Barista Kids » 2009 » June

Local Kid Meets Nelson Mandela

Kristen Kemp — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:00:23 +0000

Nelson Mandela Day is July 18, and includes and all-star concert at Radio City Music Hall, a special stand at Grand Central and a dinner at Cipriani’s.
One local boy was part of the pre-celebration when 11 New York City area kids went to Johannesburg, South Africa. They were selected from a pool of 1,000 students who submitted essays about Mandela’s legacy. They all had individual meetings with Nelson Mandela. See Aron Augustitus, a 13-year-old from West Essex Middle School who lives in North Caldwell with Mandela at left.
Aron wrote new lyrics to Bruce Springsteen’s Working on a Dream for Mandela, read it on the next page.

Working on a Mandela Dream
by Aron Augustitus
Down here the days are long, the freedom is going
I try to help you and I’m working on my dream?
I’m working on my dream
Now the people I’ve fought
It’s a rough job, country
I straighten the Gov. and
I’m working on my dream
I’m working on my dream
I’m working on my dream
Though sometimes its
hard to work in vain
I’m working on freedom
And I know it will work out
someday
They lock me up, I fight
Much harder
My heart is tough from
working on a freedom
I’m working on my dream
I’m working on my dream
Though the problem is hard
to fight while in here everyday
I’m working on freedom?
Well our prayers will help us fight our pain
I’m working on freedom
Though sometimes it’s hard to work in vain
I’m working on my dream?
Our will, will fix the problem one day
The sun rises up, I wake up thinking
of what equality issssss and I’m working on my dream?
I’m working on my dream
I’m working on freedom
I’m working on my dream
I’m working on freedom
Though it’s so hard to work when you’re in pain
I’m working on my dream
Our justice will make it real someday?
I’m working on freedom
Though it’s so hard to fight just this way ?
I’m working on my dream?
And our love will make it real someday

Duct Tape Prom Dresses & Our 4th of July Float

Kristen Kemp — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:00:22 +0000

I’m frantically trying to come up with an idea for Barista Kids’ 4th of July Parade float this Saturday. We have a red pickup truck, but that’s about it. Have any ideas for us? Please help me before I am driven to drink vodka (even though I hear vodka makes me old). I promise not to drink while driving the float.
Maybe I should ask these nifty kids, see left: They’re creating duct tape prom dresses. Around the country, couples made thrifty outfits from the tape that can solve the world’s problems. Then they entered their photos in the Stuck at Prom online contest, which is down to 10 finalists. The winning couple and school will get $3,000 scholarships. Vote for the best duct tape prom dress by Thursday, July 2.
Okay, now about that parade float…

Mom Confession: I Don’t Believe in Boredom

Kristen Kemp — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:21:34 +0000

At a meeting around my dining room table last night, a few parents mentioned that their daughters were bored in Girl Scouts, and the implication was that this might lead to them dropping out of the troop.
Bored is one of those trigger words for me–I get up on my mental soapbox, and start delivering a lecture on the many meanings of the word and how we should and shouldn’t respond when we hear it. Not only does it come from my nostalgia about childhood, and how back in the day, we were never bored–because I know that can’t be true. There were times when my club meetings didn’t provide enough entertainment. They often took place in the crawl spaces under the garden apartments in Whitestone, Queens, with suds coming in from the leaking washing machine above, and lights flickering from a Sabbath candle on an orange crate.
In my years as an elementary school teacher, bored kids were accustomed to having grown-ups fix the things in their lives that weren’t easy.

Sometimes things that weren’t easy meant work that was too challenging, bored as in: “This is hard, I’m frustrated, and I can’t deal with frustration.” Sometimes bored meant, “Help me.”
As a teacher, reading between the lines meant conveying strategies for how to untangle a process into manageable steps for an overwhelmed student. But the bored that was uttered by the gifted student was the cry of passive aggressiveness, with an undertone to the grown-ups of You figure out how to entertain me, or else!
So, here’s my schtick about boredom: Boredom is disengagement. Being aware of your own disengagement is a powerful thing. It poses all kinds of interesting questions. Do you need to feel engaged every second? What can you do if you want to feel connected? These are intellectual, creative and social challenges that kids can get tremendous satisfaction from by figuring it out on their own. If my daughter says she’s bored, I say, “Great.” It’s the start of a conversation.
Sometimes we forget that by playing back our kids’ statements as first person questions, we are providing a bridge for them to use their own resources: “What do I do when I’m bored?” “I read, I take a walk, I find someone to talk to.” The things we do haven’t changed that much since I was a kid, not really. An artist friend says she needs the emptiness of boredom before she creates a painting.
If you had a grandmother who spoke Yiddish, she may have had this answer to calls of boredom: “Gai shlog dein kup en vant!” This translates to, “Go knock your head against the wall!”
In other words, boredom is your problem, kiddo.
Entry by Ellen Kahaner, a writer in South Orange
Photo by AliceNWondrlnd

This Is What 17 Looks Like

Debbie Galant — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:39:59 +0000

For mothers of little kids, a child’s birthday is all about bouncy houses and goody bags. But when your kid turns 17, it’s all about the driver’s license — especially for boys. I can’t say I was ready for this milestone, but when the time came (and it came early, because we had an 8 a.m. appointment in Wayne), I was rooting for him. Here’s what it looked like.

Teens Pay Tribute to Troops Tonight

Kristen Kemp — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:00:42 +0000

Glenfield Middle School students are raising money for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan tonight. Head to Montclair Public Library to hear their songs and get some dessert.
A Coming Home: Teens Tribute for our Troops
Who: All ages
What: A fundraiser for troops returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan
Where: Montclair Public Library
50 S. Fullerton Ave.
Montclair, NJ 07042
When: Monday, June 29, 7 p.m.
Cost: $7 per person, all proceeds to benefit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

What Will Happen to Michael Jackson’s Kids?

Kristen Kemp — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:00:25 +0000

Update: Joe Jackson & Al Sharpton held a press conference at 2:40 p.m. Katherine Jackson, Michael Jackson’s mother, has been granted temporary guardianship of Michael’s three kids.
In Panera Bread this morning, a 4-year-old boy was singing Beat It–and doing a moonwalk. This weekend at Mountain Creek Water Park in Vernon, NJ, teenagers were trying to belt out the song, but they didn’t know the words.
Imagine that? They did not know the words to Beat It. They didn’t even know the part, “So you wanna be bad?” I felt bad, for sure–like I was 2,000 years old.
I just read an article on NJ.com about Michael Jackson’s kids that got me thinking about what’s next for them. He had three: Prince Michael, 12; Paris, 11 and Prince Michael II, 7, also known as Blanket. Surely, he had chosen their legal guardians in case he died. (My husband and I still haven’t done that, and we need to.)
Will we ever see those kids’ faces? I hope we don’t. MJ wouldn’t want that.
See Janet Jackson speak at last night’s BET Awards–an impromptu Michael Jackson tribute–below.

Do You Forget Your Kid’s Sunscreen?

Kristen Kemp — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:00:32 +0000

This morning when I dropped the twins off at MMO summer camp, I forgot their sunscreen. We’ve had so little sun this summer that I had taken it out of their backpacks. Luckily, I had some $27-a-tube Anthelios facial sunscreen in my purse. I slathered them with it.
I’m afraid I’ll get locked up if I let them burn. Do you ever forget your kid’s sunscreen?

Photo by Graham and Sheila

Duck Lessons for Third Graders (& Their Parents)

Bernadette Baum — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:10:14 +0000

My Third Grader at Hillside worked his charm on me last week, begging to be allowed to bring home a pair of chicks or ducklings for the weekend that his class had been watching grow from pre-hatching days, courtesy of a local farm. Once the little birds get to what he aptly calls the ‘leggy’ stage, they’re sent back to the farm, where I’m sure they are allowed to feed and run freely and live a long far from the slightest whiff of tarragon or plum sauce.
“They’re really easy to look after,” my 9-year-old assured me, “and there will be many lessons learned.” He was right, here are the lessons I picked up. I dearly hope he learned as much as I did.
Lesson 1: What goes in must come out. The minute we walked through our door with the adorable, fuzzy 3-day-old house guests, my son announced, “Oh, by the way, all they do is poo and pee the whole time.” No kidding.

Lesson 2: Never switch your NYT subscription to an online one the week you adopt ducklings. I had to rummage around for old copies of the NYT, stopping short of my President Obama inauguration souvenir. Those duckies had plenty of riveting reading material by some of the country’s top journalists all weekend.
Lesson 3: Don’t be a chicken about handling ducklings. I had no idea this would be challenging. They’re not chubby or ‘solid’ like young cats or pups. Indeed, you can feel every rib under all that blanket of yellow down–a bit of a surprise if you’re not used to it. So my son (an expert bird handler by now) had the job of transferring the ducks to a box while I cleaned out every last detail of their post-digested oatmeal and grits. About four or five times a day.

Lesson 4: Ducks like their oatmeal with water.
Lesson 5: As much as drinking it, they enjoy sitting in their drinking water, however small the bowl.
Lesson 6: Ducklings snuggle and sleep together. They are very sweet this way.
Lesson 7: Ducklings do not quack. They cheep, and they do this quietly.

Lesson 8: Ducklings grow on you. No matter how much time and trouble their toilet habits caused, we all miss their quiet, snuggly, sweet yellow presence!
Do you have a guest pet story or a pet learning experience? Share it with us.

Montclair’s Kindergarten Assignments Have Arrived

Georgette Gilmore — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:30:00 +0000

We got the letter. The letter that Montclair parents of 5-year-olds nervously await–the kindergarten assignment letter. After touring and reviewing the six magnet schools Montclair offers, parents list their choices 1-6 and keep their fingers crossed that they get the school of their dreams.

We got our first choice–Nishuane. It’s the largest school so getting in probably wasn’t that hard. Still, I let out a loud, “Woohoo!” when I opened up the letter. I felt like a winner.

I’m sure that not everyone is as happy as I am. Many people do not get their first choice.
Did you get your letter this weekend? Did you jump for joy or are you disappointed?

Free Family Fun: Sidewalk Sale and Food Tasting

Georgette Gilmore — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Today is day two of the Bloomfield Center Sidewalk Sale. If you missed it yesterday, don’t fret, there will be more great deals, food tastings and family entertainment today. Dandy Dan, a stiltwalker, balloonist and juggler will entertain the kids from 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. That’s him in the photo on the left.
We also hear that Williams-Sonoma, in Montclair, will have an all-day free food tasting of summer favorites: baked beans, coleslaw, ice cream and more.
Here are the details..

Bloomfield Center Sidewalk Sale
Who: All ages.
What: Sidewalk sale featuring deals, food tastings, auto expo, and family entertainment.
Where: Bloomfield Center, Bloomfield, NJ.
When: Saturday, June 27 all day.
Cost: Free
Williams-Sonoma Food Tasting
Who: All ages.
What: Free food tasting of summer favorites.
Where: Williams-Sonoma, 630 Valley Road, Montclair, NJ, 07043.
When: Saturday, June 27 all day.
Cost: Free