http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Veronika Therese Souzek en-us dinka@souzek.com 2009-11-13T11:34:34-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2009_11_13_writing_workshop.php At the beginning of the school year the teacher asked the students to pick a topic they would write about through the year as part of the Writer's Workshop program. I am not sure what it is supposed to look like at the end, but Veronika assured me that the drawing and writing below was just the first time they drew up the idea, but was not the final product. I wanted to post it nevertheless, because it's well, sweet but also because it's such a nice combination of words and drawings expressing her thoughts and feelings of an event. 2741@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2009-11-13T11:34:34-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2009_11_04_first_grade_friends.php Veronika recently got a card from her friend Audrey. Audrey sits at the same desk at school and it seems the two have connected really well. I love that the card starts out with "WOW" - as if there is just nothing else that comes to mind when you think of Veronika. I was told the "stick to me" part refers to the fact that they sit together and therefore "stick". Maybe. I'm thinking the girl probably also tried to say something like "You stand by me". Not sure, but it's still very sweet. It doesn't get any more personal than that. 2730@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2009-11-04T14:21:57-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2009_10_16_at_the_movies.php 2705@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2009-10-16T22:13:07-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2009_06_18_kindergarten_graduation_shes_five_going_on_26.php There wasn't really a graduation, which is actually fine by my. I'm not a fan of making a huge deal of things that really aren't. From a purely personal perspective this whole year has been a milestone of sorts. For her as well as for me. With Veronika everything is a first for me and so every step she makes towards being an independent person is astonishing to me. (She typed the text on the computer) This year Veronika learned how to read and write and with that came a new level of self-expression and freedom. Several relatives have benefitted from her new acquired capability to write cards and letters, even I have received notes. She has labeled things and created things (tickets, menus...) and we have had the joy to see her personality revealed on a new level through a new medium. I have caught her numerous times absorbed by rereading a favorite book and walked away happy and confused. "She's reading by herself for fun! How wonderful!" and then; "She's reading a book? WHAT?! My own child?" She has done wonderfully in her first school year. Her first teacher left in February to have a baby and her second teacher finished the school year. Both of them had only praise for Veronika and I heard these phrases repeatedly "A joy to have in class!", "Never any trouble!" and "If every student was like her..." I don't care if this sounds like bragging, because it's not. It is very much needed feedback for me. I have to say one of my top fears is to raise a child who is not very likable and one of my top goals is to raise a child that is a joy to be around. However since I'll always find my children a joy to be around (generally speaking of course), it's hard to gauge if things are going well until they have to spend a significant time of the day with other people. Her report cards have been very positive too. She seems to do particularly well in reading, math and music, which I know are things she also enjoys the most. I was surprised a child so young could get excited about addition and occasionally multiplication. I have to be very careful to not kill this curiosity. I was not a math genius myself but enjoyed it except for the times I was terrified of it. The fear was unwarranted but who knows it might show itself in one of those uglier parenting moments. Veronika likes school, except when she needs to get up in the morning. I was surprised this feeling starts so early. Poor kid. She made friends and loved riding on the bus. I hope this continues. (These lists were written by the children themselves, they could not ask for help with spelling) This year she also started going to regular dance classes. She absolutely took to it and does well for her age. As far as I can tell. It was bittersweet dropping her off the first time. I love dance but have put it in hold in the last few years and here is my child off to her dance class before I even had the chance to pick it up again. I'm excited that she loves it. Maybe it will be something we can share in the future. Maybe not, which is ok with me. I hope I will be able to give her the right amount of support so that she never feels pressured nor let down. The first recital provided weeks of excitement. She practiced at home so much that even now Ivan will occasionally do some kind of thing with his leg and call it a "shuffle-step". She did great for her level. (There is a video of the recital on the links page - it's pretty big, so might take a while to download. I might have to take it down eventually.) There is a lot of gazing around trying to pick up the steps from the other kids and occasional confusion, which is typical for that age. But you can see she is never deterred or feeling lost. I was amazed at her complete lack of self-consciousness. It's good to be five sometimes. It also reminds me how ultimately so many things depend solely on our attitude. Ivan is still her number one playmate and companion. I know she sometimes longs for a sister but if there has ever been a willing replacement to don a dress, a tiara and a magic wand, Ivan is it. She can annoy him mercilessly just as a big sister should, but when we find ourselves at a store picking out a piece of candy or a souvenir, at the Kindergarten Zoo trip for example, she immediately asks if she can pick something out for Ivan and then thoughtfully looks at things he might like. This makes me incredibly happy, especially when it is all her idea and motivation. The best thing after loving your children is watching them love each other. I suppose what amazes me the most about Veronika is her maturity. Not that she's not acting like a five-year-old, she is, but the ability to follow through on things she's learned and fit herself in with others is a wonderful revelation to me. Maybe this is a normal thing that happens with kids this age, but I reserve the right as a mother to consider this a marvelous and unique development. I could not be more excited to see more of who she is in the future. 2560@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2009-06-18T16:23:42-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2009_04_13_musical_beginnings.php Veronika has been curious about playing the piano for a while ("How do you know which notes to play?") so last weekend I taped sticky notes to a few of the keys and labeled them with the letters of the notes, like this: Then I played "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and wrote down the notes as letters so that she could play it. She seemed to think that was pretty cool and played it a few times. On Saturday, she wanted to play it again but her music had been misplaced (accidentally thrown out) so I got a new sheet of paper with the intention of doing the same exercise but then got distracted by Nikola. As I was taking care of him, I heard Veronika, on her own, picking out the melody for "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (luckily she started on an E so she had enough labeled notes and no sharps or flats). I didn't say anything while she was working for fear of disturbing her but when I went to look afterward, I saw that she got it all right! As a pianist who began playing the exact same way, I was beaming with pride. Just from seeing me do it once, she made the connection between the notes, the keys and the letters, and then applied her new method to a song of her own. If she can learn "America the Beautiful", she is going to bring down the house in Wisconsin. 2479@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2009-04-13T12:13:02-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2009_02_16_the_reader.php 2418@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2009-02-16T20:40:14-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2009_02_15_christmas_songs.php Better late than never, here's Veronika and Ivan singing three of their favorite Christmas songs: Santa Claus is Coming to Town Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer We Wish You a Merry Christmas 2409@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2009-02-15T12:32:29-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2008_12_17_i_keep_finding_stuff_like_this_around_the_house.php "SPEC JRMIN WITH BAKA AND TESA" - Mama? How do you, uh, know how to write words? - What do you mean? How to spell them? - Yes. Like I know for some, but some I don't... - Well, you learn it at school... with time... - Do you know how I do it? - How? - I sound it out. Like aaaaa or rrrrrr... Is that ok? - That's a good way to do it. 2344@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2008-12-17T14:24:29-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2008_08_17_taking_off_the_training_wheels.php 2201@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2008-08-17T23:35:03-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2008_08_16_shes_five.php Click on the here to see more! This is what happens to me when I know I need to write about some major thing about my kids... I avoid it (not that it is hard these days), because I'm somehow nervous about handling all the emotions that will resurface while I'm attempting to write a coherent text. The keyboard and the monitor seem insufficient to convey exactly what I'm trying to say. But enough about me. Veronika turned five two weeks ago and it was by far the best birthday she has had or we have had with her. Lincoln went so far as to say that maybe 5 is the best age for having a birthday. Maybe that's true, but I'd rather not start thinking about how 5 is already the beginning of the end. I know what he meant though. It's the first birthday you can really anticipate. You know exactly what is involved and what it means and the excitement beforehand as we all know is at least half of the fun. On top of that you are not demanding and everything that by age 15 or 25 you will take for granted is still new and fabulous: the cake! the presents! the guests! You just can't have that kind of fun as an adult. I started thinking about her birthday a couple of months before, wondering if we should do/have something special like last year where we spent the day with Thomas the Train. I just couldn't come up with anything satisfying and I didn't want to hand over the birthday party to a gymnastics club or restaurant or indoor playground. Not because I dislike them that much (I dislike them somewhat) but because one, I didn't want to invite 15 kids, which is usually the minimum and two, I didn't want to spend the money and three, I realize I wanted to be part of the preparation. Maybe this is selfish, but if birthdays are for five-year-olds, then watching your child be happy because of something you did is for parents. Eventually we decided to just to the "normal" thing and invite her friends, make cake and prepare some games. As it turned out I think that's exactly what she wanted even though she probably couldn't have verbalized it. I took her to the party store to buy invitations, cups, napkins and goodie bags. She was mesmerized by that store, I will have to keep it in mind for the future, because she is incapable of speaking or hearing in there. The amount of stuff is just overwhelming. She picked out a pinata shaped like a tiara and when we headed home she couldn't stop talking about the store and what was in it and what else we needed. I think being involved in the preparations was really up her alley.. she's a little organizer and likes to take care of things (or being in control?). We came home and the invitations had to be written and sent immediately. Again, writing cards and letters is one of her favorite things, so that worked out great. Most of the kids came (Tea, my cousin's daughter was here already, then Drew, the neighbor's kids Kaitleen and A.J.) and several adults too (Katie, James and Jill). I had set up a craft for the kids, they were to make their own party hats. Luckily they all took to it and glitter was spilled in abundance. The engineering wasn't perfect (party hats need very thin elastic for example, anything bigger will be too tough under the chin...), but I have time to practice in the next few years. We took some pictures of the kids with their new hats. After that we had some hot dogs and opened presents (oh the presents, they would be a story themselves). Then, finally it was time for the pinata (Can we do the pinata yet? Is it time for the pinata?). Lincoln tied it between the staircase railing and the fence outside.. and then we started hitting.. and hitting and hitting and that thing would not break. Only after the adults started helping did it budge and the candy fell out... finally. The whole thing was a lot of fun though and was probably the highlight of the party. The kids had grabbed their goodie bags and filled them with the loot for the pinata. After that it was time for cake and candles. I had asked her what cake she wanted but her answers changed weekly and daily until I just started agreeing and concluded I'd make what I could knowing what she liked. It ended up being a 3-layer chocolate and strawberry cream cake with white vanilla frosting, with a pink and purple butterfly on it - oh and her name spelled out. She blew the candles out immediately,when I had barely set the cake down. "Mama, you gotta try this frosting, it's SO GOOD." Ah. My baby. If you only knew. The whole event was amazing to watch. She was so excited, so so happy but also very focused. You could see her running around, opening the door when the bell rang, making sure all her friends were doing ok and what they were supposed to. She even organized the party-hat-photo. You can see her holding Ivan's hand in it with her smile bright and ready... She kept telling me how much fun she was having .."I love my birthday, mama!" and "You had a better idea for the goodies bags!" (I think she liked the part where they got to fill it themselves instead of getting them full already). You can tell she considered herself a full member of the party-planning committee, which is so sweet... If you know Veronika, you understand that her having adult responsibilities is something very important. She's probably never looked forward to a day so much in her life and it seems it lived up to every expectation. On top of that there was never an emotional breakdown from all the attention and excitement, no pesky toddler-hormones to overcome. She was just in her element and enjoyed herself and everyone around her. I don't know who was happier at the end of that day, she or her parents. We just couldn't really process it... Every birthday is an anniversary for us, where inevitably we think back how it all started and it's just impossible to understand it all in a calm and logical fashion. Every child still feels like an enormous explosion in your life. It's impossible to determine it's scope and intensity and a birthday like this makes you look at it again and wonder how you deserved it. Lincoln and I talked about it for days afterwards. She was so happy... She had so much fun... And she said this to me... Remember...? Thank you for a wonderful birthday, baby girl! 2198@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2008-08-16T11:13:41-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2008_08_16_she_didnt_look_like_she_was_bothered_by_it.php In the bathtub, both kids are playing around, when there is a suspicious noise... Veronika: Ivan?! What was that? Ivan (grinning): Furzi... (fart) Veronika (inhales): YEAH. I can smell it! 2197@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2008-08-16T11:11:45-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2008_07_24_logic.php Veronika and Ivan discuss something while putting their shoes on... Veronika: So. Ivan. Can brothers and sisters marry each other? Ivan: *somethingsomething* Veronika: What? You want to marry Bibap (Phil)? Ivan: Yeah! Veronika (exasperated): Ivan! You can't marry Bibap. He's ALREADY married! 2167@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2008-07-24T21:45:02-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2008_04_13_the_real_world.php 2043@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2008-04-13T21:55:28-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2008_04_07_im_just_a_bad_mother_oopswell_that_too_maybe.php Veronika, exasperated, yells: You NEVER let me play with ANY scissors! 2035@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2008-04-07T12:44:27-05:00 http://www.souzek.com/veronika/archives/2008_02_29_overheard.php (Veronika and Ivan are pretend-playing... something) Veronika: Ivan, you are the DAD! Ivan: Shay (= OK) Veronika (yelling): DAD! I have a problem for you! The kids are bunking me!!! Tell them to go to bed! Kids! Go to bed! It's FIFTY hours already! 1991@http://www.souzek.com/veronika/ Parental Commentary 2008-02-29T12:07:20-05:00