With both soccer and baseball we've noticed that even a 6 month difference is HUGE in terms of behavior.

It's definitely a big deal in LL baseball.

Just to be perfectly clear, the only mixed age groups that Noah is in is sports. I meant it more as the kids who are already 5 are way different in terms of focus and behavior than Noah and Andrew, the two boys who are still 4.

Also, there's new data indicating that holding kids back is detrimental on the academic side as well. (The short summary: the earlier you get into a school/academic setting the better it is for stimulating your li'l puddin' brains.)

But the studies looked at kids who aren't in any preschool environment vs. kids who were placed into kindergarten. I think a kid who is in a pre-k program already has a very different experience. At Noah's school classes are divided by age (3s, 4s, and 5s). The 5s are kids who could conceivably be in K already but aren't for a variety of reasons (like California moving the start date back) and they are not lacking for stimulation. Most of those kids will enter kinder already reading, which given both the California State Standards and the Common Core Standards that most states have adopted, actually does matter.

Weekend meara:

You can prepare for a blizzard.

Yeah, but the thing is you *have* to prepare for the winter, every fucking year. The thought makes me want to cry.

Well, you really have to prepare for tornadoes too: make sure you've got flashlights, batteries, a couple gallons of water and a first-aid kit. Then if the sirens start going, it's time to stuff the cats into their carriers and head down to the basement with your emergency supplies and a blanket or two to protect yourself from debris. The difference is, with blizzards, if you prepare you'll be fine. With tornadoes, if you prepare your house could still be obliterated. I would SO much rather prep for winter.

I get to visit with Kate P. and her hubby, and the family flea later! The comic store with Kate and hubby, and dinner with everyone, undoubtedly followed by Graeter's.

YUM. We had such a good time! Thanks, Steph & Tim and flea & mr. flea, for meeting up with us and showing us around. Cincinnati definitely seems like a fun town -- interesting neighborhoods with lots going on. And a *fantastic* art museum where we spent several hours today.* Actually, Steph, I meant to ask you or flea at dinner last night about the people we saw running around downtown on Saturday with shopping carts. There was clearly some sort of competition going on (part of Bockfest, maybe??). Every now and then, all morning/afternoon, we'd see a few teams go racing by wherever we were. Each team was outfitted differently (like one team was dressed up like sock monkeys, one like Oompa-Loompas, there were a couple of mime teams, etc.). Any idea what that might have been about?

*Also, it turns out that the Nick Cave with an exhibit at the museum is a totally different Nick Cave. But definitely worth seeing!

For dinner, Kate had a muffaletta that we agreed would not pass muster with the die-hard muffalettistas, but know that we were thinking of you all.

It was damn tasty, though! Now I want to put olive tapenade on everything I eat. Oh, and we ended up eating at Dixie Chili on our way out of town. M reports that the regular chili was quite good, but I was less enthused about the veggie chili, which had no actual veggies apart from tomatoes. It did have TVP in place of the meat, but basically just tasted like a weirdly spiced spaghetti sauce. (We both got a three-way, which is chili with cheese over spaghetti.) Probably we should have stuck with Skyline! But at least now we can say we've had chili the Cincinnati way.

Anyway, it was certainly an eventful weekend, between the tornadoes on Friday (and I was, stupidly, caught out in the worst of the storm -- god, that was a terrifying drive home from work) and then our fun little road trip. Did we tell you all that we were reportedly staying in the same hotel as Newt Gingrich?? (Reported by someone we shared an elevator with on Friday night, so clearly a very reputable source.) And now we are home and fed and sleepy, so: to bed!

Back when things were looser, my mother talked the school system into taking me at 4, her argument being that I was already reading and what was she supposed to do with me. The kindergarten teachers introduced us to the alphabet, saying "This is Mr. A and this is Mr. B." I thought my parents were forced to lock me up with crazy people. I was always ahead and bored, bored, bored. I think my social ineptness is more due to all the moving than my age.

Where it would have been beneficial would have been post high school.

That probably would've been good for me too, and I feel like now enough is talked about the gap year and stuff that it wouldn't have been such an odd idea, but then? When everyone I knew was applying and taking exams and having interviews? I couldn't imagine not going straight ahead to college. (Also, if I'd taken a year off it probably would've just meant another year of living at home and working as a cashier at the supermarket, and I'm not sure THAT would've been a growth experience)

Actually, Steph, I meant to ask you or flea at dinner last night about the people we saw running around downtown on Saturday with shopping carts. There was clearly some sort of competition going on (part of Bockfest, maybe??). Every now and then, all morning/afternoon, we'd see a few teams go racing by wherever we were. Each team was outfitted differently (like one team was dressed up like sock monkeys, one like Oompa-Loompas, there were a couple of mime teams, etc.). Any idea what that might have been about?

Sounds like the Cinciditarod.

Did we tell you all that we were reportedly staying in the same hotel as Newt Gingrich??

Dang, I didn't even know he was in town.

And a *fantastic* art museum where we spent several hours today.

Yay! Glad you liked it! (And I didn't realize it was a different Nick Cave. That's pretty funny.)

Oh, and we ended up eating at Dixie Chili on our way out of town.

That's a completely well-rounded Cincinnati trip!

basically just tasted like a weirdly spiced spaghetti sauce.

That's pretty much what it is, so that's about right. It's an acquired taste.

Sounds like the Cinciditarod.

Ooh, we have Chiditarod. I think it benefits animal groups. I meant to volunteer one year but got caught up in life stuff.

I would SO much rather prep for winter.

But, since you're always going to be cold, and you're only sometimes going to be hit by a tornado, well--the choice is different for me. The cold makes me cry. Literally. That's part of my prep for the winter. Weeping.

How the hell did you hold out in Montreal and Michigan for so long? I mean, I mostly love it but it must have been ghastly for you.

Montreal wasn't so bad (!!!) because I really liked the summers. Really really. But it was part of why I left. And then, Michigan...there were no good months to make up the bad. There was nowhere to hang, no cool (safe) jams to go to, no social structure, but safe (horrible) job, and family.

But, yeah--misery was a big amount of my day.

When I went back to NY January before last...and there was snow...it shocked me in a place I thought I'd hidden well.

Yeah, Montreal does winter well, all things considered.