oh you are my star

they told us months and months ago that they were coming out with new stickers for the 30th anniversary of the school. i'm not sure if these are them? but they aren't very much fun. so when i was sitting around today with too much time on my hands, i decided to spiff them up with my new markers. my kids went insane for them. those markers really are magic.
synchronicity of the day: i told jerry the story of the chicken picatta today at lunch because my 'toast bread' at latini's has capers on it. [story--i threw a dinner party for my parents and neighbors when i had an apartment, and i made chicken picatta. i used up half a jar of leftover capers i had in the fridge.. but my dad wasn't satisfyed with the 30 capers that were in the dish, as his favorite restaurant must use at least 35. so since then, i've been consistently harassed about the 'caper shortage' in texas.]
anyway JG and i were watching grey's anatomy tonight and what did they mention?! chicken picatta. totally out of nowhere.
i forgot to put in my contacts today so i called and had jon bring my glasses to school. my kids have never seen me wear them and their reactions were pretty funny. they had also never seen jon and they asked me 100,000 times if he was my boyfriend. that's the only class i speak chinese with and only before class, but it gives us a special bond. i understood everything they said today!
outliers lesson of the day: a study followed a group of kids who had the highest IQs in gradeschool throughout their lives found that the difference between the kids who performed well after college and who didn't was socioeconomic status. it concluded that kids from wealthier backgrounds had more support from their parents, who took an active interest in their gifts and talents and tried to promote them. apparently the poor families had an attitude that their kids would naturally find their niche, but didn't do anything to foster their natural talents.. even though those kids were just as smart.

it also talks about how wealthier families groom their kids to interact as equals with adults and learn to use their resources. one example was a mom telling her kid, on the way to the doctor's office, that he could ask the doctor whatever questions he wanted when they got there.. making the kid feel empowered in the doctor's office.

they contrast that with an example of a guy who had a really high IQ but who never learned how to interact effectively with adults, so when he wasn't making it to school on time because he had car trouble and wanted to have his class moved to a later time slot, he got really defensive with the school counselor and didn't end up getting the time switched because of his lack of social skills. his inability to deal with authority figures held him back from a lot of opportunities.
i'm not explaining it as well as the book does but it's something to think about.