The Fish Died...

Maddie's class blog is password protected so I've copied with permission the latest entry to be posted. When I dropped Maddie off at school this morning, Preeti showed it to me and said that Maddie was the star of the post! So... kind of morbid, but fish die - it's a fact of life!

From Ms. Preeit's Blog...

Why did our fish die?
Last Friday afternoon, we realized that our fish were not doing well. Three goldfish did not look good. They were swimming belly-up in the tank. I took the three fish out into another tub, as advised to by a colleague who is knowledgeable about fish. He also suggested I check the quality of the water with a PH value kit. I did this discreetly - my intention being not to upset the children. The PH value was in the acceptable range. It was almost time for the buses, so children didn’t quite realize what I had done. Nor was there enough time to explain to them, since the fish looked pretty bad. After the children left, the three fish died. Now, there was only one that survived. I fed the fish, crossed my fingers and left.

Monday morning, when children started to arrive, Maddie was the first to notice that the lone fish didn’t look too good. “The fishy is sick, Ms. Preeti”, she said. “Like this”. And she opened our “How to take care of Fish” book to a page which gave info on signs that meant the fish were sick. A couple of other girls came by to check the tank. They compared our fish with the picture in the book. Samantha said that we needed a thermometer and medicine for the fish because he was sick. At that point, I went to ask the colleague for more advice and he suggested trying to check the levels of Nitrate in the water. This time, children saw what I did. I explained to them that I was checking to see if the water was good for the fish. We measured 5ml of tank water and put in 7 drops of the chemical together. We then shook the tube and compared the color with that on the chart. It was yellow-which is what it should be. The water was good. But the fish wasn’t. And it did die. Children saw that I was bothered. Maddie said to me: “Ms. Preeti, don’t be sad. I will buy you some new fish”.

At our next meeting, we discussed what had happened to our fish and children were pretty sure that the fish died because they were sick. We also discussed that living things don’t necessarily die if they are sick. I asked them what we should do. Most children wanted to buy new fish. In our class, children take turns everyday to feed the fish and turtles. And they are quite responsible about their job. Even if the child whose turn it is forgets, invariably someone else will remind the child.

Halloween Day - Part One!

I just got back from a full morning at school and so much has happened to the girls today that I thought I would do TWO entries. Both will be full of pictures!

Maddie decided that she was going to be a fairy princess for Halloween and Maddie also decided that Amelia would be a kitty cat for her first Halloween debut. I've gotta give Maddie full credit as she was seriously thinking ahead when we walked past Halloween costumes at Babies R Us over the summer - it was all her idea!





Running into Maddie's VP, a.k.a Super Sacha, in the school library is always a great way to start the day! Here's the deal with walking through the hallways with two beautiful children..... it takes FOREVER to get anywhere!!! :)










Maddie, Malin and Ms. Preeti found themselves leading the entire elementary school for the parade. Thank goodness I gave tours of my university campus - walking backwards while holding a baby, talking, and taking pictures/video can't be done by just anybody ya know!











Taking a break on the parade route for a partial family photo! We sure miss you dad!!!!!










Snoozing Kitties....Carol had some quality snuggle time with a sleeping Amelia while I had some quality one on one time with Ms. Maddie during the assembly!











I had to include the picture of art teacher extraordinaire, Robert Davis.... the man has got style! That and he makes Maddie laugh really, really hard!!!











We ended the morning with a PreK party where Maddie actually got down and dirty while searching for spiders in a glob of goo!!

Happy Halloween Punka-doodles!!!

Baby Day

Friday was Baby Day in Ms. Preeti's class at school. Maddie had been counting down the days until she could bring Amelia to school to show her off to her classmates. She had been showing pictures online and her friends may have seen me pass briefly in the hallway, but this was the big show!

We met all of the children first. Amelia was the smallest at two weeks, Bauer was six weeks old, Trinity was four months old and Eva was nine months old.


The children brainstormed questions beforehand and had most of them answered by the time we all left. Maddie's questions was, "why do babies cry?" which I thinks he asked because she knew the answer!!! The children wrapped up the day by singing a song to the babies. BUT Maddie wasn't done...

We had taken Amelia to the doctor the day before and had pictures. Andy had printed them off for Maddie to share and she sat right next to Ms. Preeti and acted as a teacher herself by holding the pictures in front of each child's eyes. She was soooooo proud and we were so proud of her!!!

Still Three and Loving Life...

I dropped Maddie off at school this morning fully expecting that the next time I saw here would be with sister in hand. Ends up that sister is just as stubborn as Maddie and will do things her own way in her own time. She's moved to an "unfavorable" position so we'll just a little bit longer...

Today was an important day at school for Maddie though. It was the annual Shanghai American School Spirit Walk. Every time we get Maddie's House Shirt out, she just starts giggling. This year, she wrote us invitation to participate with her - which we couldn't do, but I was able to snap this pic beforehand. Maddie is a PUMA, Ms. Preeti is a PUMA, Malin is a PUMA.... Maddie couldn't be happier! I amazed that she knows and recognizes all of the House names. Falcons, Bears, Dolphins... she knows them all and says, "look mommy, that boy is dolphin!"

I love this school for her - it's such a positive and uplifting environment. As a parent, my favorite things is how the grades mix together. Middle school kids go into Maddie's class to read, older elementary kids acknowledge her in the hall... it's a genuine community. Maddie is one lucky young lady and loving life all the way...

Stay at Home Mom

As of Friday, September 7 I officially went on maternity leave. I am now a stay at home mom for the next 10 weeks. Me... stay at home mom. I never thought those two would appear in the same sentence! I will enjoy the benefits though and especially enjoy these last few weeks of Maddie and Me time. I know that we'll still still have Maddie and Me time after Amelia arrives just like I'll have Amelia and Me time, but I'm sensing that my girl needs some reassurance.

Every morning we have the same ritual. Dad gives us kisses and heads to work. We eat breakfast together. Maddie feeds the fish and then we drive to school. Even though it's only three short blocks, who wants to walk when one is this pregnant? So, we drive! Maddie loves the wind in her hair and loves screaming "Ni Hao" out the window to the all of the guards we pass on the way to school.

The second year of school for Maddie is so familiar yet different. She's so much more "present" when we arrive at school. She knows to get the yellow folder out for Ms. Preeti and she knows to go to the chart of the wall where she puts a check next to her name and then puts a check in the box of chocolate milk or apple juice for lunch.

On Tuesday, I went into her class during Centers time. Ms. Preeti was helping the kids perfect their people drawing skills. No more stick figures for these little ones! They are noticing and drawing in the details now!! I was at the station where the kids pasted a head-shot photo onto paper and then drew in the rest of their body. Their first attempts were hilarious! Typically, the girls paid attention to the details like the colors of the flowers on their desk and the boys... well, they just wanted to finish it and get onto the next station. It was great fun witnessing all of this!

Stay at home mom? I don't know if I could just stay home, but I sure love going into Maddie's class!

Maddie's First Day of School!! Take 2

I have a daughter....
I have a daughter who is in her second year of school....
Maddie has grown up and she's an official member of Ms. Preeti's Pre-K 4 class.

It was slight torture for her because school actually started on Thursday but the school was "evaluating" all of the new kids in order to find the right placement for them. So much to Maddie's chagrin, she had to extend her summer vacation and extra few days... she hated that!!

She was ready to show off her new backpack from her birthday and her new Dora the Explorer watch from the knock-off market. There was just enough change for her too as she had a different classroom and a different aide, but she still has the same teacher. This is a good thing because Preeti knows Maddie. She's knows how Maddie thinks, how she works, what to do if, and if, and if...

The girl is in school again and I can tell it's going to be a really good year for her. There is a new library at the school which is almost as good as Christmas in her eyes. Her vocab allows her to express herself and she sees herself as a helper to the new kids. Life is good and Maddie knows it!!!!

Maddie's First Year of School

On Maddie's first full day of school back in August she sported her Fighting Illini orange dress that her Grandpa Bill had picked out for her. She had her pink Hello Kitty backpack, her Tevas, and she was really ready to go. We didn't make a big deal out of going to school because she has been doing everyday and I really think that this helped her transition a bit better. I did catch her taking a few moments of quiet reflection though right before she entered the school gate. All of the other mom's were dropping off their children as well and I could immediately tell that I was thankful that Maddie has grown up in schools. While others were sad that their mom and dad were dropping them off, Maddie gave us a kiss good-bye with just a bit of trepidation in her eyes, but let us go without incident. I'll never forget her focusing her attention on Malin, who was sad that her mom was leaving. "It's okay Malin-don't cry...", Maddie reassured her.

Ms. Preeti had us fill out a survey about what we wanted our child to learn during their very first school year. I wrote one item and one item only - I just wanted Maddie to love school. If she loves school then everything else will fall into place in its own time. As we reflect on the year, I can say with 100% satisfaction that Maddie loves school. She just happened to get a few bonus items throughout the year to make it even better! She knows her colors, her shapes, recognizes all the letters of her classmates - not to mention the social skills she is learning day in and day out. Mid-year Maddie learned how to write her name for the first time and has been practicing it ever since.



The last day of school was so much different that the first. Maddie is much more confident and won't shy away when people talk with her. Maddie is much, much bigger now and even though she's still the youngest in her class, she's taller than many. Maddie can walk herself to her own classroom now (though there is NO WAY I would miss the opportunity to see those first few moments at school). She has gone from quietly entering the class, to mid-year announcing herself with a bark or a meow when she entered, and finally now runs in with the latest caterpillar or bug to share with Ms. Preeti and her classmates. She always has a story to share. She wore a new dress on her first day of school, but even her backpack had "grown up" to a Dora bag with wheels!

What a wonderful year for Miss Maddie with so much love and support from her SAS community family!

Maddie's BIG Day!

Today was a special day for Maddie because it was her portfolio sharing day in class. I took a half day off of work so that I could spend the entire morning in her class and it was just special from beginning to end. When we walked into the class, Maddie immediately discovered the chrysalis had opened up and that there was a butterfly in the cage that she and her classmates had been watching for several weeks. The fact that the word, "chrysalis" came out of her mouth just about floored me. What three years old know that word and can recall it from the file banks in their brain?

Maddie and her classmates have been making books in class. Over several months, they were given folded paper, made a cover page, drew pictures in the middle pages and drew on an end page. They then sat down with Ms. Preeti and described what they had drawn so that she could write it down for them. The class then decided to invite all of the parents to sell their books so that they could have an ice cream party. Andy came into class for almost an hour today and Maddie sat with both of us and she read her books to us. We discovered that going "bonk" is a major theme in all of her books! She then told us how much to pay for each book and we obliged quite willingly!

Maddie followed her sale of books with the sharing of her portfolio from the year. Pretti had laminated a poem that Maddie had her hand prints on and gave them to the parents right now. I am so pregnant right that I immediately teared up because when she was 6 months old in Saudi Arabia, Val Awad had made the same poem and hand prints for us. I still have it in my classroom today! Maddie shared all of her things from the year and was so very proud of her work... each and every item had a story and the fact that she could describe in such detail things from October was amazing!

We ended the day by going out the playground and I pulled Maddie and all of her classmates in a wagon. Watching children at play is just so pure... I don't know how else to describe it! Maddie was so happy though to have her mommy be the center of attention - she actually seemed proud that I was playing with everybody! What a great year!

Maddie's Classmates 2006-2007

April 16-20 Week in Review!

It was so nice to get home from Jingdezhen as I sure missed my hubby and my Maddie! I'm glad that I left though because I've decided that Andy MUST be a guest writer on this blog more often than not. I love to "hear" his voice on the blog and I hope that Maddie can "hear" that same voice when she reads this blog when she is 18!

Maddie is studying life cycles at school. I mentioned a few weeks ago how Malin's mommy brought in tadpoles and the children have been watching them turn into frogs right in front of their eyes. Now they are reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to study how caterpillars turn into butterflies. This is all so good for Maddie and she understands that there is a life inside of me that is changing and becoming stronger to be introduced as a new brother or sister come September. Since they have been studying butterflies, I thought it was appropriate to get her a vase from Jingdezhen that had beautiful butterflies all over it! The vase has been added to room that has pieces from all the places she has been. She has the Barbie in an abaya from Saudi, the lion clock from Prague, the green lanterns from India, the elephant tapestry from Thailand, the snow globes from France... just to name a few.

Maddie had her first show and tell at school which was a big lesson for her. She had her M day back in February and didn't mind sharing her M things, but this time she brought somethings she really, really cared about. She brought her stuffed pink "horsey" that she received from Astrid's daughter in Saudi Arabia two years ago, her daddy horsey which is a Bryer horse Andy and I bought her in Vegas and a small purple horse that Ms. Zhou gave Maddie for Christmas. She absolutely-positively did not want to share them with anybody. The day started off with an argument between she and Roqueya, but I left the disagreement in Ms. Preeti's very capable hands and went to start my assembly with my 8th graders. I love Preeti so much for sending me the following email just an hour later as my insides were churning at leaving Maddie when she was being so stubborn and "unlady-like"!

"Hi there,

Just wanted to share. The "problem" was resolved this morning. Maddie hadn't wanted to give her purple pony to Rouqueya since she was playing with it. But we discussed what "Show and Tell" was aboout- bringing in something from home that you were willing to share with your classmates. AND taking turns. AND sharing with friends. The pics were taken a few minutes after you left...

Have a good day!"

On that note, Maddie had a great week. We ended it with sending Ms. Zhou home on Friday night so that mom and Maddie could have a girls night. The girls night turned into all the Links kids from ages 2-14 riding their bicycles in the streets, stopping to play duck-duck-goose on the front lawns as the parents chatted away on a warm Spring evening. it reminded me of Leave It To Beaver. Living in China is just so cool sometimes!

Have a good day!

April 2 - 6 Week in Review

When Maddie's teacher first saw the last week in review she made a very good point to me. At this age, our children's lives completely focus around school. It makes sense too. Maddie comes home at 3:00 and sleeps until 5:00 when Andy and I get home. We talk about the day and play for an hour before dinner at 6:00 and then take a bath at 6:30 for bed. We follow up with Maddie's favorite "doctor show" (Grey's Anatomy - this is another blog entry) and few books before heading to sleep at 7:30. Then we do the same thing all over again the next day!

Maddie's teacher had a tank full of goldfish in the classroom. First there were 12 goldfish and now we are down to one. When I ask her where all the goldfish have gone, she tells me they went to their Grandma and Grandpa's house! Malin's mom brought in tadpoles this week I think as a way to try to get the focus off the goldfish. It has been fun watching them turn into frogs - I have to admit that I've never really "seen" it happen before as I've only read about it in books!

Below is an exerpt from the Weekly Newsletter that Preeti sends out!

It was nice to see the children’s happy and tanned faces after Spring Break. It has been such a busy week back and with the two half days because of Parent Conferences, it seems to have gone in a blink!

Children had fun at the Easter Egg Hunt and party on Tuesday. They especially enjoyed making their own Easter baskets, coloring and decorating the eggs that the moms had prepared. Thanks once again to all the parents who participated and helped organize this fun event.

Talking about Easter eggs led to a discussion about which animals lay eggs. Children
brainstormed a list of animals they thought came from eggs and we are in the process of
researching these animals: chickens, ducks, elephants, snakes, frogs, turtles

We have new animals in our classroom! Malin brought in some tadpoles that she fished from a pond near hr home. A couple of them have developed front and back legs and children are observing the metamorphosis from tadpole to frog (hopefully!) first hand...

Love of Reading Week

Last month I mentioned how cool it is for Maddie to have her daddy at school all the time. When I attended the elementary assembly on Monday with Maddie to kick off Love of Reading Week, I was completely gob-smacked when she turned to me and said, "Look Mommy! It's Mr. Torris!"

Even though I'm a professional working woman, I'm also a mom and working in this environment let's me be a mom even when I am working. Everyday I walk to school with Maddie, I think of all those moms back home that drop their children off with family members or day care providers. How lucky am I? Sitting front and center at the assemblies with Maddie lets me talk to her about her day when we get home. We spent the rest of the week talking about Mr. B's silly socks on stage.

To quote Maddie's teacher, "children and teachers have been thoroughly enjoying all activities organized by the Library for Love of Reading Week! On Monday, teachers performed on stage in the auditorium to “kick off” the week. On Tuesday, we wore READ ME shirts- some of the messages on the shirts were great- “Mommy reads to me”, a list of “My favorite books”, a funny quote about sharing by Silverstein, an “innocent” “I didn’t do it” etc. On Wednesday, we Dropped Everything And Read. On Thursday, we wore crazy socks and met with visiting author Kathryn Lasky, who read to us one of her favorite books. We also saw a fantastic musical production of the Kimmel book: “The Greatest of All” performed by Grade 2 students. On Friday, we wore pajamas to school and met with visiting author Eric Kimmel, who read/told us one of our favorite books that we focused on in December - “The Gingerbread Man”."

I can't imagine Maddie actually reading some day, but I suppose that it's only a matter of time! Afterall, I couldn't image her walking, eating real food, talking coherently, singing the alphabet, etc... When we are out and about she is very aware of the letters around her. She'll point out "Maddie's M" or "Sophia's S". I know that we won't push her to read - rather we'll just be normal. We'll read to her throughout the week and we'll let her "read" to us when she wants to do so, but we won't push her. As her father always says, "Life is about the journey...". We'll just turn Love of Reading Week into a Love of Reading Life!

Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Earl

One of the greatest challenges of living overseas is staying connected with family. We've been pretty darn creative though. We have phone calls, we have Skype calls, we have video i chats, we have care packages going back and forth... I have to admit though that there's no replacement for having family come visit and there's no replacement for us heading back to the States to spend time with them. Within the past year, we've had Grandma Barbara, Grandpa Earl, Aunt Susan, Grandma Dotty, Grandma Bill and Mary, Great-Aunt Rhonda, Great-Uncle Jack, and we have Aunt Sissy and Unca' Bubba heading our way at the end of March. We have been very, very lucky!

As soon as Barb and Earl arrived this time, Maddie was right in step with them. There was no warming up time needed... it was just instantaneous adoration. They have come to school a couple of times while they have been here and Maddie has loved it. They came for Chinese New Year celebrations and Maddie's teacher, Ms. Preeti, video-taped some of the performances on that day. In today's elementary assembly, Ms. Preeti showed the movie and Maddie sat right in front and re-lived having her Grandma and Grandpa at school. She yelled "GRANDPA" when she saw him flash across the screen! When Barbara and Earl came to school in the middle of the assembly to walk her home from school, she was absolutely giddy! This truly has been quality family time and that is irreplaceable!