Parker's Round Up and other Catch Up

A few weeks ago Parker's soon-to-be school had it's Kindergarten Round-Up. After I got him all registered the kids went with the kindergarten teachers for stories and games while the parents listened to an orientation. Parker was more than a little nervous to be without me, and even cried when I left him, but LOVED it once he went. He wore that name tag for three days straight, even on his jammies to bed. Ha, ha!

Other than a little shyness perhaps, he is SO READY for school. I can't believe this kid! He shocks me all the time with his thoughts. The other day I taught him to play a simple game of War with a set of number cards. I minute into his second game he recognized that he couldn't win, because Daddy had both of the highest number. What? That hadn't occured to me, but it that kind of reasoning is second nature to him.

People think I must teach him all this stuff, since he doesn't go to preschool and I was a teacher. I guess I do, but only because he asks. He comes out of his room at nine o'clock at night to ask, "What is above space?" We had to explain that space isn't just linear above, but all around. Then he just goes back to bed.

Parker takes after his Dad and after the men in my family. They all have amazing memories and are quick to learn complicated things. I don't have that. I used to have a great memory remembering experiences and remembering any friend I'd ever met, but it seems that with every child my memory diminshes and gets more jumbled. It's rather discouraging sometimes, but probably I won't remember later on. That's partly why I enjoy keeping up with the blog. That way I have a record of our lives.

Anyway, back to Parks; that kid astounds me. The other day we had pizza and for fun, Brad and I were making up math problems- hard ones. One of them was: If we have two pizzas that each have ten pieces. There are four people eating them, how many slices can each person have? I used to give problems like that to my nine-year-old students, but it only took him five seconds to figure it out. Sometimes he guesses, but that type of question isn't beyond him, even without paper or any manipulatives. It's seriously so astonishing, even for me who witnesses it all the time.

Parker's learning has just been expanding in leaps and bounds. The other day his Primay teachers and church gave him an eraser and treats for Easter. He wrote this thank-you note entirely unassisted, except for the first line. (He wrote it in phonetic spelling, but I'll write it out for you.)

"Dear Andersons, Thank you for my eraser. I am so happy I was in class. Thank you for my other stuff. Love, Parker"

So, I've decided having such a bright child is a two-sided coin. It's very impressive and makes some things a lot easier, but it's a challenge as well. I want to make sure he fills that sponge-like mind with good things. I worry that maybe he'll be bored when the other kids are struggling with one-to-one correspondence and other kindergarten level things. For now he gets along really well with friends, but I hope he doesn't become intimidating or make others feel badly if they haven't yet learned what he knows. Hopefully it will all work out well. He's super-excited for kindergarten and I'm excited for him too!

Here are a few other random things we've been up to. My brother Ben has watched the kids for me a few times in the last month or two. They all have such a great time. Ben plays games like Mancala and abbreviated Risk with Parker, reads stories to Jason, holds Liesel. He's a very hands-on Uncle and the kids love it. Here they are swinging: I met up with my friend Kristie Karren. We had been in the same LDS sorority at the U of U and then attending the same student ward. It was so fun to catch up with her! Kristie is one of those wonderfully complimentary people that everyone loves to be around. The boys didn't play with their hoop from Santa very much for a while, but now they're playing with it a lot more. This last one was taken after church a few weeks ago. I love how much the boys adore their sister. Jason's face is priceless in this picture. I still have to catch up with Easter, the kid's new portraits and our fun family vacation, so more fun happenings to come.