Little League Tryouts 少少棒選拔賽

Now that my son is 8, with 2 years of Little League experience, he is qualified to enter the minors team in his little league. But the caveat is that he has to try out for the team. Parents received flyers for baseball camps before the winter break and because we were going on a cruise, I couldn't sign my son up for it. The boy hasn't played baseball since May, he was a bit rusty at the try out today. Both my husband and I thought our son is a borderline kid--meaning he may or may not make the minor team. He can hit and catch, but he's weak in throwing the ball. One thing going for him is that he is a fast runner between the bases. Like I said he is a borderline kid. If the try outs are for coaches to select the best players, he will make the minors if they need more players to form the teams. So we were keeping our fingers crossed.

The morning started at 9:45AM with his first winter soccer game. There were 2 other boys on the team who were also going to the baseball tryout, so we all left the soccer game early at 10:15AM. They changed into their baseball uniform, then we drove 15 minutes to the Little League field. There were many kids and families roaming the area, either watching, socializing, or practicing. They have sign in first and get a number. Unbeknownst to us, the number did not mean the order in which you will be trying out. The boys were suppose to line up near the home base when it's time for your age group to try out (10:45AM). My son was walking around and watching (I think he was nervous) and didn't know to line up. When I told him to line up, he was near the end of the line. He didn't get to try out until past noon. It was a long wait. Had I known about this system, we would not have left the soccer game early.

At the tryout, each boy gets pitched a ball to hit. He gets 3 tries. Once he hits the ball, he runs the bases. Then after 5 boys have done the hitting, they line up to catch a ground ball, then throws the ball to first base. Once the 5 boys did that, they line up again to try out pitching. Then the next 5 boys is up at bat.

While waiting for my son to finish the try out, I talked to a few moms and realized that the try out wasn't aimed at weeding out the less skilled boys. The coaches from all the teams rate each boy so they can make the teams more balanced. They are trying to avoid putting all the best players in one team.

I think my son did the best he could at the tryout. He was worried that he wouldn't make the minor team. I said he will make it, but the minor teams are harder than farm teams because the boys will be hitting balls pitched by another boy, not by a pitching machine. The chance of getting hit by a fast ball while at bat is very common.

For a boy, growing up in America, playing team sports is a major part of his life. It is where all his social life begins.

話說兒子的少少棒選拔賽,聽起來好像很隆重,可是事實上只是讓所有球隊教練有機會觀察所有小朋友打棒球的能力,好讓教練可以依照小朋友的能力平均分配球員到每個球隊。這樣每個球隊比賽時,輸贏不會差太多。 這也是我後來跟其他比較有經驗的媽媽聊天後才知道的。

兒子已經參加了兩年的少少棒,從 T-Ball隊 到 Farm隊, 今年他8歲,所以要參加 Minor隊。 在 Minor隊 發表隊員名單之前,每個希望加入 Minor隊 的小男孩都要參與年初舉辨的少少棒選拔賽。 知道兒子必需要經過選拔賽的考驗其實我和老公也蠻緊張的。 我們兒子的運動神經還算不錯,可是棒球這種東西還是平常得練習。 兒子是從五月的棒球季節結束後就沒有再碰棒球了。 寒假之前,學校發了一些有關冬令營的資訊, 其中一項就是少少棒冬令營。 很多小男生趁放寒假的時間參加少少棒冬令營,一方面在放寒假時有地方去,另一方面可以在少少棒選拔賽之前有所準備。我們利用寒假期間去玩(坐了一趟遊輪),所以無法參加任何冬令營。因此一月開學後,我們對於這少少棒選拔賽也有趨之若鶩的感覺。

今天一早九點就出門。兒子的冬季足球賽今天是第一場。同隊的有其他兩位小男生也要去參加少少棒選拔賽。 所以我們 10:15AM 就提前離開足球場,開車前往少棒棒球場。 兒子在車上換制服。到了棒球場拿了號碼就等上場。 因為這是我們第一次參加少少棒選拔賽,不知道要到本壘後面排隊。快十一點才輪到 Minor隊 的球員上陣, 可是兒子因為排在最後, 輪到他時已經中午了。早知道是用排隊上陣的方式, 我們也不用那麼早就離開足球賽了。 兒子就一邊排隊一邊看別人怎麼打。 我也在一旁跟其他家長聊天。 那時才知道這少少棒選拔賽事實上只是讓教練評估每位小朋友的能力。 基本上每位來參加這次 Minor隊 “Tryout” 的小朋友都會被分配到 Minor隊。 知道後, 我們做家長的就不用那麼緊張了,可是我並沒有把這情報告訴兒子。 我想讓他盡力的表現自己。

選拔賽一開始就每五個小孩一組。 教練投手投球讓小朋友打。 擊不中有三次機會。 打中後往一壘跑, 一直跑回本壘。 五個小朋友都跑完後,輪流在二壘後面接滾地球,接到後要丟給一壘手。 最後一項就是做投手,把球丟給在本壘的補手。 這一組的五個小孩都評估完後就歸下一組人馬。 兒子也很順利的完成這三項比賽。

原來美國大連盟的球員就是這樣訓練出來的!

H1N1 疫苗篇 Getting H1N1 Vaccination

I have been trying to get my kids H1N1 vaccinated since end of October. My kids' pediatrician said the U.S. government allocates the H1N1 vaccines to various pediatric clinics when it becomes available, but for some reason, my kids' pediatrician never received any allotment of the H1N1 vaccines. We have been on our pediatrician's H1N1 vaccination waiting list. Meanwhile, I have heard that kids at the school have been getting their H1N1 vaccination. I am not sure where these kids are getting vaccinated, but the fact is that our pediatrician will probably not get any H1N1 vaccines before everyone goes on the Christmas holiday. I had thought about getting the H1N1 vaccines through the Los Angeles County Health Department, but like anything free offered by the government, it means long waiting and long lines at the county health offices.

The last time the County Health Department offered any H1N1 vaccination to the public was in October and it was a drive-through event. The organizer underestimated the amount of people showing up to get vaccinated, so the traffic was so congested that a neighboring city complained of providing extra police force to control the crowd and traffic congestion. People had lined up for hours and by noon, the organizers ran out of H1N1 vaccines. So when last Wednesday, my children's school district sent out a mass email informing the parents of a County-sponsored H1N1 vaccination event on December 7, I took notice, but I wasn't so keen of the possible long lines.

But at my son's 8 Year-old annual check up a day later (last Thursday), the pediatrician indicated that they have not received any H1N1 vaccines. So now, that County-sponsored H1N1 vaccination event becomes our only option if I want my kids to be H1N1 vaccinated before the holidays. However, there is a scheduling conflict. My son's 8th birthday party was to be held on December 7 from 2PM to 4PM, so if I want my kids H1N1 vaccinated, we would have to leave directly after the party. Luckily, the Chuck E. Cheese's at Torrance is not very far from the H1N1 vaccination location, so I arranged with my husband to meet us at the party so we can all drive to the Wilson Park's Sports Center in Torrance together.

The birthday party ran late, so we didn't get to the Wilson Park until 4:40PM. I was worried that we might be late and the vaccines would run out. However, today had the biggest rainstorm in recent years, so I am guessing that the crowd for vaccination didn't gather until the rain let up a bit in the afternoon. The line was long and we were at the tail end of it. There were less than 100 people behind us as the organizers promptly closed the line at 5PM.

There was police presence to control the crowd. The city had volunteers and city workers to show us where to go. We were directed to enter a skating rink about 500 yards from where we parked our car. Then the winding line looks like we were waiting for a Disneyland ride. My kids did not enjoy the anticipation of getting the shots, but at least it felt like a "family" outing. After 20 minutes in line, we were told to fill out 2 forms per person. The line moved quickly, but there were many people ahead of us, so we waited another 20 minutes before reaching a row of tables where people checked our forms. My husband and I were worried that we were not qualified for the H1N1 vaccination because we did not belong to the priority groups for vaccination. But I guess with the low turn out in the morning, they had plenty of H1N1 vaccines left to vaccinate everyone who was there.

The ice rink was outdoor and it was cold waiting there. I didn't expect it to be waiting outside, so my daughter was cold in her thin jacket. Another 10 minutes, we were ushered into a gymnasium where tables upon tables of people were getting vaccinated. Once we were inside, we didn't mind waiting, but soon it was our turn to get vaccinated. All four of us got vaccinated. My daughter was fearful of the shot, so my son volunteered to go first. Because it didn't hurt (it felt like a tiny pin prick), my son was able to tell my daughter that it didn't hurt. That put her mind at ease. The woman who did our shots seemed to know what she was doing. The whole process was quick and painless. It was exactly an hour later when we got back to our car.

What a load off my mind to get the family H1N1 vaccinated! To top everything off, it was free! If we had received our shots at the doctor's office, it would have cost us $20 co-pay per person for the visit and who knows how much the pediatrician will charge us for the injection itself (the H1N1 vaccine would be free) because the act of injection is considered an "invasive" procedure. Our insurance pays 80% of most invasive procedures.

The city of Torrance made this H1N1 vaccination event a painless endeavor. Although it was cold, wet, and windy outside, well-organized events like this showed what the Americans are so great at doing -- public service.

快要開學了! The summer is almost over!

My children's school will begin the 2009-2010 school year exactly a week from today, on September 1. This is the first time in our school's history to have the first-day of school before the Labor Day weekend. Typically, schools begin the day after the Labor Day long weekend, on a Tuesday. So many of our neighboring school districts are still following this traditional and will begin school on September 10. My kids are mourning the end of their summer. I am worried about their morning regiment once the school begins. How am I going to get them to wake up at 7:30 AM again when they have been sleeping until 10 AM, and sometimes even until 11 AM?!

To get them into the swing of things, I took my kids to the library after lunch today. They have been reading over the summer, but nothing really challenging. My 9 year-old daughter have enjoyed the Beacon Street Girls series by Annie Bryant (http://www.beaconstreetgirls.com/) and the Camp Confidential series by Melissa J. Morgan. She has read all of the Beacon Street Girls books, except the two latest books (Sweet Thirteen and Ready! Set! Hawaii!). As for Camp Confidential, she also has read all of the Camp Confidential books that have been published so far. Two more Camp Confidential books are scheduled to be published in the next 7 months--Extra Credit (September 3, 2009) and Politically Incorrect (March 4, 2010). My daughter is waiting anxiously for our library to purchase these books.

Unfortunately, schools don't usually assign these books as reading material. Beacon Street Girls and Camp Confidential are fine for summer readings, but as my daughter is heading into grade 5, these books are not difficult enough to be on the grade 5 reading list. And hence a trip to the library was necessary today. I want her to pick out some books that are more appropriate for her grade level. I steered her towards the Newbery Award winning books (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal), but she wasn't going for them. Instead, she borrowed some Nancy Drew Mysteries. Those are books that she thought I would approve, but realistically, I still think she should go beyond these books as well. At this point, I am not going to push her too much. As long as she gets into the habit of reading, I am happy.

Going back to our library visit. I actually saw 4 families from my children's school at the library today. During the school year, once in a while, I would see only a family that I know every time we visit the library. So it was rare to see so many parents from our school at the library in one visit. I got to chat with them about their summer break and how everyone was doing. I guess all the parents are trying to get their kids back into the swing of things before the school starts next week.

時間過得好快喔! 再七天就要開學了。 兩個小孩已經開始感覺到開學後的壓力了。今天帶他們去圖書館借書。 我希望女兒能借一些有點深度的書, 符合五年級的小朋友該讀的書。 在美國, 沒有教育局指定的閱讀課本。 都是老師採用現有的兒童讀物來教學。 小孩子上了五年級之後, 老師就會陸陸續續的介紹西洋英文文學名著給小朋友做為上英文課的題材。 所以只要看得懂, 小朋友自己就可以到圖書館借一些西洋文學名著來看。 當然這種事, 我的女兒不可能會自願去做的。 從五月中, 加州政府的基測 (STAR test) 結束之後, 老師就不再積極的教學生新的課程。 小朋友就自由的等著暑假的到來。 就在那時候, 我幫女兒在圖書館找到二套系列的書-- Beacon Street Girls (Beacon 街的女孩), 作者是 Annie Bryant (http://www.beaconstreetgirls.com/) 以及 Camp Confidential (露營密事) 作者是 Melissa J. Morgan。 這二套系列的書籍非常適合閱讀能力較強的小三女生, 或者是給小學高年級的女生做為輕鬆簡單, 閒暇時可閱讀的書籍。 不愛看書的女兒就靠著這二套書過了一個愉快的暑假。

女兒的保溫便當盒 Zojirushi's Mr. Bento

I have decided to buy Zojirushi Mr. Bento Stainless-Steel lined Lunch Jar, Silver for my daughter. It's selling on www.Amazon.com for $36. We have Amazon Prime, so shipping is free. Since Amazon doesn't have a store in California, there is no sales tax applied to all sales originated in California. I saved 9.75% in sales tax. I have been looking for a similar Bento jar when we visited Taiwan and Japan last December, but similar models were selling around $60 (or more in Japan) in Taiwan. $60 is a lot of money for a child's lunch container. Thermos' Funtainers are selling at Target for $15.99, so in comparison, anything over $20 is pricey. I have been browsing Amazon lately for larger Thermos containers, so Amazon knew I was looking for a lunch container. So when I logged in today, I saw this Mr. Bento product right in my Amazon front page.

At $36, it's still pricey, but with our school lunches costing $2.75 per lunch, we'll break even at about 30 lunches. Not a bad deal considering I know my daughter will be eating well in the coming school year. After reading the reviews of this product, the only drawback is the smell and odor that potentially can persist in the container and the fact that it's not machine washable. I'll have to be more diligent in washing the containers as soon as my daughter comes home from school. If anyone knows of any effective detergent (or substance) that will wash off the grease and odor in these plastic containers easily, please let me know!

我剛剛上網時,我的 www.Amazon.com 的首頁出現了象印牌 (ZOJIRUSHI) 不鏽鋼保溫便當盒SL-JAE14 的圖案。上面寫說 $36 (55折, 省了$29)。我當機立斷, 馬上決定買兩個,一個給女兒用,一個兒子跟老公可以合用。其實這類型的保溫便當盒我已經看了很久。去年十二月回台北和去日本玩時也有去找 (但是沒有很積極的在找)。看到的都在 NT$1,500 (US$50) 以上。 日本更是貴。 後來就擱著沒買, 想說請住在台北的朋友幫我注意,有促銷時再幫我買。這事一隔就半年多了,眼看著再六個星期就要開學了。學校的事、務又要開始準備了!

雖然一個不鏽鋼保溫便當盒要 $36 是有點貴了些,但是女兒學校的午餐費是 $2.75。 女兒正當發育期,吃得比我還多。 想說沒有個大點的便當盒裝食物也不行, 所以一看到 Amazon 有在賣這象印牌的不鏽鋼保溫便當盒,我馬上下訂單。 我們有加入 Amazon Prime, 所以二天內的運費可以免付了, 再加上加州人從 Amazon 買東西免加稅, 所以我又省了9.75% 的稅金。還真的不買不行。只要女兒在這學年帶超過三十次的便當牛餐,我買這保溫便當盒的本錢就回來了!

現在比較讓我擔心的是--我聽說這款保溫便當盒裏面的內碗是塑膠做的, 所以污垢及氣味常常殘留在碗裏, 很難清洗。看樣子我這個做媽的要勤勞一點! 女兒一回家就要馬上把保溫便當盒洗乾淨! 如果大家有什麼清洗塑膠碗的祕訣 -- 任何可以除油及除臭的秘方或清潔劑, 請各位不妨留言告訴我! 先謝謝大家喽!

這學年的最後一天! Last Day of School!

Finally! It's the last day of school. Summer vacation officially began at 12:47 PM today. I was at my kids' school all day, distributing the raffle prizes from the Box Tops raffles. The grade 5 students had their graduation ceremony today and everyone was all dressed up for their special event. My daughter will be graduating next year, so I paid extra attention to what the girls were wearing. I know grade 5 is an awkward age (between a girl and a teenager), so it's hard for the girls to "dress up" for this special event. But with all the merchandise available in the stores, I fail to understand why I did not see a pretty dress on anyone. Some dresses are pretty, but looked wrong on 10- or 11-year old girls. A lot of the girls wore dresses with spaghetti straps, but those dresses typically do not look good on chubby bodies. At some point, I think, parents should exert their parental guidance/control and tell these girls to wear something more appropriate. Most of the families in our school can afford to buy their girls a special dress for this occasion, so there is no excuse if the girls look like miniature drag-queens. OK. I have to stop being a fashion police!

All the room moms are busy today. They have to prepare a special year-end party for the kids which included games and food. Room moms also have to prepare the end-of-the-year gift for the teacher. Usually, parents pay the room mom a class fee at the beginning of the school year which should cover all the parties (basically Christmas and End-of-the-Year parties, but there could be more parties) and the teacher's Christmas and the year-end gift. Besides planning and executing parties, a room mom has to coordinate volunteer schedule with the teacher. When other moms don't have the time to help out in class, usually the room mom would have to step in to help the teacher. It's a thankless job that I would never want to do. My son's grade 1 room mom is a very nice lady. She had just moved into the area, but she's enthusiastic and volunteered to be the room mom when no one wanted the job. She did a fabulous job this year.

The plan for today was, before recess, all the grade 1 kids would be together and do different relay races in the field. Of course, we needed parent volunteers to come in and run the games. 3 of our dads volunteered for the job.

After I distributed all the Box Tops raffle prizes, I decided to stay on campus (I didn't want to loose my parking spot in front of the school) and help out in my son's grade 1 class. After recess, the room mom came with all the food and snacks for the party. Our grade 1 teacher suggested a hot-dog party. She took out an electric grill and one of the parents started to grill the hot dogs. While we got the food ready, the kids in our class were watching a Little Rascal movie while the class next door was doing a bingo game.

The room mom for the class next door is the same room mom for my daughter's grade 4 class. She had to do my daughter's class party (her son is in my daughter's class) yesterday so she can focus on her daughter's grade 1 class. Last year, she had 3 kids in this school. I had no idea how she managed to be the room mom for all 3 classes. Some moms can do it all!

The kids brought home all their class work -- the school supplies, drawings, art projects, and writings. The smart thing would be to sort all this out in the next few days, otherwise, it would not get done and these things will pile up.

My kids got their report cards today. My daughter who struggled through grade 4 got a stellar report card. My son who sailed through grade 1 easily got a mediocre report card. I am not sure what it was--He knew all his subjects and was good at doing his homework. His report card showed that there were several areas that he was still "developing". I guess we will continue to work over the summer in those areas that the teacher thought he was weak in. But in all honesty, I think he's doing pretty good. Am I so blind that I don't see how he's lacking in certain areas?! I guess I am baffled that when he can do 3-digit addition (with carryovers) on the worksheets I make him do, why does the teacher assessed him as being insecure with number manipulations (addition and subtraction) for numbers under 20?! Maybe he's weak in subtractions? I don't like report card that doesn't tell the true picture of how a child is doing in school.

As for my daughter, she's strong in math and weak in reading and writing. She got an "O" (for outstanding) effort grade for reading and writing and a "S" (for satisfactory) for math. She said she worked harder in math and not so hard in reading and writing (she hates writing assignments). She doesn't understand her report card, she thought the grades should be the other way around. It's possible that the teacher had a different perception of her work. In any case, I told my kids that the assessments they received in their report cards don't really matter. What mattered is that they worked hard and tried to improve to their best ability. I told them, as long as they tried their best, they both received an "A" from me!

今天是這學期的最後一天。明天開始就放暑假了。 我昨晚又搞到整晚沒睡。一開始是在準備摸彩後的獎品, 總供有六十七個獎項。今天一早就要把獎品發完。接著我又花了兩個小時的時間彙集所有 “台美小筆友” 的信件。不知不覺的就已經天亮了, 乾脆就不去睡了。

到了學校後, 趕緊把獎品分發完畢三後,我趕到兒子的教室幫忙。幾天前, 兒子班上的班媽 (class mom) 就用 email 事先通知我們今天的行程表。從8:45 AM 至10:15 AM, 一年級的老師要辦個小型的接力比賽。其實都是家長到學校幫忙看場, 其實老師都在教室裏整理東西,也沒到操場上跟小朋友同樂。十點半, 我們的班媽帶了一大堆吃的東西到學校來。在場的家長就幫忙把食物擺好。有個爸爸就開始烤熱狗。老師放了一部電影給小朋友看。貼心的班媽準備了爆米花給小朋友做看電影的點心。中午每個小朋友一人一條熱狗, 一包薯片, 一包果汁及一串葡萄。吃完熱狗後, 還有兩種餅乾可以吃。好豐盛的午餐。看得我的肚子好餓喔! 好在我那兒子咬了兩口熱狗就不吃了。他把整盤的食物都交給我。如是我不在的話,他是肯定把整盤的食物都丟進垃圾桶裏的! 其實, 我的肚子再餓, 我也捨不得吃那盤食物。我知道我的女兒下課後肚子會很餓, 剛好可以吃這盤食物。反正我也不會有精神帶他們外食。

女兒的班派對昨天就舉行了。 因為她的班媽也有一個女兒在一年級, 所以這班媽無法負責在同時辦兩個班派對, 只好在昨天就辦好她四年級兒子的班派對。做班媽是件吃力不討好的事情。班媽(或班爸)要幫老師找其他家長到教室服務。最難的事可能就是收班費了。開學後不久做班媽的就要收班費。這班費是要用來辦派對及買老師的聖誕節及學期末的禮物,可是有的家長還是會不願意付這筆錢給班媽。有些家長就是怪。她們認為我們讀的是公立小學, 所以經該是免費用的。真的是讓班媽很難做事。某些事情還是合群比較好!

忙! 忙! 忙! Busy! Busy! Busy!

I haven't been sleeping much lately. I guess all the procrastinating had caught up with me. Our school had its annual International Day Festival last Friday and I was responsible for the Taiwan booth. More on that later. Then in planning for the International Day, I stumbled upon the idea that the students from our school should have a pen pal program with Taiwanese students. So I started on that and the responses exceeded my expectation. Then, as I am the Box Tops Coordinator of my children's school, I had to count up all the Box Tops that our students had collected since October for mailing before June 1. Many Box Tops expired on June 1, so I was trying to beat that deadline. The final Box Tops event I had planned for our school was the classroom competition. The winning classroom from the 2 grade groups (kindergarten to grade 2 AND grade 3 to grade 5) will win a pizza party, popsicle party, or a donut party. The competition got fierce the last few days. Last night around 2AM, I finally counted all the Box Tops and declared a kindergarten class and a grade 3 class winners. These classes average more than 50 Box Tops collected per student.

Today, I went around to different chain restaurants in my neighborhood to solicit for free kids' meals as prizes for my Box Tops raffles. Tomorrow, our principal will pick out the winners to the last 3 raffle events (Holidays, Valentine's Day, and May Day). I am absolutely terrible to actually do the Holidays raffle in June!!! I have to distribute all the prizes to the winning students before Thursday noon! I have about 36 hours to do it all. Should I have left everything to the last minute?! Of course not! And I tell myself each year to do everything ahead of time, but a procrastinator will always be a procrastinator.

Anyways, it had been a very difficult school year for me academically--I had to "guide" my daughter through grade 4 and there were numerous projects and assignments that meant many late nights for me and my daughter. Over the course of the past school year, I have learned to step back and let my daughter do her own thing. I am hoping that my daughter also learned something in the process--to utilize the methods I have shown her, so she'll be able to work on her assignments and projects by herself in the future.

這一個禮拜來, 我每晚的睡眠不會超過四小時。上星期四晚上我還 “玩” 通宵呢! 為了趕做兩個海報,我整晚都沒睡! 然後星期五我又得到學校站一整天, 因為我負責我們學校國際節的臺灣攤位。為了能讓我們的臺灣攤位不遜色於日本、韓國及中國, 我攪盡腦汁, 想盡辦法凸顯臺灣的特色。因為我已經做了五年臺灣攤位, 差一點就想不出什麼新點子出來。改天再來 po 有關我們學校的國際節活動。

這星期讓我最忙的事情就是處理 Box Tops 的收集活動比賽。全校的每一班都可以參與。哪一個班級收集最多的 Box Tops 就可以贏得一個班派對。我數了一個星期的 Box Tops, 今年的贏家終於揭曉--低年級的贏家是大甲班, 高年級的贏家是三乙班。這兩班的小朋友平均每個人收集了六十個 Box Tops。大甲班的小朋友決定要開個冰棒派對。三乙班的小朋友要辦個甜甜圈派對。老師說要辦派對就明天辦。剛剛下課後,我趕快跑到 Von's 去訂了二打甜甜圈。明天下午我再去買冰棒送去學校!

後天就是這學期的最後一天。小孩子放假, 我也放假! 至少我有二個月的時間可以睡到自然醒! Yay!