Summer is Here!

Zach of Note

• Running into Noah two Mondays in a row at Glory Days and Athena at Baskin Robbins
• Baths while listening to stories are an activity
• Curious about the states above Delaware and leaders in Canada and Germany
• Why don’t parents have off in the summer like kids
• Reading 15 minutes first thing in the morning
• Taking care of our new cat, Callie
• Workbook and good about remembering even though he doesn’t love it!
• Listening lots and lots (Harry Potter, Big Nate, Echo Mountain); yes listening in general, in the bath, and more!
• He really is responsible for remembering his workbook, to clean the litter box, packing for camp, etc. 
• Camp with Theo and then Aidan and Alex

End of 2nd grade

Zach at school

• The school year ended at long last. Zach was invite to AAP Math at Lake Anne for 3rd grade
• Zach had a blast getting ice cream with Teddy and Jewelle and Rachel on the last day
• Cora about three weeks after school ended; it’s still around :(
• Zach’s friend Beckett will not come back to Lake Anne next year because of the bullying and Zach is sad about that and worried that Beckett will make new friends and forget him
• He’s missing “sending J. to the principal’s office.” (This sounds bad, but he feels real injustice for the way the situation was handled and the fact that his friend is not coming back and “nothing happened or impacts J.”)
• I think Zach has not really been the focus of bullying from J. because he is sturdy, he has a pretty good equilibrium and doesn’t hold on to negative experiences, and he told me when J. is disregulated and acting out to try to get a reaction out of Zach, Zach has whispered in J.’s ear, “I don’t care.” 
• One of my hopes for the summer is that Zach would learn more about ADHD to help his friend/frenemie. So far, that doesn’t seem to be the way he’s leaning….

Zach and soccer

• The team lost their final game on Sunday, June 2. Tough loss
• A fun mini-celebration when some of the team made it to Owen’s birthday pool party!
• Season officially ended on June 5 with the end of season ice cream party
• Zach was moved to the A team on Friday, June 7. What?! Things are all over the place. Charlie and Fintan were moved up too, and now it’s just Zach and Fintan and Andrew (who made the A-team outright.) The A team has 6 players; the B team has 11
• Zach started goalie training on June 17 and Beckett is in goalie training too!

Zach’s Words and Music

• Zach says: “Oh my days” as an expression of incredulity
• Started piano lessons with Mr. Sam!

S&Z

• Spanish with Zach (Es un problema; no es un problema)
• Walks with Zach
• Bakery Tatte and Uno at the RTC
• Library and a picnic in the parking lot at Local Provisions
• Lots of soccer watching: Euro Cup and Copa America
• Inside Out
• Brunch at the Duck and the Peach and dance performance, Migration, by Step Afrika
• Mad LIbs, Rush Hour, and Sudoku
• Church online 
• Modeled behavior about how I felt overwhelmed and worried about the cat
• Zach and I talked about what kind of person he wants to be… one who says hi and is friendly or one who ignores others…

F&Z

• Beach time
• Hershey Park
• Bike ride on a lovely day or maybe two
• Pool, Water Mine, Sky Zone
• Despicable Me 4
• Lots of soccer

Family Fun

• Family Book Club moved on from Wizards of Once (didn’t finish) to You Choose books to The Howliday Inn
• Lunch at Dogfish in Milton 
• We added Callie to the family on June 22
• A belated Father’s Day celebration at Crooked Run
• Kung Fu Panda 1 and 2

Good Food

• Homemade Brownies (inspired by Danielle)
• Focaccia for Zach to take to camp
• Pitting lots of cherries! 
• Auntie Em’s beans and rice and plaintains
• Veggies to start meals
• 7-minute hard boiled eggs
• Auntie Em’s blueberry lemon cake. Yum!
• Sweet Donkey shortbread
• Breakfast tacos at First Watch
• Provisions from Earth Fare
• Dinner at the River and the Rail: tomato salad, cornbread and butter and pimento cheese, salmon with tahini dressing and spring/summer veggies, banana pudding, a glass of Grenache Rose from Spain and complimentary limoncello
• Martha’s blueberry turnovers

Connection

• Items to Emily and Andrew and photos of Baby Katherine
• Checking in on Katie and Nikki and Jess and Deb
• Zach’s evening playdate at Beckett’s house; Frank and I got to have a great dinner together (zucchini hash with tomatoes and goat cheese and Brownies with ice cream)
• Trip to Lewes on June 7-9; Zach and Hance had a blast; it was great to see Lily; Brian had never been! 
• Ian is back and new folks to DEIB!!!
• Checking in with Nikki and Liesl 
• Walks with Mary and some farmer’s market time with Mary and Cora
• Playdate with Beckett and family at the Water Mine; I took Finn down Little Pete and he held my hand; so cute
• Chatting with Dania at the farmer’s market
• Trip to Montvale to meet up with Paige on July 4-6 was SO FUN!
• Visit with Mom and Dad on July 6
• Play date with Owen at the Water Mine and at home; chat with Lauren to arrange and Tim

Grateful

• Beckett’s family: Larry brings me a camp chair to goalie trainings and Wendy offered to watch Zach any time!
• Callie’s family brought her to us from Rockville

Fun Stuff (Personal)

• Giving on Juneteenth
• Continuing Spanish with LIesl
• Speaking French with Agathe and Sacha - learned that fourniture = supplies and the LIttle Library is disorganized = “C’est un bazaar.”

Reading

• Finished Olga Died Dreaming, Park Avenue Summer, Clap When You Land (Thanks for the recommendation, Kathleen)
• Glucose Goddess
• Anita de Monte Laughs Last
• Good Enough
• Our Hidden Conversations

Watching

• The Lost Kitchen
• Heartland
• My Life with the Walter Boys

Listening

• Some great hits from 1988 and 1989Simon Sinek and the episodes with Brene and Adam Grant
• Simon Sinek’s episode with Christina Tosi and ice cream bread!
• Coaching for Leaders
• Hidden Potential 
• Super Communicators

Fun Stuff (Professional)

• Ian is back
• New folks to DEIB
• Continued meet ups with Hailey
• Culture OB with Athena
• GC sold to the Nemetschek group and now we’re a Bluebeam company
• Product Update modules and one thing I learned, one think I found interesting, and one question
• Speak Up Summit on psychological safety

Not So Fun Stuff (Personal and Professional)

• In memory of Suji’s brother and Nikki’s dad

Health Stuff

• Frank came down with COVID on June 13; Zach and I tested positive on June 23
• Darebee exercises are great, especially upward downward dog (20), balance front kicks (40), and twist lunges (40)

Nuggets 

• When thinking about anxiety, it’s a formula. Anxiety = the unknown + lack of confidence/lack of faith in our own ability to handle hard things. 
• Good reminder on metacognition
• Helping others when it’s hard comes down to being taught consequences of actions when did something wrong rather than punishment and shame
• Susan David and decisions…is this going to bring me closer to the person I want to be…
• A new feelings wheel 
• Fear for the next presidential election, give in state races
• Anne Helen Petersen and friends and insights
  
  
  

Springing into Summer

Water Play day

Zach of Note

• Zach’s playdate with Beckett - all day at his house
• Love this: Owen E.’s quote: “Zach, I love your hustle, but you need to call for the ball.”
• Playdates with Tom. Thanks, Vanina
• Chores and chore chart are a work in progress
• Approaching summer solstice, and we’re all sleeping less
• He still enjoys writing out a menu and serving Frank breakfast

Zach at School

• Sr. Bachelet commented on how  much Zach knew about Udvar Hazy
• Zach has worked hard on Jiji
• Reading is still something he resists spending any time on
• With Mrs. Vargas gone things have been bumpy, and now the boys are really struggling. One of the kids is using inappropriate, abusive language and is struggling with regulating his body and space. He’s hitting and kicking kids, stepping on them, and as happened with me, pretending to cut them with swords, which is just pretend, but the large, uncontrolled movements feel like they could easily make contact and cause pain, and I think they do a lot at school. 
• With all this going on, I am alerted AGAIN that Zach needs to work on his self control and time management. Sigh. Therefore, a meeting with Sra. Bachelet.
• School so needs to be over!

Zach and Soccer

• Tryouts - what a disruption to the game and their current team. Not a fan! I have loved his team this year, but now the focus is on what it will be next year, and it has been for the last six weeks!
• Zach and Andrew impromptu playdate on a practice cancelled evening
• Two games and dust ups with refs. Jeez! First one. Not warranted. The second one. The ref’s behavior was not okay. 
• After the first game in the tournament, Zach and I were walking, and I talked about how people asked “if he had fun,” and I said, “That’s important, but it’s also important to think about what you learned.” So, then I asked what he’d learned from the game, and he said, “Nothing.” I gave a few possible examples, and then he started talking about what he “should have done” when the ball came at him. He thought it was going to hit the post or go wide, so he didn’t dive for it, and he should have. I told him, “That’s what you learned.”
• Zach and six of his teammates invited to join Lazio (the B team); he’ll stay with Owen, Owen, Charlie, Alex, and Josh
• He is playing goalie and out on the field most games. He was the sole goalie in two games.

Zach’s Words and Music

• Piano Keys program
• Levitating playing in the Percy Jackson show
• He really enjoyed the end of year concert with the orchestra, band, and chorus and wants to play violin
• Audio books are it!
• The Cascades Library is our fave: they have a puzzle, books as "to go" orders, small reading rooms, fun check-in and check-out technology, and great librarian who introduced us to Wonder Books

S&Z

• Trip to Philly! We had so much fun on the train, at Philly's Magic Gardens, sampling cookies amongst plants, at dinner ("Bathroom?"), on the 21st floor, at the Reading Terminal Market, and on the hop on/hop off bus
• Walking to school with Zach and sometimes Cora, Lindy, and Adina
• Spanish with Zach
• Echo Mountain and general listening
• Adventure to La Plata, MD, and lunch at Dania’s the Wee Bean
• Lice checks
• Church 
• Lunch with Mom and Dad at Region’s 117
• Z at the pool on a cool, rainy day

F&Z

• Kung Fu Panda IV
• Swimming; summer goal, I think, is for Zach to work on his formal swimming strokes
• The Water Mine
• Bike ride
• Wildcraft

Mother's Day 2024

Family Fun

• Soccer games
• Mother’s Day with the Ramos and Elcesser families
• Wizards of Once family book club
• Zach’s half birthday dinner at Ted’s Bulletin
• Percy Jackson
• Finished Forbidden Island as a family - after Zach and I started it up on our own

Good Food

• Tahini Caesar - always (siempre)
• Sugar with sprinkles, Snickerdoodle and peanut butter and jam cookies - what a good idea!
• Mother’s Day goodies, including Thompson Italian twice-baked raspberry brioches
• Mezeh
• Brownies
• Zucchini hash with goat cheese, tomatoes, and bread

Connection

• Chats with Jenny and Jenn
• Chats with Paige
• Hanging with Auntie Em
• Post-water balloon fight pizza at Mod
• Serendipitous meeting at the farmer’s market and hanging out with Lauren and Dania while Zach and Owen played
• Zach and Beckett and me and Jen (Beckett’s mom)
• Speaking French with Agathe and Sacha - learned that fourniture = supplies
• Paige’s orchids
• Walk with Katie
• Water play with the reusable water balloons! 
• Spanish! (Mary at the farmer’s market, the DIY Dame, and Jenn)
• Memorial Day weekend gathering at Auntie Em’s
• Dropped off baby Katherine's gifts and food for Emily & Andrew
• Date night dinner of zucchini hash with tomatoes, olives, and goat cheese on bread with a sparkling rose and Brownies with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Yum! Yum!

Grateful

• Zach is such a great travel companion
• Zach is holding my hand from time to time lately. Not sure why, but I’ll take it!
• Empathy Corner
• Kindness notes. Zach wrote one to Beckett and Teddy, and then he lost the one he wrote for Teddy, but still!

Fun Stuff (Personal)

• Back patio redone and complete!
• Helping to hang art and the art show at school. It was more fun this year. :) 
• Spanish study is going well
• Ali’s baby, Pan’s graduation
• Reading
• Good Enough
• Finished Adam Grant’s Hidden Potential and The People We Meet on Vacation
• Olga Dies Dreaming
• Arthur Brooks’ From Strength to Strength
• Never Enough
• Watching
• The Night Agent
• Abbott Elementary
• The Lost Kitchen
• Listening
• Light on the podcasts - mostly just Adam Grant’s Work Life
• LinkedIn has been good and Simon Sinek’s story about our need for only 8 minutes when we’re in crisis. We should call and reach out.

Fun Stuff (Professional)

• Culture Onboarding and sharing
• Time management and recent Leadership Institute was particularly good
• Coffee chat with Corey was delightful!
• Ian is coming back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• DEIB (Liesl and Jess)

Health Stuff

• Podiatrist - my feet are definitely getting worse more quickly
• Saville appointment - all is well; I’m very consistent
• Frank’s sports hernia surgery and recovery

Not So Fun Stuff (Personal and Professional)

• Flat Retreat situation and all retreats are canceled for this year. Very sad since I know so many have gotten so much out of the community. It is their light and joy!
• Therapist, Shunise, is leaving current practice and will no longer see clients
• Emily and Andrew’s baby Katherine Ann R-K arrived 7 weeks early and spent the first month in the NICU. 
• Deb’s seizures and surgery
• Jess’ mom’s health
• More layoffs and lost another DEIB-er
• Tough week around Memorial Day
• I definitely struggle when things are out of control. When I feel there has been a misunderstanding. 
• I definitely feel more deeply than others and have to keep that in mind when I struggle with how I feel like I’m treated poorly. 
• Also, disagreements and conflict are normal and do not mean the end of the relationship. 
• I struggle with holding critical feedback against others. Clearly, if they think one thing is wrong with me or my son or anything, they see no value in me. 

Nuggets

• Simon Sinke’s analogy about how to support people in hard times. It’s like they’re in the mud, and we want to get them out of the mud, but what they need is for us to get in the mud with them and just be there. It’s not fun, but it’s important to stay in the mud until they say it’s time to come out. 
• Metacognition is still there, but it might have waned a bit this month
• Susan David shared a great emotional agility graphic on core emotions that I have loved using and sharing with Aspiring Leaders and Leadership Institute
• All Zach needs is love and a soft place to land.
• Stop comparing Zach to other kids. It is helpful when I remember all the things that make him amazing rather than focusing on a few things that I wish were different!
• Beware of people pleasing and giving too much energy to supporting others
• Adding into learning modules and generally the idea of 3 things learned, 2 interesting things, and 1 question.