Showing posts with label motherhood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label motherhood. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Children's Day in Poland czyli Dzień Dziecka or whatever

Children's Day is here again. June 1st in Poland every year. We don't have Children's Day in the US where I'm from, so I conveniently forget it each year.

Luckily the kids' school remembers. The older kid's class went to a trampoline park - they're what's "in" now, or as my kids have started saying "mega".

Their father usually remembers as well. Perhaps I should do something for Children's Day. They did a bang up job for Mother's Day this year. I mean I nagged the hell out of them, but still.

They may get nothing from me on Children's Day, but I have given my kids one extremely valuable gift. The gift of chores. Chores? Yes, chores.

Lizzie mowing the lawn 

I had chores as a kid. Didn't we all? I had the basic keeping my room clean chore that most kids get. That chore was non-negotiable. Then each Saturday my sister and I divvied up the rest of the chores on the chore list, alternating each week who got first pick, thus sticking your sister with the chores you despised i.e. cleaning the bathrooms.

Now on the rare occasion I go to the USA, I start in on the chores even after all these years. But it's for a different reason. I want to help. Back then I had no interest in keeping my parents' house clean and looking nice. My parents oft repeated that it was their house, and we had to "pay our way" or "earn our keep". Not the friendliest of parental methods, and not very motivating to us kids to go above and beyond the regular chores. Those were the choriest chores. I did them because I had to. I don't know what the consequences would have been had I not done them. I was too scared to find out. 

I have a slightly different parental philosophy. I remind the kids that this is our home,  and we need to take care of it. If that doesn't work, I turn on an episode of "Hoarders" - Chomikowanie in Polish. It works every time!

I also let my kids play to their strengths. Lizzie enjoys mowing the lawn and cleaning the car inside and out. She also likes to organize things. Rosie isn't too keen on lawn mowing, but she likes digging, planting, weeding, and raking. She also likes kitchen stuff such as cooking, baking, and even washing the dishes. 

In my opinion, chores provide kids with a sense of home, responsibility, family, and even pride. My grandmother always said that there's no shame in being poor, only in being dirty. They also develop life skills that they will need when they leave home. Chores also provide my kids a way to earn pocket money. They have to do basic chores, but they can do extra chores to get a little walking around money. They're happy with that set up and so are we.

Do Polish kids have chores? My husband said that they most certainly do,  maybe not so-named, but they do. When he was a kid he definitely had chores, but without a chart (we don't do the chart either), but yes, he had chores.

We are all just kids at heart ❤️ so treat yourself this Children's Day and don't forget to do your chores!

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Super Mom and the Best Bubble Mix Ever!

Super Mom I am not. Despite what my shirt says. That shirt was a gift anyhow. From a Super Mom. She is such a Super Mom that when my daughter had a Super Hero birthday party, my Super Mom friend made us all Super Hero t-shirts and Super Hero capes. Thanks Super Mom.

It's not my intention to make Kielbasa Stories the glorification of myself as a mother. I'm not really into the Mommy Blogger thing, although "Mommy" is one of the titles I proudly hold. The Mommiest of my moments? I do make my kids' birthday cakes and share them here, but not because I'm Super Mom. It's because I'm not. My kids won't eat store-bought birthday cakes, and I'm so proud of myself for not fecking the whole thing up and that it is actually edible.I am in such disbelief that I have to share them here to immortalize them for all eternity. As simple as that. 

Oh, and this week I made pierogi, and I took a picture, and I shared it on two forms of social media, so there!

Having said all that, I'm about to do the most Super Mommiest thing I have ever done. I am going to share with you my super secret recipe for seriously the Best Bubble Mix Ever! And I mean it. That's not click bait. I have created with my own hands the most amazing Bubble Mix with just a few simple ingredients.



I started from buying industrial size Bubble Mix from Tesco for a birthday party we were planning. It cost an arm and a leg, smelled like old socks, and my kids promptly spilled the whole thing in the backyard. Furious and not wanting to lose my temper, I took that now empty bottle and checked the ingredients. As you may know Bubble Mix is basically soapy water, well soapy water and some glycerin. So I bought a bottle of glycerin and mixed it with water and some dish washing liquid. Voila, bubbles. Well, kind of. The bubbles weren't very bubbly. They didn't want to come off the wand. When they did, they popped quite quickly. 

Hmmm, back to the ingredients list. I didn't recognize the rest of the ingredients I must admit. Most of them seemed to be responsible for the old sock smell as far as Google could tell me. Then I Googled one last ingredient, and was surprised that Google showed me bottle after bottle of Durex Play. Yep, the missing link in my bubble mix is the main ingredient in Durex Play. Durex Play is not cheap, but a bottle that costs 28 zl in Poland is enough for about 4 liters or more of bubble mix. However, when buying three bottles at the pharmacy, it isn't the best of ideas to tell the pharmacist that they are for your kid's birthday party. Live and learn.

So here it is...
The Best Bubble Mix Ever

A bottle or jar of water
3 healthy squirts of a good quality dish washing liquid
A small bottle of glycerin 
4-5 healthy squirts of Durex Play 2 in 1






Depending on your bottle and your definition of healthy squirts, your mix might be too concentrated. No worries. When you pour some out for the kids, just dilute it with a bit of water.

What makes this recipe the Best Bubble Mix Ever? Well, the mix is extremely productive. With one dip of the wand, you can make 10 bubbles. The bubbles come off the wand easily, they are bouncy, and they last a long time. Plus it doesn't smell like old socks. 


 Happy bubbling!

PS In case anyone is in doubt that my kids are totally Polish, please note my daughter's footwear ;)

Thursday, May 26, 2016

The Angriest I Have Ever Been At My Mother

That's the card I received for American Mother's Day. Please notice that the card is in English. Oh, and that's me in the pink and purple stripes.

No one can make you angry like your mother can. It usually doesn't take much, an innocent comment, sometimes just a look, that goes straight to your heart and immediately infuriates you. I remember plenty of slammed doors as a teenager and the occasional "you're ruining my life". I even remember an argument years ago which ended with me storming out of the house in tears.

Don't get me wrong. I love my mother. We are very different people and very different mothers. Even so, she had her hand in who I am today, tears and all. My mother knows I love her because I tell her so. We're the rare breed of mother and daugher who actually say the words "I love you". I must admit that I was the one who started it. I don't recall any "I love you's" from my childhood, not a one.* As an adult I was very resentful of this fact. Some years ago I decided to be an adult about it and change it. What was the worst that could happen? My parents wouldn't say it back? Of course they would, and they did. Thus, a new family tradition was born. That means that "I love you" was the last thing I said to my father and the last thing I heard from him. You never know when it's the last one. 

Moms have a big influence on their kids. I know that some day, my girls will grow up and sit around the table talking about how I infuriated them over the years. Just the thought of that warmed my heart. I'd like to hope that now I am an adult, I could return the favor to my mother....and infuriate her like she has infuriated me.... and have some influence on her...positive influence, I hope.

The town where I grew up is teeny tiny, and located in a rural area.There is a university though, so we felt all worldly about that when we were kids. Any new people in our town were usually professors, doctors, or other professionals. It wasn't a place where people moved to but rather away from. I mean there wasn't any reason to move there if it wasn't for a job. We didn't get many or any foreigners back then.

Flash forward to today...my hometown is still teeny tiny. The area is still rural, but maybe a little less than before. There's still a university - it's even bigger than when I was a kid. The newbies in our town come from all kinds, not just professors or professionals. We even have some foreigners.

My aunt happened to be our Spanish teacher in school. We couldn't figure out why we had foreign language lessons back then. We didn't see the need. Plus we did everything to sabotage my aunt's lesson plans, thus leaving us after all those years with little to no Spanish in our heads. My aunt is retired now, but she substitutes in the district schools and works as an aid when a Spanish-speaking kid needs language support. My mother was telling me about my aunt's latest position as an aid in one of the kindergartens. There was a kid who couldn't speak English almost at all. My mother's commentary on that (break out the mom voice), "Well, apparently his parents can't speak a lick of English. I don't know what the problem is, if they're just too lazy or too stupid to learn."

And that's where my head exploded. Pure fury. Skype hath no fury like a daughter for her mother. I don't even get that mad when my mom Skypes me in the middle of the night and asks why I'm not asleep. 

My question to my mother, "Do you think I'm too lazy or too stupid to learn Polish?"

My mother, in her totally mom voice, "No, of course not honey. Polish is a very hard language! And you are a very busy lady. You have your work and the girls."

"So Mom, maybe those parents just came to the US. Maybe they work long hours. Maybe they haven't had an opportunity to learn. There are a million reasons why somebody wouldn't know English and stupid and lazy are not at the top of the list."

The conversation went downhill from there, you can be sure about that. I was angry and disappointed that my mother would not have more sympathy for an immigrant parent when I myself am an immigrant parent. Me, her child.

I still love her though. She's my mom.

Happy Polish Mother's Day!

*I just remembered one "I love you" from my childhood. My father dropped me off at my high school and just as I reached the main doors where my friends were waiting, he got out of the car and shouted, "Chri-is! I loooooove you!"




Friday, October 7, 2011

So you wanna have a baby in Poland, Part 2 -No to chcesz rodzić dziecko w Polsce, Część 2

I suppose in Part 2 of “So you wanna have a baby”, after we have secured funds, selected the hospital and have the doctor all settled, we can start with the getting pregnant part.



That means you should have sex, a lot of sex. Or not.



I personally used the calendar method in order to get pregnant. I know that many folks use that method in order to NOT get pregnant (which in my opinion is too risky), but it worked a charm for us in actually getting pregnant. But we still continued with the sex, you know, musialyśmy poprawić. (make corrections)



Too bad my doctor kept getting in the way. (not literally)



Firstly, after our miscarriage my doctor explained that these things happen and that it probably means nothing for our future fertility. He expressed his sympathy, declared me healthy and then hit us with his recommendations.



His suggestions after a miscarriage:





You should wait. Wait. And wait some more. From 6 months up to a year. (No explanation as to why. Just because.)





You should get full genetic testing of yourself and spouse. (In my opinion, after one early miscarriage, this kind of testing is pre-mature.)





In addition to genetic testing, checking the ovaries and fallopian tubes for defects was deemed necessary. (Quite invasive for a person with one, early miscarriage.)



I declined all his suggestions explaining that I’m no spring chicken and didn’t want to wait. I told the doctor we’d start trying again in a couple of months. I explained that if we had problems again, I would consider checking into the problem further. At that point, his suggestions became urgings, strong, almost angry urgings and that’s when I understood that my doctor was sliding down the slippery slope, the patient/customer -customer/patient slope. His business practices were interfering with my health care. We firmly declined additional procedures and went on our way.



After a few months, (yay!), we got pregnant. No drug store tests were needed for me. I was sure. We scheduled a visit with my doctor and we were rolling. That’s when I found out the whole pregnant-lady, doctor’s-office procedure.



At my doctor, it went like this:



Come to the doctor a little bit early for blood and urine tests. It was unbelievably convenient to have a lab at the doctor’s office. Then go to another doctor for a USG, checking yourself if anybody is in there and who’s next. Incredibly inconvenient for people who don’t speak Polish very well. After the USG, wait with all the other pregnant ladies for the doctor to call you for your visit. (If you are further along, you should add a visit to the basement to the KTG before returning to the waiting room)



The doctor’s visits which occur about once a month for the entire pregnancy, last anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. Then you need to pay the doctor (hand to hand) and then pay the nurse for the blood and urine tests, the USG and also the KTG if you had one. I was unaware that the USG was not included in the price and did not start paying until I was about 7 months pregnant. Tight accounting policies ;)



Seems like a fiasco for a pregnant lady- knocking on doors, up and down stairs, waiting, waiting and more waiting. It wasn’t that bad, really, except the time they kept me waiting 3 hours for my KTG. The system is designed so the leading doctor spends the least amount of time with each patient as possible while still giving the patient a complete work up. It’s a business decision.



Everything was going fine. I was reading up about things like breast pumps and baby whispering. I tried to learn all pregnancy, birth and baby vocabulary in Polish. Really, things were great, in my opinion, until about the 5th month when my doctor asked me when I was planning to go on sick leave (L4). My eyes got big and I asked him what was wrong. He replied that nothing was wrong. I asked in panic what was wrong with the baby, with me. I thought that for sure I had misunderstand him or just missed something important that he had said in Polish. He said that nothing was wrong. So why the sick leave, I inquired. That’s when my doctor explained that it was customary for pregnant women in Poland to take sick leave for the second half of their pregnancies.* My father would offer that as proof that Poland must be a very rich country (my father has many such claims about Poland after 2 short visits). I breathed a sigh of relief and declined the L4, safe in the thought that if I needed it later, it would be available to me. Fortunately, I didn’t need it.



I felt great throughout my pregnancy and remained active. It was a really great time in my life - the anticipation of becoming a mother, of meeting my child. I gained a bit of weight which is par for the course and laughed when at +10 kilos at month 7, my doctor told me to slow down. Would a doctor in America say something like that? I’m not so sure.





*In order to avoid any nasty comments ;) – I am aware that not all Polish ladies take sick leave when they are pregnant. I am aware that some ladies need to take sick leave when they are pregnant. Having said that, I have seen many women take sick leave when they were pregnant who fully admit to not actually needing it but rather saying that they “deserve it”. I am not judging, just informing.



PS Pregnant women do not have to go to a private doctor during pregnancy. For fun, I decided to inquire at my family doctor’s office about a “pregnancy'” visit. I was given an appointment about 5 months in the future. I explained again to the receptionist that I was currently pregnant and needed an appointment now. Her reply, “Well, you should have thought about that before.” “What? Like before I was pregnant?” I asked. “Yes,” she said, “A lot of women make several appointments while trying to get pregnant and then cancel them when they are not needed.” Cool, huh?



Part 1



Przypuszczam, że w części 2 "No to chcesz rodzić dziecko", po tym jak już mamy zabezpieczone środki, wybraliśmy szpital i mamy załatwionego lekarza , możemy rozpocząć tę część, kiedy zachodzi się w ciążę.



Oznacza to, że należy uprawiać seks, dużo seksu. Lub nie.



Ja osobiście stosowałam metodę kalendarzową, w celu zajścia w ciążę. Wiem, że wielu ludzi stosuję tę metodę, żeby NIE zajść w ciążę (co moim zdaniem jest zbyt ryzykowne), ale udało się błyskawicznie zajść. Ale ciągle jeszcze uprawialiśmy seks, no wiecie, musieliśmy poprawić.



Szkoda, że ​​mój lekarz ciągle się wtrącał. (nie dosłownie)



Po pierwsze, po naszym poronieniu lekarz wyjaśnił, że takie rzeczy się zdarzają i że prawdopodobnie to nic nie znaczy dla naszej przyszłej płodności. Wyraził współczucie, uznał, że jestem zdrowa, a następnie walnął swoimi zaleceniami.



Jego sugestie po poronieniu:



Należy poczekać. Poczekaj. I poczekaj jeszcze trochę. Od 6 miesięcy do roku. (Brak wyjaśnienia dlaczego. Po prostu, bo tak).



Powinniście wykonać pełne badania genetyczne dla siebie i małżonka. (Moim zdaniem, po jednym wczesnym poronieniu, tego rodzaju badania są przedwczesne.)



Oprócz testów genetycznych, sprawdzenie jajników i jajowodów, żeby wykryć potencjalne wady wydawało się również niezbędne. (Dość inwazyjne badanie dla osoby z jednym, wczesnym poronieniem.)



Odrzuciłam wszystkie jego sugestie i wyjaśniłam, że nie jestem już młódką i nie chcę czekać. Powiedziałam lekarzowi, że zaczniemy próbować ponownie za kilka miesięcy. I wyjaśniłam, że jeśli znowu będziemy mieć problemy, to wtedy zbadamy sprawę gruntownie. W tym momencie jego sugestie stały się naciskami, mocnymi niemalże wściekłymi naciskami i wtedy zrozumiałam, że mój lekarz zaczął zjeżdżać po równi pochyłej, po tym stoku - pacjent / klient - klient / pacjent. Jego praktyki biznesowe były ingerencją w moja opiekę zdrowotną. Zdecydowanie odrzuciliśmy możliwość dalszych dodatkowych procedur i poszliśmy w swoją stronę.



Po kilku miesiącach, (yay!), byliśmy w ciąży. Nie potrzebowałam żadnych testów z apteki. Byłam pewna. Zaplanowaliśmy wizytę u mojego lekarza i zaczęło się. Wtedy poznałam te wszystkie procedury pomiędzy kobietą w ciąży a gabinetem lekarskim.



U lekarza, poszło tak:



Przyjdź do lekarza trochę wcześniej na badania krwi i moczu. To było niesamowite udogodnienie - laboratorium w gabinecie lekarskim. Następnie udaj się do innego lekarza na USG, sama sprawdzając czy ktoś tam jest i kto jest następny. Niezwykle uciążliwe dla ludzi, którzy nie znają dobrze polskiego. Po USG, czekaj ze wszystkimi innymi paniami w ciąży do lekarza, aż wywoła ciebie. (Jeśli jesteś w bardziej zaawansowanej ciąży, należy dodać wizytę w piwnicy na KTG przed powrotem do poczekalni)



Wizyty lekarskie, które mają miejsce raz w miesiącu przez cały okres ciąży, trwają od 5 do 15 minut. Następnie trzeba zapłacić lekarzowi (z ręki do ręki), a następnie zapłacić pielęgniarce za badania krwi i moczu, USG i również KTG gdybyś miała takowe. Nie wiedziałem, że USG nie było wliczone w cenę i nie zaczęłam płacić aż do około 7 miesiąca ciąży. Surowa polityka rachunkowości;)



Wygląda to jak totalna porażką dla kobiety w ciąży, żeby tak pukać do drzwi, łazić po schodach w górę i w dół, czekać, czekać i jeszcze czekać. Nie było tak źle, naprawdę, z wyjątkiem tego razu, kiedy przytrzymali mnie 3 godziny do KTG. System jest zaprojektowany tak, żeby lekarz prowadzący spędzał jak najmniej czasu z każdą pacjentką przy jednoczesnym kompleksowym badaniu pacjentki z góry na dół. Jest to decyzja biznesowa.



Wszystko było w porządku. Czytałam nawet o takich rzeczach jak pompy do odciągania mleka z piersi i o zaklinaniu niemowlaka. Próbowałam nauczyć się całego słownictwa dotyczącego ciąży, porodu i dziecka w języku polskim. Naprawdę, wszystko układało się wspaniale, moim zdaniem, do około 5 miesiąca, kiedy mój lekarz zapytał mnie, kiedy mam zamiar iść na zwolnienie lekarskie (L4). Moje oczy zrobiły się duże i spytałam go, czy coś się stało. Odpowiedział, że nic się nie stało. Zapytałam w panice, co się stało z dzieckiem, ze mną. Myślałam, że na pewno nie zrozumiałam go albo coś ważnego umknęło mi gdy on mówił po polsku. Powiedział, że nic się nie stało. Więc dlaczego chorobowe, zapytałam. Wtedy mój lekarz wyjaśnił, że jest w zwyczaju, żeby kobiety w ciąży w Polsce brały zwolnienia chorobowe w drugiej połowie ciąży.* Mój ojciec powiedziałby, że to dowód, iż Polska musi być bardzo bogatym krajem (mój ojciec ma wiele takich uwag o Polsce po 2 krótkich wizytach). Odetchnęłam z ulgą i odmówiłam przyjęcia L4, bezpieczna w myślach, że jeśli będę go później potrzebować, to będzie dla mnie dostępne. Na szczęście, nie potrzebowałam.



Czułam się wspaniale przez całą ciążę i pozostawałam aktywna. To był naprawdę wspaniały czas w moim życiu – oczekiwanie na stanie się matką, na spotkanie mojego dziecka. Przybrałam trochę na wadze, co jest na porządku dziennym i śmiałam się, gdy po przybraniu 10 kg w 7 miesiącu, mój lekarz powiedział mi, żeby zwolnić. Czy lekarz w Ameryce powiedziałby coś takiego? Nie jestem tego taka pewna.



* W celu uniknięcia nieprzyjemnych komentarzy;) - Mam świadomość, że nie wszystkich polskie kobiety idą na zwolnienie, gdy są w ciąży. Zdaję sobie sprawę, że niektóre panie muszą iść na zwolnienie, gdy są w ciąży. Mimo tego, widziałam wiele kobiet na zwolnieniu, gdy były w ciąży, które w pełni przyznawały, że tak naprawdę nie potrzebowały tego, ale raczej mówiły, że "na to zasługują". Nie osądzam, po prostu informuję.



PS Kobiety w ciąży nie muszą iść do prywatnego lekarza w czasie ciąży. Dla zabawy, postanowiłam dowiedzieć się w gabinecie mojego lekarza rodzinnego o wizytę w ciąży. Dostałam termin za około 5 miesięcy w przyszłości. Wyjaśniłam ponownie recepcjonistce, że jestem w ciąży teraz i potrzebuję wizytę teraz. Jej odpowiedź: "Cóż, trzeba było pomyśleć o tym wcześniej." "Co? Jeszcze zanim byłam w ciąży? " zapytałam. "Tak", powiedziała: "Wiele kobiet umawia się na kilka spotkań, podczas gdy próbuje zajść w ciążę, a następnie odwołuje je, kiedy nie są potrzebne."



Fajnie, co?



Część 1

Friday, May 20, 2011

Women of Wroclaw, rejoice…

…for you have joined the civilized world.


Anesthesia during childbirth is now available to the women of Wroclaw. MP900422710[1]


And this time, they really mean it.


Read more here.


Such a headline could be read any given month over the last 5 years in Wroclaw (and elsewhere). The only problem with such an announcement is that until now access to anesthesia for birthing moms was purely hypothetical. The reason? Well, as the Polish saying goes - if you don’t know what it’s about, it’s about the money.


I am not suggesting that moms had to pay for anesthesia. That would have been too easy. Anesthesia, other than a shot of Dolargan* or in my case Vitamin B, was not available because there was no one to administer it…unless you needed (or “needed”) a c-section. Then you were good to go.


Hospitals are refunded a set amount of money for each procedure performed. That includes vaginal births and c-sections, respectively, no matter what resources are actually used in said birth. This amount, on average, is enough to cover the staff, equipment, drugs, etc. needed for each birth or c-section. Hospitals are strongly motivated then to use as few resources as possible with each birth. This system, in fact, would work just fine if not for the lack of anesthesiologists. Even if the hospital allowed patients to pay for the anesthesia, it is not possible to pay for the anesthesiologist.


So, it sounds like I am complaining. Boo-hoo, poor American mom gives birth in this 3rd world country. It was soooo painful and and they didn’t help me at all.


Not true. Ok, it was painful, but they did try to help me…somewhat. Didn’t I mention the Vitamin B shot?


I have given birth in Poland. Twice. Without anesthesia of any kind. I simply didn’t need it which was convenient because they weren’t offering it. Birth is painful. It is true. It is very painful even, but what was more distressing for me than the pain was my complete and total lack of options. You have to give birth i już. Koniec. Kropka.


And so I did. Misiu says that I did an excellent job as well. Don’t you know that I am Super Mom? I even have a t-shirt that says so.


Now if only Wroclaw could do something with its roads.


:)


*Demorol.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Nietęgo wyglądasz Uszatku – You don’t look so good Teddy Bear

My girls are sick with “the start of pneumonia” as the doctor described it. Luckily, we caught it early. It’s Lizzie’s first antibiotics - not bad for an almost 4 year old. Poor Rosie hasn’t been so lucky. That’s the fate of the younger sister who catches everything from her older sister. Heck, she caught her first cold from Lizzie when she was only a week old. At least I finally got to use my NoseFrida nasal aspirator.

The doctor prescribed granulated antibiotics twice a day for the next 5 days along with all kinds of syrups. Why can’t our antibiotics come in a syrup? My girls love to take syrups. It started after one very convincing episode of Miś Uszatek where he ate too many wisienki and had a stomachache. They love syrups, so much so, that I had to buy some vitamin syrup just to humor them. Whoever thought granulated antibiotics were a good idea was seriously misguided. We can’t get Rosie to down them. Not that she doesn’t try, but the granules do not dissolve, and she chokes on them, poor thing.

The girls have already been ill for about a week and it looks like it’ll be still another week. We’ve totally got cabin fever. What’s a mom to do? And my vampire books have not come in at Empik yet, grrrrrr.

Luckily, I fit in a visit with my friend and her little son last Friday before illness struck our home. Well, actually on the day illness struck - we had to go and pick up Lizzie from Pre-school because she got sick. As usual, my friend looked great, her son looked adorable and her apartment looked impeccably clean. We had a nice chat and I tried to remember what it was like to go out into the world and talk with people. You know, to just talk with them because you like them, and they are interesting, and it’s not your job to listen carefully for any grammar mistakes. Not that I do not have interesting students that I would not talk with otherwise, but it is a completely different mindset to have a freely flowing conversation with a friend than to have a “conversation” lesson with a student.

In addition to admiring my friend, her son and her clean apartment, I also admired her book shelves. Well, not so much the shelves (which are nice and take up the expanse of one wall) but the books on them. She and her husband have an impressive collection of books on a huge array of topics. I envy them that. If you check out our book shelves (well, shelf), you’ll find “The Doll” by Prus, Dostoevky’s “The Idiot”, Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” next to Playboy’s “Big, Little Book of Party Jokes”, “Microcosm” by Norman Davies, “Siomga” by Sofija Andruchowycz, “The Complete Book of Herbs”, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”, three IKEA 2010 catalogs and about 200 teaching English books. The girls have their own books in their bedroom. I’d like to add some cook books to my sad, little collection and maybe something about gardening. I can put them next to my “Knitting and Crocheting for Beginners” which is getting quite lonely as nobody ever picks it up.

What’s on your book shelf?

Friday, January 29, 2010

The Baltic Sea and Iodine

If you make it to the Baltic Sea nowadays and you can find a square meter on which to park your blanket and your family, consider yourself lucky because the Baltic Sea is a real family summer vacation hot spot.

Why? image

Proximity? Well, it is in Poland, but considering the lack of highways and packed trains getting there in the summer, you may find it easier to hop a plane to Greece.

The beach? The sand is really quite nice and ideal for making sand castles and babki, but the water is pretty chilly and the beach is packed.

The weather? When the weather at the Baltic Sea is good, you can compare it to any “hot country”, but when it is bad, it is bad -rainy, grey, cold and windy.

The cost? That’s certainly not it because the prices along the Baltic in the summer season are just as high as in Greece or Turkey.

One year, we flew to Crete for a 2-week vacation. Actually, we were newlyweds so it was our honeymoon, a few months delayed. We stayed in a hotel on the beach and also rented a car and travelled around the island. We visited a lot of beautiful places, ate delicious food and enjoyed fabulous weather. We also took a boat trip to Santorini. I even went topless on the beach for the 1st time. We had a blast. Oh, the good old days. (We just celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. My topless days are over.)

During the same 2 weeks, our friends went with their son to the Baltic. They drove more than 8 hours (we arrived by plane in about 3 hours). It was sunny the first week but rained the second. They had to find something indoors to entertain their son and themselves. They spent much more on food than we did, as well as spending a good lot of time inside at shopping centers and cinema multiplexes. After comparing notes, we realized the their trip cost double ours!

image So, what is it that draws people to the Baltic Sea? It’s the iodine, baby! Actually it’s the iodide. What’s iodide? Yeah, I didn’t know either. It’s the form of iodine carried by seawater.

I first became aware of it when I overheard some of my female students talking about the health benefits of iodide. They insist that their children go to the seaside for at least 2 weeks each year. Some parents even send the kids with grandparents or aunts or uncles if they cannot go together. Nothing less than a 2-week stay by the Baltic Sea is sufficient to iodize your kid for the school season. Iodide (jod) is said to boost the immune system and is best delivered to the body by breathing it in through the delicate spray of the sea. I have also read the eating root vegetables grown in a place high in iodide (such as soil near the sea) is said to be beneficial as well.

I have children now and my students, mostly the female ones, are astonished to find out that I do not guarantee my kids a stay at the Baltic each year. As I hear my kids coughing from the other room, I wonder if I have done them a disservice or if it is just a bunch of malarky.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Our 1st Wywiadówka

Today, I went to the 1st wywiadówka of Lizzie’s school career and the 1st in my mothering career. The turn-out was sad, only 2 parents made an appointment with the teacher out of the whole class, but so what, my appointment was great and it was all in Polish!

It reminded me of my 1st parent/teacher conference as a teacher in the US . I was all prepared, and I lined up some chimageairs outside of the room just in case some parents had to wait to speak to me, the all-important educator of their precious children. I had more than 120 students and was a little nervous that I wouldn’t be able to meet with as many parents as I wanted to. Another teacher walking down the hall observing me and my chairs said, “You know no one is coming, right?” “What d’ya mean?” “No parents come to parent/teacher conferences in this school.” “Oh,” I said and went back into my classroom where I slumped down in my chair and waited and waited and waited. My first parent appeared and gave me his name which didn’t sound familiar. I couldn’t find that surname on my list. He then gave me his child’s name and we were rolling. I felt so teachery and after he left, I checked the hall for others waiting. No one was there. After more waiting, one of my students arrived with his grandfather who said that he now knew why his grandson was so interested in history. The poor boy was terribly embarrassed, but that’s what grandpa’s are for. After another hour of waiting, I decided to pack it in. 2 visits and not even of the problem students. 2 visits from 120 students.

Anyhow, back to Lizzie’s conference, Pre-school Parent/Teacher Conference, no less. I think it was her teacher’s 1st wywiadówka as well, so I went easy on her ;) I learned that Lizzie is a quiet and very well-behaved child, even too well-behaved. She likes to stick with her best friend and almost exclusively chooses cars and trucks to play with and always puts thimageem away when she’s done. She is an excellent painter and takes her art work quite seriously. All in all, she is developing well.

Together, we devised a plan to separate Lizzie a bit from her best friend in the class because those two girls are addicted to each other. They both need to learn to mingle with the other kids. In addition, to draw Lizzie out, I suggested giving her a role to play. She likes to hide a little behind a role and feels freer to be more outgoing when she is playing someone else. I asked her teacher to correct her Polish and to not worry about her English “r” in Polish words. When she says rowerek, it is so sweet. I also asked her to be aware that Lizzie is so in love with Pre-school that she wouldn’t tell the teachers if she got ill…probably until it was too late and words like vomit and carpet come into play.

I’m pleased with Lizzie’s Pre-school. I don’t really have anything to compare it with. I didn’t go to pre-school in America. The day is nicely structured. The children have a lot of free play, semi-structured play and structured play. Each day they focus on different areas of development. One day is music, another art, gymnastics, etc. Today was addition and subtraction. Each group has about 20-25 kids, but they are rarely all present. Each group also has 3 teachers (a morning teacher and an afternoon teacher with some overlap and an assistant for the whole day).

They have to feed the little buggers as well. They have breakfast, soup and dessert, and dinner and fruit. After years and years of American processed school lunch, I am impressed with the food my daughter receives at school (ok, minus the breakfast parówki). At about 8:30, the kids have cereal with milk or oatmeal/cream of wheat, a sandwich and a drink. Sometimes they even have inka which thrills Lizzie to no end because she says that she hadimage coffee at school. At about 11:00, they have hot soup and a dessert such as a cookie or fruit gelatin or pudding. At about 1:30, they have dinner which can be anything from pierogi (known happily by the kids as “Pierogi Day!!!!”), a piece of meat, potatoes, a vegetable, or crepes or pasta. Juice, water and compote are served to drink. They also get a fresh piece of fruit after dinner which they actually eat. They eat in the classroom and 2 ladies bring a trolley with food from the kitchen. Sometimes I’d like to get a plateful of dinner, too. It smells so good!

It’s a public school, but that doesn’t mean that it is free. The tuition, food, supplies, parent’s committee and some other payments add up to about 350 zloty a month. Is that cheap or expensive? It depends on your vantage point. The monthly gross minimum wage in Poland is about 1,300 zloty with the net minimum wage working out to be about 980 zloty a month. That means the cost of Pre-school is 36% of the after-tax minimum wage.

The next big event on the Pre-school agenda is a presentation for Grandparents because Thursday this week is Dzień Babci (Jan 21st) and Friday is Dzień Dziadka (Jan 22nd) (Grandmother’s Day and Grandfather’s Day). Our Babcia will be there. Lizzie has made a laurka (card) and has been practicing her poem for the show. She can’t wait!

Wierszyk:

Kocham was”

Kocham moją babcię, kocham mego dziadka.

Ale jak im o tym powiedzieć?

Może im zaspiewać, wtedy będą wiedzieć!

Na zakończenie:

Aby babcia i dziadek

w zdrowiu długo żyli

Aby uśmiech dla nas mieli

w każdej wolnej chwili

Friday, December 18, 2009

One of those mothers

I’m turning into one of those mothers. You know the kind. The one that makes homemade soup, homemade Halloween costumes, homemade birthday cakes, homemade holiday decorations. That’s me. Who woulda thunk it?

Wrapped gift for a birthday party and the birthday girl opening it.

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Salt dough decorations made at the request of Lizzie’s Pre-school teacher

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The amazing things you can make with toilet paper rolls

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Our door decorated with Lizzie Claus, Rosie the red-nosed Reindeer and a hand wreath

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Please tell me I’m not the only one!