First ladies and foxes

The 4th Grader has been studying American history this year. The big social studies highlight of their semester is happening tomorrow when all the kids dress up like a former President or First Lady, give a brief speech, and then celebrate with a reception where they’ll enjoy some of the favorite foods of these former leaders. Our 4th Grader will be going as Barbara Bush.

I’ve always been intrigued by the Bush family and think even more highly of Mrs. Bush after reading snippets of her biography this spring. Did you know she was an avid athlete {tennis, swimming, biking} and once worked in a nuts and bolts factory for a summer job? Her story is fascinating. However, it’s no simple thing to make a 10-year-old look like her. But thanks to Amazon Prime, the back of my closet, and some of Mimi’s pearls, we’re getting there. This is a shot from our trial run last night.

She’s informed me that her wig is “totally embarrassing” and that her outfit won’t be complete unless she has some lipstick on and is carrying Millie {the Bush’s first dog} with her. We’ll see… I’m just relieved that one of Mrs. Bush’s favorite foods happens to be chocolate chip cookies and not something more exotic. Another reason to love her!

If our dog was better behaved she could just take her along with her as a stand-in for “Millie” tomorrow. But, I’ve mentioned a time or two before that Rosie likes to walk around on her back two legs as if she’s a person when she sees anything of interest. I’m not sure her overall behavior is very presidential. Besides, Rosie has a new assignment she’s focusing on right now.

The girls spend a lot of time outside riding bikes and scooters. The Preschooler is particularly fearless and if she sees a car approaching she likes to throw her hand up and yell:

“Stop in the name of the log!”

I don’t have the heart to tell her it’s the “law” not the “log” that packs the punch. Regardless, it’s not a good practice. So last year I got Safety Sam to set out in front of our driveway when they’re outside. {Don’t worry. Sam doesn’t replace my presence.}

Sam does a fine job, but he’s too quiet. Rosie the Ranger does a better job when it comes to alerting us of any unusual activity going on outside in the form of cars, UPS trucks, pedestrians, other dogs, birds, or squirrels. She doesn’t miss a thing.

Her problem area is focusing. If she sees any of the aforementioned things, she loses her mind and abandons her assignment altogether.

Last week the Preschooler showed me a little tactic they use in school to help with focusing. This is a hand signal called the “focus fox” that’s supposed to remind the kids to attend to whatever is being said or presented:

We’ve been trying it with Rosie:

This isn’t working well since she thinks we’re giving her some sort of foreign signal for “lay.” I think the problem is we’re dealing with a paw and not a hand. If only we could come up with something like the “pay attention paw” to help her regain focus in stimulating situations… which pretty much describes her every waking minute.

For now I may just need to put our young Barbara Bush on street patrol. She may be a little formal in her pearls and heels, but she seems to have far more focus.