TAKE A STAND
by Geoffrey Canada

Maybe before we didn't know,
That Corey is afraid to go
To school, the store, to rollerskate.
He cries a lot for a boy of eight.
But now we know each day it's true
That other girls and boys cry too.
They cry for us to lend a hand.
Time for us to take a stand.

And little Maria's window screens
Keeps out flies and other things.
But she knows to duck her head,
When she prays each night 'fore bed.
Because in the window comes some things
That shatter little children-dreams.
For some, the hourglass is out of sand.
Time for us to take a stand.

And Charlie's deepest, secret wishes,
Is someone to smother him with kisses
And squeeze and hug him tight, so tight,
While he pretends to put up a fight.
Or at least someone to be at home,
Who misses him, he's so alone.
Who allowed this child-forsaken land?
Look in the mirror, take a stand.

And on the Sabbath, when we pray,
To our God we often say,
"Oh Jesus, Mohammed, Abraham,
I come to better understand,
How to learn to love and give,
And live the life you taught to live.
In faith we must join hand in hand,
Suffer the children? Take a stand!

And tonight, some child will go to bed,
No food, no place to lay their head.
No hand to hold, no lap to sit,
To give slobbery kisses, from slobbery lips.
So you and I we must succeed
In this crusade, this holy deed,
To say to the children of this land:
Have hope. We're here. We Take A Stand

Summer Fun

I do love summer. I have always loved it, even when I didn't have summer vacation. Somehow, I always resented working in the summer, though. We are having a wonderful time swimming, going to the beach and playing with friends (my friends included). Sometimes here in coastal SoCal we have what they call May Gray and June Gloom, but it has really been beautiful here this year.

The end of the year was crazy. Lydia had three performances of "The Kindergartner of Oz" and her Dance Recital in the same week. The next week was the end of school for all of us. Cleaning out my room at school was a big undertaking because it hadn't been done for years and closets and shelves were full. I started late in the year and was the new person, so I didn't go through all the junk and purge, but I felt that I could by the end of the year. We had file cabinets full of the old carbon copied worksheets in no specific order as well as a large amount of collected stuff like 7 umbrellas, piles of baskets, shelves of curriculum in Spanish that we are no longer allowed to teach, broken games, puzzles labeled "pieces missing," and piles of dust. Crazy.

The Kindergartner of Oz was another fun and crazy event. A mom from Lydia's class adapted this play and directed it. She included all 120 Kindergarten students and volunteer moms did the costumes, sets, etc. I helped with costumes and did the program which ended up to be a lot of work. All of the costumes were spectacular, but the mom who did the monkeys and lions was very talented and created as if the kids were going on Broadway. She also insisted on makeup, and of course we all helped her because she was otherwise going to do all the kids herself. The director did a marvelous job, teachers guided the cast, and the kids were marvelous. We ended up having to do a bit of fundraising to pay for the Broadway costumes, but it all worked out in the end.

Lydia was cute as can be as Dorothy and sang "Somewhere in the First Grade" solo. At the first performance, things were kind of rushed and crazy getting so many kids into costume and makeup. While I was putting on Lydia's makeup, I realized that I had a bad color of lipstick and then I accidentally went outside her lips, so I just kept making them larger and larger. I didn't want to make her self conscious about her clown lips, so I didn't say anything. I'm sure all the parents were wondering why I did that to her lips, and I keep getting pictures from other families of Lydia and her big lips! She was still beautiful.


Now, I still have to catch everyone up on the Dance recital, Ben's big graduation from UCLA, and much more. Grandma has gone back to MS and Grandpa Ed leaves on Friday. It was great to have them here for all of the fun, and they were a big help, too. Happy Summer Fun to all!

Too Much!

There is so much going on and no time to post! So stay tuned for more of The Kindergartner of Oz, Recital, and the visit to Uncle Ron. Here is a preview.

End of the School Year

It has been so long since I have posted. The end of this year has been crazy. Finishing up things at my school, and then Lydia's end of Kindergarten. She was Dorothy in The Kindergartner of Oz and then there have been all of the parental volunteer things to prepare for this extreme extravaganza. It was quite the production. I will do much more posting on this later. We were very proud and she was quite the sensation. Here is a photo of her and her very dear friend from her class who was a flying monkey.