Crush update

As we are walking back from school, Gwenchik just gives me one word answers to all the questions about how her day went. Such a difference from just a few days ago. So I prodded about her crush (he sits right next to her).

Gwen: Well, he is no longer as fun and interesting as he used to be. I remember last year he was so much fun, but now that he is sitting next to me he is kind of average... and I think he is starting to mix with the bad boys in class.
....
Oh, the disillusionment comes so fast.

Ms. President 2

While we are studying Spanish, which we haven't touched in over a year, Gwenchik is surprised that she remembers so many words.

Gwen: Wow, I guess Spanish is not that hard. Presidency, here I come!

Ms. President

Gwen: You know that I can actually became an American president, because I was born here.

Me: Yes you can. But it is really hard to become a president -- you have to learn a lot of things and study really hard.

Gwen: Well, I already know Russian, which is hard. So when I become a president and could actually talk to the Russian president without a translator.

Me: It is great that you know Russian, but you really need to learn Spanish as it is becoming the second most spoken language in America.

Gwen: No, Spanish is way too hard. Ok, I better be a doctor.

First day at school

My God, Gwenchik is already in third grade! She got up really early today to prepare for the first day at school -- uniform, braids and to come up with the "cool list" for the intro circle.

Me: You went to Toronto this summer.

Gwen: Everyone goes to Canada, what's cool about that?

George: You have two cats, one of which has six toes.

Gwen: Wow, that is actually cool.

.....

Me: Your Dad works for Google.

Gwen: Oh, I forgot -- Google is really cool!

New class, old crush

Today we stopped by the school for a brief introduction to the teacher. She looked pretty strict, so Gwenchik is worried. And her friend from last year is in another class, so future didn't look all that rosy. However, she read her class list and realized that her all time crush is in HER class.

For the next three days all we talked about if he would like her or not; how to behave as, of course, she can't just like him or play with him and playdate is out of the question..... Oh, the angst.

And all the discussions were away from Dad, as obviously he is a boy and wouldn't understand this :)

Hurricane Irene

Gwenchik helped prepare for the hurricane Irene --- flashlight, bottled water and snacks. Two days later

Gwen: The news lied! Not once did we have a power outage. When is the next hurricane?

Lemonade stand

We joined in on our friend's yard sale a few weeks ago, where the biggest draw turned out to be a lemonade stand for 25 cents. Gwenchik got quite good at being both persistent and cute to drum up business. Her marketing techniques were so great, that the girls managed to sell $3 plus worth of lemonade in about 2 hours with not much foot traffic.

Gwenchik was a bit disappointed as she was planning how to spend her millions on her way to yard sale and $3 is nowhere near a million, even she understands.

So we are now having our own yard sale tomorrow, mainly so she she can set up her stand. And she thinks that she can do better than $3, now that she knows how :)

Cat logic

One of our two cats is getting old and slowly losing her hearing.

Gwen: Poor Riska, she is old now, can barely hear and might die.

Me: Do not say it out loud as she might get upset.

Gwen: Well, she can't hear well anyways ...

Wheelchair travel in the future

Gwen: When you get really old and wrinkly then I will buy you a wheelchair and we will travel to China and Vietnam.

Me: Well, it is not that easy to travel in a wheelchair.

Gwen: Why not? You get free parking!

Importance of context

Gwenchik and I were walking our neighbor's dog, who was willing to do tricks for treats, which he loudly and enthusiastically chewed down.

Me: This dog reminds me of our favorite pig, who would gleefully chew down apples (in our house pigs are sort of semi-sacred animals treated with high respect, which is a long story)

Gwen: Yes, he does!

....

As we were returning the dog, Gwenchik happily explained to our neighbors that her mom compared their favorite dog to a pig. Well I had to go into a long-winded explanation to ease the awkward situation. Gwenchik was surprised that not everyone was as appreciative of the pigs as we are. Not sure what the neighbors think...

Let's talk about sex

As we were talking home from school, Gwenchik asked

Gwen: What is sex?

Me: Why do you ask?

Gwen: Everyone at school says that it is disgusting.

Me: Well it is not. It is a physical expression of love -- for example when people hug or kiss...

Gwen: Yes, they were right, it is disgusting! Do not tell me anymore.

.....

Hmm, when do you start talking to your kids about sex?

Learning to program

Gwenchik decided that she wants to program and George taught her how to make her first simple web page.

Gwen: Mom, look this is my first webpage.

Me: That is great! George it is wonderful that you are teaching our 7 year old!

Gwen: No he doesn't! He is just telling me what to do, that is all!

Millionaire dream

Gwenchik read somewhere about kids entrepreneurs, who made lot of money even before graduating high school.

Gwen: Wow, it looks easy. So what do you think I should do to became a millionaire?

Me: The only thing I can think of is programming cool apps for iPhone.

Gwen: Hmmm, but how will I get all my money? Will they know it is me? If yes, let's start today....

Taxes

Gwenchik's discussion about government leads to:

Gwen: Everyone pays taxes so we can policemen and fireman, right? Do policemen and firemen also pay taxes?

Grandma: Yes, of course.

Gwen: Now that is ridiculous! Are they paying for themselves? Just give them less money....

Coming of age

We were discussing about when Gwenchik would be old enough to get her OWN cell phone... and decided that the appropriate time would be when she "comes off age".

Gwen: So how old I need to be in the US

Me: Not sure, probably 18. I think it is actually 14 in Russia and 19 in Korea.

Gwen: Ok, than we have to move to Russia --- 14 is so much sooner!!!!

Korean feast

Lately I have had an obsession in all things Korean -- movies, kdramas, food. And it is starting to permiate to the rest of the family...

When we were in Toronto for New Year holidays we stopped at this beaten up restaurant with the most amazing Korean food. George and Gwenchik loved all the dishes! And we deiscussed about getting a Korean cookbook from the library and try cooking something easy.

Yesterday, George and Gwenchik slaved away for several hours in secret and surprised me with a phenomenal Korean dinned including bibimbap!!!!

Life

Gwenchik and I watched a wonderful Iranian movie "Children of heaven" -- about a 9 year old boy and his 7 year old sister and their adventures over a lost pair of shoes.

The movie was an eye-opener for my sever year old. The wonder of how Gwenchik couldn't comprehend that they only had one pair of shoes; that the boy enters the competition because he really want to win sneaker for his sister; the poverty;the way the children take the responsibility and try to resolve the problem without involving adults.... she was surprised and a bit shocked. And asked me mid movie -- is this a modern fairytale --- life can't be THAT bad.

Cinderella

From George. We were driving by a pizza shop called Cinderella's that caught Gwenchik's attention.

Gwen: Look, Papa, Cinderella's! But it can't be real. They didn't have pizza in those times. Cinderella is from a long time ago, when Mom was born.

Appreciation notes

We have had a few scandals lately with Gwenchik, and it just seems harder and harder to communicate with her (and she is just 7!!!). Than she got really sick last night, so I spent the night comforting her and in the morning I sent her off to watch a cartoon, so that I can get at least an hour or two of sleep.

After I woke up, as I was coming down the stairs I noticed yellow sticky notes all over the stairwell:

"you are the best Mom", "you take care of me so well", "I love you".... she spent most of that hour writing these notes.

Candy and the president

After collecting a ton of candy during the Halloween celebrations we decided to donate the candy to be sent to the troops in Iraq. While sorting the candy..

Gwen: Mom, are you sure the troops will get this candy?

Me: Yes, why?

Gwen: Who is in charge of the troops in Iraq?

Me: In general, the President.

Gwen: Well, they might get all this candy, but are you sure the President will not make rules that they can only eat one candy a day or no chocolate candies, for example?