Happy Travels Grandma

Grandma has embarked on new travels and new adventures. The family gathered to wish her well, and while we will miss her, we cherish the memories and the impact she has had on our lives. Even to this day, there are little antics and idiosyncrasies that I do that are passed down from growing up with grandma. I'm sure some of these will also pass down to my children.

(circa 2000)
I don't recall her ever yelling at me or being mad at me. She always cared for me with a smile and happiness. That's what I will remember most, and I hope I can be even half as good at taking care of my kids as she was.

Some of my memories of her:

Back in the day, grandma was preschool to my cousins and I. I remember her in the kitchen slaving away from morning til night making savory, home cooked traditional Chinese meals... meat broth oatmeal with ground meat and veggies, a similar dish that I make my kids now. She would spend hours using a cleaver to chop up meat into a fine ground. I would request for a delicate sweet steamed egg dish that she would no doubt make. While she cooked away, my cousins and I would wreck havoc on the apartment, playing Hot Lava and hopping from couch to chair, to hardwood floors, and scaling doorways.

Another memory I recall, was doing something to really enrage grandpa, and he came at me with a stick for spanking. I was little, so I darted under a bed and hid there just out of his reach. I knew I would be getting a big ol' spanking when he figured out how to get me, but Grandma came to save me, yelling down the hall for him to leave me alone. I never did get that spanking. Thanks grandma!

A fun memory I have of grandma, is going grocery shopping with her. The store was several blocks away down and up a hill. We would walk there and she would buy a 6-pack of beer which I would help carry up and down the hill back home. What was the beer for? Well, every time I got a report card from school, I would get a treat of having pizza for dinner! But pizza is known to internally heat up your chi, so grandma would pour me a cup of beer and I had to drink it since beer would cool down your chi. I am sure this contributed to my alcohol tolerance abilities that I displayed post-college years.

Grandma told me many stories of her youth and our family, from her young days and how she loved to dance and sing. It could be that Emilia inherited some of that from MaMa as my child loves to sing and dance. Grandma told me stories about the war, WWII, and how life as she knew it changed. She told me stories of China's Cultural Revolution and how her and grandpa had to flee for their lives to save themselves and their children. Stories that seem right out of a movie, hiding out in the day, fleeing at night with young children, choosing to flee solo vs with other refugees to minimize being caught, to make it across China's border into safety.

I remember those stories, but it is hard to imagine my young grandma so brave and courageous, cause indeed, those stories are courageous. She lived through two wars! Then again, I did get glimpses of a feisty personality not associated with child caring. I recall the family taking her to a restaurant for lunch, and as we came out of the restaurant, a man bumped into her accidentally and she immediately started hitting him with her cane and went off in Chinese on the poor dude. Feisty!

No doubt grandma's life and joy was so much about serving her family, kids & grand kids. She would always tell me stories about my aunts, uncles, and dad as kids. She would always comment "so and so is such a good boy or girl". She said that about every single one of my cousins even though I KNEW they weren't THAT good. I didn't believe her anymore because she was way too biased! She would always remind me that my parents care for me as I lived with her on and off until I was ~16 yrs old. Her family and kids really were her joy. She had the biggest smile every time she saw any of her kids, grand kids, and great grand kids.

Thanks grandma for being the hearth of the family, because you really were! You raised good kids, who raised their good kids, your grand kids, who will continue to raise your good great grand kids.

What is Liam thinking?

"My head is so heavy, maybe my shoulder can hold it up..."

"What am I learning? Nevermind! The MMA class is sparring over there!"

"Front row seats to the sparring fight."

"I'm showing respect to the dojo by bowing. Really I am."

"Zzzzzzzz"

"If I sit really still maybe sensei won't call on me and instead tend to the other kid that's not paying attention"

"Okay, getting called all isn't so bad if I get to flip the sensei."

Young Grasshoppers Have Much To Learn

It's been a week of judo classes! This weekend I observed Liam trying to instigate fights with Emilia by grabbing her arm/shirt and tugging or pushing her. I have also seen Emilia call Liam over for some judo/bjj play, then do a take down with a shirt/arm grab and a leg sweep. Emilia seems to like doing the take downs. Liam seems to like the grappling aspect more.. aka sit on Emilia.

Emilia's attention span in class is decent. She has above average grip strength for a newbie 5-yr-old and can follow instruction well. Liam.. oh my Liam, is just the opposite. He has been called out by the sensei numerous times, has been picked up by the belt and put back into line, put in front of the class for something only to start making faces, sticking out his tongue, rolling his eyes, and having the whole class laugh.

Can you spot the kiddos? (The little kid running back to the L-line just finished doing a demo with the instructor.) Most of the kids are paying attention.. most.

While sensei is teaching/demonstrating, Liam can be found laying down and rolling on the mat, or poking the kid next to him in the head, or turned 180 degrees in the opposite direction of sensei, watching the MMA boxers. Another kid even tried to get Liam to pay attention only to cause a disruption in the class. Luckily the senseis at this dojo are VERY good with kids, but also somewhat strict. The senseis will usually call out the kid, but they will also discipline the kids, put them on time out, have their belts or stripes taken away from them if necessary.

These young grasshoppers have much to learn!

Little Judokas - Day 1

"Though she be little, she be fierce!" - William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream



This was first day of Judo/BJJ class and the kiddos practiced how to throw and how to sweep (not shown). Emilia took to the class pretty well and seems pretty natural at knowing how to shift her body weight in the throw. Liam took a while to warm up. He sat on the side with Ryan to watch the class the first 20 minutes, but after that, he willing joined the class on his own.



Kiddos, esp Liam, do have short attention span. By the time class was almost over, he started getting out of line and wandering around. hehe. I'm looking forward to tracking their progression and see how they do in a few months time.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

In this corner, we have Kamikaze Jr.

In the other corner, we have Ze Professor.

Introducing the newest members to the Brazillian Jiujitsu and Judo family!
(Note: Ignore the improper belt tying. I haven't learned the proper method yet!)

This post is sort of a continuation about some of my anxieties about E starting a new school. I realize the kiddos are away from us for more time than we are with them now they are in full time school. Granted, we're trusting in the institutions they are at to take care of them, but at the same time, we are counting that we have given my kids enough guidance and tools for them to take care of themselves to a certain degree. They'll have situations for sure, it's part of growing up.

So, One of the new tools, is what they can learn from the discipline of martial arts in the form of jiujitsu and judo. There is the obvious, self defense, but there's also the respect of the tradition/culture of the art form, confidence, empowerment, respect for dojo/sensei and opponents they'll face. I fully expect sticking to a discipline of martial arts is not easy. There will be blood, sweat, and tears that will build character. Not only that, it will be a test of patience and time management for Ryan and I now that we're juggling different schedules of all four of us!

Kindergarten : A Big Kid

My big kid.

The week leading up to the FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN was all nerves for me, the mama. One would think its not that big of a deal, since E has already been in pre-K/daycare for a few years now. BUT this transition did feel very nerve-wrecking. What if she didn't like the school? What if she gets bullied? What if there are too many students and my kid won't get the attention or the help that she needs? What if the bigger kids at school deal drugs to the little kids? What if she gets lured away by a stranger? What if?? What if?? What if she wants school lunches (unhealthy) now instead of eating what I pack her? As you can tell, my stress and anxiety levels were topping the charts.

I spent the latter half of summer drilling her over stranger danger, acquaintance danger, heck.. even people you know danger. We practiced playground bullying scenarios and how she should handle it, simple self defensive strategies to keep her safe. etc. Then there were simple things.. we practiced her opening her lunch thermos by herself and drilled her on being responsible for her own things now. We go over healthy eating and what I consider is healthy. I know its Kindergarten, but you know, it seems like a big step for more responsibility and independence than from Pre-K daycare.

Long story short, what do you know, the day went smoothly without a hitch... who would have thought? =P

E was definitely ready for Kindergarten. She already seemed like such a big kid the way she went about the morning of the first day of school! She woke up earlier than the set wake up time and came to wake up the parents. She had picked out her clothes the night before and gotten herself changed and ready.

I prepared her food for the day, healthy snacks and lunch, and reviewed with her on how to open the thermos again, and how I organized her food. And yes, even though she's only 5, she rolled her eyes at me and said "I know mom. You told me already."

Banana, Strawberry, and Kale Smoothie.

Lunch box with a "1st day of grade K note".

Proud mama.

All of us went to see Emilia off for her first day of school, including Liam. First thing they both did was run off to the playground. Nope, no school jitters here.

Daddy's girl.

One of the first kids into the classroom to find her name tag and sit down.

Most of the kids were wide eye and curious. Afterall, this was new to them. A few kids cried and their parents had to comfort them. Parents lingered around to take photos, and finally the teacher said to the kids "Wave goodbye to your parents". She waved to Ryan, Liam, and I, no problem. Emilia was definitely ready for school. I, on the otherhand, had a hard time leaving. Luckily I had Ryan there to drag me out.

School has been pretty smooth sailing so far. She loves going to school and tells me how great her day is.. even though she doesn't remember what she learned or who she played with. And as for my healthy food for her, she's been eating them. She makes her own decision on whether to take the daily snacks that the school provides (usually some kind of crackers), and sometimes she does and sometimes she doesn't. I'm happy that she likes the green smoothies I make her, enough to request for them!