Teach the children well

kids and their dog
My children at the beach with Angus our best dog ever.

I like an idea I read about in an article in the Wall Street Journal by Anthony De Leon.

Here’s the title and excerpt:

600 Kindergartners Were Given Bank Accounts. Here’s What They Learned.

How San Francisco and other cities are trying to boost financial education and college savings

Tierra Ferrand started saving for college when she was in kindergarten.

She and 600 other low-income public-school students in San Francisco were each given a bank account with $50 in 2011 as part of a program that expanded the curriculum from reading and writing to interest rates. Now 17 years old, she has more than $1,500 banked and is off to Grambling State University in Louisiana this fall. That balance may be small, but Ferrand and her mother, Aisha Brown, 44, said the account changed their approach to money and saving.

“Outside of this account, we don’t have other college savings accounts,” Brown said. “We don’t have those advantages that some other families may have.”

San Francisco’s Kindergarten to College Program, which now gives $50 in savings to every student, has 52,000 active accounts with a total balance of $15 million—$10 million of which came from deposits made by the students and their families. The program aims to be both financial education and a small start to college savings, and has been replicated in 39 states across the country. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/college-savings-fund-san-francisco-85d32bf5?mod=life_work_featured_pos3

I’ve often thought there are many things we need to teach our children in school — or at home. I remember talking to my son’s fourth grade teacher.

“Can you give them a lesson on how to write a letter and address an envelope?” I asked. I discovered my son didn’t know where addresses went on an envelope. I was sure he wasn’t the only one.

That’s because kids use email and lost ordinary skills that we took for granted. Banking, savings, credit cards and compound interest are lessons that are being taught in some classes in San Francisco along with the $50 deposit into a savings account. I say “some” because in the article I learned that not all teachers use the savings account lesson plan. They said they were busy enough with existing curriculum.

Another thing I realized my son didn’t learn was how to pay for gas and fill up the tank. I homeschooled my daughter for middle school and I included lots of “adulting” lessons. I thought my son would pick up things naturally from observation. But he was always reading — every free minute — like on car rides. He was oblivious to the world around him.

Changing a tire is a skill my dad taught me when I got my first flat. Of course we have AAA now, but isn’t that a good thing to know how to do if you don’t have cell reception?

What other basic life skills do you think should be taught to our kids in school or at home?

I hope you’re enjoying my new M W F blogging schedule.

Teach the children well from Crosby Stills.

Less is More

Sunrise view during a morning walk.

With vacation coming up and a busy schedule of getting things done before I leave, I’ve decided to change my blogging schedule. Currently, I’m posting Monday through Friday. I’m going to cut back to Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I think the new schedule will keep my blog fresher and also allow me time to work on other projects like revising a novel.

After reading Ally Bean’s AMA (Ask Me Anything) post, I learned a good tip from her.

From The Spectacled Bean:

“As a newbie I wish I’d understood that LESS IS MORE. Early on I drove myself batty posting daily, often long wordy posts, because I thought I was supposed to do that. But I learned otherwise and scaled back to a  weekly-ish schedule. Readers seem to respond positively to less from me, than to more from me. That’s the lesson. “

I know many people post seven days a week. I don’t know how they do it. I have the hardest time coming up with ideas five times a week, let alone daily. I need days off to recharge my brain.

I’ll try this new schedule for the rest of the summer and re-evaluate it in September.

What are your thoughts about “less is more?” What is your schedule for blogging?

Two Highly Recommended Reads

Two books I read recently were “Finding My Father’s Faith” by Wynne Leon and “Surviving Sue” by Dr. Vicki Atkinson.

You may know Vicki and Wynne from The Heart of the Matter blog. They both have personal blogs: Victoria Ponders and Wynne’s Surprised by Joy.

Both books are autobiographies which include memories of their childhood through adulthood with one of their parents in the starring role. The books are well-written, compelling and I gained so much insight into these two women.

Wynne’s book is a much happier story than Vicki’s. Wynne’s strength and independence shines through and she doesn’t shy away from taking charge of her life. From running a high tech business, climbing mountains around the world and raising her children, I gained a huge amount of respect for Wynne.

Also, I got to know her father through his stories of ministry and living in India. I was impressed that throughout his journeys, he learned about other people’s lives and religions and wasn’t there to tell others how or what they should believe.

Another thing I found interesting was my parents met at the University Presbyterian Church and at Calvin Club, just like Wynne’s parents. It might have been around the same time. They might have met! Also, I attended her father’s church as a child visiting friends who were part of the congregation.

As for “Surviving Sue,” I began to read the book with trepidation, having grown up with parents with similar issues — mental illness and alcoholism. I wasn’t sure I would be able to read it, but then with Sue’s (Vicki’s mom) unbelievable behavior striking out at Vicki, blaming her for all her own self-inflicted problems and isolating Vicki from family members, a light went off in my head. I realized my parents loved us. My parents were never mean to us.

Vicki’s story has kind supporting characters including her father, husband, daughter and a sister who is mentally disabled. Vicki’s love and kindness is visible throughout.

Through Vicki’s tale and Wynn’s, I realized they both are women of strong character, grit and in command of their lives. Neither one would ever play the role of victim.

What books can you highly recommend? What are your reading now?

I was honored to be invited on a podcast with Vicki and Wynne at The Heart of the Matter. Here’s LINK.

The Letter N

I’ve been having a few quirky issues with WordPress.

I’ll comment on someone’s post and I can’t type the letter n. All the other letters work, but not n. It’s beyond frustrating.

My work around is to quit WordPress. Quit my browser and start over.

Another quirk is people I follow no longer show up in my “reader.” It may be weeks or days before I notice. It’s “out of sight, out of mind.” Then I’ll think to myself, whatever happened to that lovely blog I used to read? I type in the name and up it pops. I’m still following it, but it doesn’t always show up.

One day my stats disappeared. I don’t spend much time on stats, but from time to time I like to know if my engagement is up or my readership is growing. I reached out to WordPress and they were able to reload them for me. I will say that WordPress has a good support team.

Is anyone else having trouble with the letter “N?” What other quirky issues have you had? How often do you check your stats and insights?

What’s in a name?

A pool overlooking the Gulf of California in Puerto Penasco.

What was I thinking when I named my blog “Bleuwater” back in 2014? Today, I’m wondering why did I come up with such a difficult, hard to spell name?

I blame it on Mom, may she rest in peace.

Her favorite color was blue. She was intense about her likes and usually dressed in navy blue. Everyone who knew her also knew blue was her color. Her favorite restaurant, where my mom and dad went for special occasions, was called the Bleu Dolphin, with the French spelling of blue.

She took me there a couple times for a cup of chowder and Dungeness crab cocktail. I was wildly impressed as a child by the restaurant, the food and the name. My mom thought the name was “highbrow.” Her world was defined by things and people she’d call highbrow or lowbrow.

When I started by blog, I was living in a world of water. Summers at the beach and six days a week at the pool as a swim mom. I was so involved with my kids’ swim team that I earned a polo shirt embroidered with the team logo and “Extreme Swim Parent.” I loved to wear that shirt to parent teacher meetings at my kids’ school. The look on the teacher’s face was well worth it!

There’s the story of the name of my blog. Nine years later, perhaps I’d like to change it, but I’ll hang onto “Bleuwater” in memory of Mom and my love of the ocean, lakes and pools.

If you’re a blogger what’s the story behind your blog’s name?

Remarkably Excellent Reads

Remarkably Bright Creatures

On Mother’s Day, I was feeling a little weepy since it was my first since I lost Mom. But I did have some pleasant moments, too. My kids called and I learned how to “merge” their calls so the three of us talked together. My husband and I went for an early morning walk before it was hot.

We went to our favorite Carefree Coffee Roastery for breakfast. We got there early, believing we’d beat the crowd. No, there was a line waiting for the cafe to open! We got a table and didn’t have to wait too long. I had an everything bagel with cream cheese and lox. It was delish!

We had a lap swimming reservation later in the day and we had the pool to ourselves. The hour was booked with six swimmers, but we were the only ones who showed up! That was a treat in itself!

With nothing planned the rest of Mother’s Day, I dove into “Remarkably Bright Creatures” which was recommended to me by no less than three bloggers I follow. THANK YOU for the recommendation!

WOW! I was reading stretched out on the sofa in the casita with Olive the cat purring on my tummy. At eight o’clock I finished the book and walked into our bedroom in tears.

“What’s wrong?” my husband asked.

I sobbed and said the book was so good.

I’ve read two debut novels in May that were excellent. The other was “Black Cake” that I wrote about HERE.

Of course, I also loved Cheryl Oreglia’s “Grow Damn It” weeks before. A debut book by blogger of Living in the Gap fame.

Book by Cheryl Oreglia called "Grow Damn It."
“Grow Damn It” by Cheryl Oreglia

I’m looking forward to reading the debut novel by Eve Marie from the blog CupCakeCache called “The Bayou Heist,” available on Amazon.

Other bloggers that I follow with books either coming out soon or released include Victoria, who has the blog Victoria Ponders and Wynne Leon of Surprised by Joy. Both write for The Heart of the Matter.

Victoria’s book called “Surviving Sue” is about her mother and will be released soon.

Wynne’s book about her father and her faith, “Finding My Father’s Faith,” is available on Amazon.

Eilene Lyon of Myrocopia has a first book coming out in September. It’s called “Fortune’s Frenzy: A California Gold Rush Odyssey.”

I’m looking for more remarkable books to read, so please give me ideas.

Also, if you’ve published a book, please tell us the title and a bit about it.

Looking back

We spotted a rainbow yesterday afternoon. It looks like the pot of gold is in our backyard.

My blog is a living record of my life because I often post about what is going on in my daily life. I looked back on this date for the past three years. Last year, I wrote a post called “No more drama for the momma.” That’s a title I could have used this week!

But the story was about me worrying about my daughter who had COVID and her pug Waffles who got into a trash can and ate chicken bones.

Waffles is incorrigible and was back to the vet this week. They haven’t figured out what he ate, and hopefully this too shall pass. Literally.

In 2021, we had a snow day. I posted a video of snow flurries. I think it’s a possibility this year, too. Flagstaff and Sedona are getting tons of snow. My kids in Berkeley said they may get snow as well.

We weren’t on shutdown mode yet in February 2020. We had no idea what was about to hit us. I was writing about sports parenting.

We went to a wedding in Colorado that year the second week of February. There were people attending from all over the world. After we were back home, living in Palm Springs, I got a call that the father of the groom was on a ventilator with COVID. He was a physician who worked in a hospital and most likely got COVID at work. He survived thankfully.

I remember getting sick a week later, but didn’t think it was COVID. Who knows? That was before testing.

It wasn’t until mid March that my kids were told a mandatory stay-in-place (or shutdown) was coming. They had 24 hours to prepare. My daughter decided to drive home and the three of us all worked from home — my husband in the master bedroom, me in my son’s former room and my daughter in her room. Waffles of course ate things he shouldn’t in our backyard and ended up in the ER.

What were you doing around this date during the past three years?