PRgal

My son's teacher also has a last name that can be easily mistaken as another last name, which I can see why SHE does it. But she's not the only teacher who does.

I think this is kind of like how people with cultural ties to Hong Kong address any person from an older generation that they know (and isn't a work colleague or teacher) as Uncle or Auntie Firstname. I personally HATE it when it comes from a child whose parents I don't know well. It's fine when their mom or dad are close friends of mine - I'd just be another honorary aunt - but when it's the younger (or older) sibling of your friend, or even acquaintance, it's very, very odd. I never liked doing that when I was growing up. I wanted to call someone's mom Mrs. Wong (not her last name, but just an example), but she was all like "please call me Auntie Mary." I hadn't met Mrs. Wong before and barely knew the daughter. She was just another kid at school.

It just takes a bit of getting used to since it’s not by last name. Some teachers do go by Mr./Ms. Lastname.

But I’m in Toronto. Teachers were always by last name. And I thought Mr./Ms. Firstname was for adults children know, like a neighbour or a friend’s parent?

I’m so sorry, @kristen111! I don’t know much about love - I didn’t have that “sort of” guy like you did - so I can’t really relate. Different thing: since when did teachers start referring to themselves as Ms. or Mr. Firstname? My son’s last school was just as I remembered: Ms./Mr. Last name. Suddenly, at his new school, half the teachers are Ms./Mr. Firstname. Mostly people with harder-to-pronounce last names or ones that can be confusing .

I just use my phone's calendar and change the time to the time that I'm at the store. :)

The speech evaluator wrote back and said it was consistent of other children his age (the “th” and “l” issue) but one of the goals for Grade 1 is to work on those letters. He will be receiving help while at school. I do not believe the evaluator knew about our family situation until I wrote back to ask them to clarify. Goals can be set high at this school (but still, I think, anyway, a bit less rigorous than his previous school where the (unofficial) goal was for the children to get offers at the city’s various independent prep schools (including the one my son is at right now).

I've asked my parents to speak Cantonese with my son more often - he was just evaluated for speech and says he has trouble with the "l" and "th" sounds and recommends some therapy. The "l" is fine at the beginning of words (so he'd say, letter and lunch correctly (he'll say that "l" sound properly as well)), but not at the end. Owl, for example, comes out as "ow-oh," which is typical for people who grew up in a primarily Cantonese-speaking environment/community/place where Cantonese is the main language. His "v" sound is okay, however (my dad has trouble with it - often comes out as "w" or "f" depending on place). As for the "th" sound, I'd say that it's fine when he reads it, especially at the beginning of words, but not in other parts. If I ask him what my first name is, he might say Cyn-fee-ah (I'm less concerned about "th" since a lot of kids his age can't say "th" anyway). I feel that he may improve if he primarily hears English from the two of us and from school (this comes out as "skoo" 99% of the time, even if he's reading it out).

My parents met in high school but didn't start dating until university ("good, studious high school kids" in 1960s Hong Kong did not date). They both came to Canada for grad school, went back home to get married (Mom was 23 and Dad was 24), stayed there a bit and then came back to Canada. They've been here for 50 or so years!

And my dad got my son to try salad, too! He used to HATE leafy greens. "Gung Gung's Salad" is the only salad my son would eat. ETA: Keep in mind that my parents are both immigrants from Hong Kong. Leafy green salads weren't a "thing" there back in the 70s when they arrived. "Salad" existed, but it was usually potato salad.

Yum! My dad's "Weekend Salad" (because we have a big family dinner every Saturday) has walnuts and avocado (mixed greens, cherry or grape tomatoes, walnuts and avocado tossed in a balsamic and extra virgin olive oil dressing)!

What's Thanksgiving Salad? Is it greens with turkey and sweet potatoes?

Thanks for the congrats, everyone! And now I'm off to write emails to local, independent stores to see if they'd be interested in carrying the book. I've also alerted my son's kindergarten teacher and the school's library.

Okay people, I don't mean to shameless self-promote again, but it's official!! I'm told that it should be available in regular stores over the next few weeks.

Honestly, it was a mistake to set it in the same period as the OG series. I would loved to have seen one taking place in the early naughts. Hey, maybe even focusing on a middle eastern family and the aftermath of 9/11 (and a bit of Millennial/Xennial nostalgia (okay, we Xennials got it from This is Us).

This is why some people snowbird.

I agree. I’ve ranted about it here before - many years ago, I took a job (okay, it was an internship that paid very little. More like a stipend than a salary) because it was a family referral. Horrible experience and had job issues yes (shuffling from one short term position to another and then a job where the manager hated everyone and basically fired the whole team) before finding something I loved. And then leaving to blog for a few years before going into philanthropy

If I had a day all to myself, I’d order a pizza and watch all four new episodes of The Crown.

Hard rolls like a mini baguette? Ciabatta?

Me too. I've only made lasagna twice - once using oven-ready noodles and the other, using matzoh sheets during Passover. I'm too nervous that I'd fail. The oven-ready ones were okay, but not as good as restaurant or frozen.

I'm hoping to do bookstore, library and school appearances, both in-person and virtual. I haven't started gathering my list of local stores yet. I also think the Jewish side might be more willing to carry this than Chinese/Hong Kong shops - the vast majority still cater to the immigrant, non-Anglophone population and the book is completely in English (with some Cantonese, Hebrew and Yiddish terms spelled out phonetically). I will mostly be doing my own PR but will be paired with a marketing advisor from the publisher. I'll let everyone know when pre-orders start!! Famous novelist, huh? And Jewish-Italian/Irish intermarriages. That's a lot of carbs (I'm also trying to think of food that can incorporates all three cultures....ummmmm....soda bread challah paninis, maybe?)! And guilt. #sorrynotsorry

I kind of "found" her. I was at a holiday market and a woman was selling HER books. I asked her about her illustrator, followed the illustrator on Instagram and messaged her the following day.

My dad thinks the story is too niche. I told him that schools would love it since it adds to their “diversity” collection. I’ve already contacted my son’s school’s library, but have yet to hear back.

My upcoming kids’ book is now listed as “coming soon” on the publisher’s website! We’re looking at early 2024, (hopefully) in time for Lunar New Year. It’s going to be a little different from other Lunar New Year books, not only because it’s about an interfaith family, but because the (little) Chinese used in it is Cantonese. (Admin: feel free to move to Gratefulness and Smiles if you feel it’s more appropriate there)

And different people take offence differently. What one person considers "appropriation" is considered "respect" by another. Wearing a t-shirt with the Chinese word for "wood" may be be considered appropriation to some, but hey, if that's your element, then that's your element (if you believe in those things). I don't see it that way. I have a sweater that says "très bien" across the chest. I'm sure francophones would roll their eyes (I see it as a "proud to be part of the IBTC*" sweater). * Itty Bitty T****Y Club