I'll be an artist like my mom

If you like painting, what best than having an artist mom. I can't say that about dad. He plays golf, though, and even coaches volleyball, but don't try handing him a brush. That will guarantee you only a wasted canvas and paint.

But my mom... oh my mom! When she sits there it's lovely to be near and feel her vibes with every stroke. I feel I become a better artist myself only by being there witnessing her magic.

And I don't know how, 'cause she's new in the business, but she does it as if she has painted her whole life. I guess that's what they call a "present" (or is it a "gift"?). Well, you know what I mean.

Yil says she can sell her paintings for a thousand USD each. Can you imagine? Even if she doesn't sell them, she's my favorite artist. And she's my mom. Isn't that exciting?

Points of view...

Yesterday was Student Led Conference day at school. I proudly went to Lía's classroom to meet her and to be her audience for 45 min. It was a beautiful display of knowledge and understanding of what's going on in their 5th grade world. Not only was I proud of her, I experimented that feeling that we parents lack during our parenthood (and should have more to overcome the opposite one): I was proud of myself as a father, and proud of An as a mother. Proud of us as a team. Proud of my parents because they raised us as we are now. And proud of... and proud of... and also of...

With all that in mind I was asked at the end of the conference to fill up a form to give my feedback through two uncomplete sentences that I had to fill with my own thoughts. They called it "Parent Reflection"

• I REALLY ENJOYED LEARNING ABOUT how to structure a creative writing

• I WAS PLEASED TO SEE THAT MY CHILD COULD measure with different kind of units knowing which one to use in each case.

And it was signed by me.

You can relate to that pride feeling I was talking about, can't you? Well, there was another section on the form reserved for the child in question. Also with two uncompleted sentences that they chose to name "Student Reflection". They were:

• THE THING I WANTED MOM AND DAD TO UNDERSTAND THE MOST WAS everything in my porfolio! (yes, there is an exclamation point at the end)
  
  
• THE MOST EXCITING PART OF THE CONFERENCE WAS telling our parents to turn their cell phones off. I also liked showing my Hoi An highlights. (Now I remember her satisfaction face when she asked me, and how she and her accomplice Gaby made that YESS!!! gesture in unison as if it was rehearsed)
  

And, of course, it was signed by Lía.

Del departamento de sorpresas sencillas

An me pidió ayer que le mandara una foto para poner en su Bio en una página y me mandó la de su jefe como referencia con la siguiente nota: "Can you help me with a picture that is as nice as the one of Marijn?".

Pensé simplemente buscar entre las fotos una bonita de ella y mandársela y luego vi que era una excelente oportunidad para hacerla reír (tarea que me propongo diariamente... siempre que puedo).

Le mandé pues la foto y le escribí lo que creía que sería sus datos biográficos.

La respuesta no se hizo esperar. "Querido Ro... Me salieron las lagrimas. Que chulo es (el contenido). Sugiero que lo pongas en el blogg o algo asi... Te quiero - An".

Y eso es lo que estoy haciendo ahora. Disfruten.