both parents stay at home all day (professional poker player, baby!), but surely you can find an hour or two a week to make sure your kid is doing well at school?!?

Another example is they gave out a summer reading log, where they encouraged kids to read 20+ books over the summer.  Apparently, G was only a handful of second graders who actually did it.  So he got his name called in the auditorium and he was so proud to tell us.  And he gets some kind of prize from the library.  Really?!?  You couldn't read with your kid for 15 minutes a day?  I can only imagine what it must be like at a "less-educated," "less -affluent" school district.  Anyway, we only heard about this a few days ago, so we were pretty happy.

I guess I always assumed you reward good behavior and punish bad behavior, but Mrs. Fly's been talking me into not doing that.  Because you should be "good" regardless of whether you get rewarded for it.  So we've delayed a "reward" trip to the toy store for a few weeks.  I'm such a softie, I'll find any excuse to take G to the toy store (later post), but Mrs. Fly is the nut-buster in the family.  I guess you need one in every family.  <3 Mrs. Fly.

Well, that's only 1 of 2 kids, so thrilling D potty training stories in a future post!  I bet you can't wait!!!