Monkeyfish

Sequence for Kids

Tired of Candyland? What’s up with that ugly new board? It looks like it was designed by a freakin’ cereal-box illustrator...

...Hey, wait a minute! [Conspiracy theory begins to percolate]

Monkeyfish loves Sequence for Kids. If you’ve played the adult version, you know how to play this: the "For Kids" simply means that cartoons of animals are substituted for the suits and pips of traditional cards.

Game play is very simple, but there is an element of strategy; we currently play with her cards face up so we can help her with this. But she’s quickly learning the ropes. An added bonus is that the cards with pictures and words serve as flash cards. My daughter likes to identify the letters and sound out the words as we play. 1-4 players, ages 3 and up.

Off to School

Yesterday was Monkeyfish's first day at school. By “school” I mean Montessori preschool, and by “day” I mean one-hour phase-in visit. We moved recently, in part to be closer to her school, and we are close enough to walk. This turns out to be particularly important considering the daunting carpool drop off and pick up protocol. This morning, while Monkeyfish was phasing in, we were undergoing a seminar on said protocol. I won’t bore you with details except to refer you here. Until we see that hundred-year blizzard, we will be walking.

Predictably, Monkeyfish dashed into the classroom as soon as we arrived. She caught herself, sprinted back to give my wife the ol’ one-arm leg hug, (don’t cry now, you’ll be fine, Mom) and then she was gone. Without blinking, she charged into the biggest alteration of her life since she was born. She’s so excited. Actually, what she keeps saying is, “I’m so exciting!” That’s the spirit.

We aren’t really ambivalent about her starting school. She has been with the two of us day in and day out for three years now, and we have worn some pretty deep grooves into our daily lives. I think it will be great for her have things shaken up a little. I know the road we’ve started down includes some dark places in the woods: anxiety about her peers, pressures to excel, and (horrors!) mean-spirited girls-on-girl savagery. But I would not spare her these things if I could. “Surmounting difficulty is the crucible that forms character.” If that sounds insightful, it’s not; Tony Robbins said it. However, it may coincidentally be true.

She will also get a taste of a slightly wider world. Some reference against which to examine the things we have taught her.

I’m excited, too.

Bembo’s Zoo

A menagerie of Flash letterforms to show your kid. Monkeyfish loved it: Bembo’s Zoo