Thursday, October 18, 2007

Clean floors

Why is it that a clean floor makes me so blissfully happy?

It's so bizarre.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

What a Geek

Imagine this: My son is in his car seat, eating an afterschool snack. He's reading the packaging. Cool.

"Mom, this has 0 Gigabites Trans Fat."

I park the car and turn around to see what on earth he could be talking about. The snack package says, "0 G Trans Fat".

Ha!

I was so proud of myself: "Honey, the abbreviation for gigabites is usually GB. On a food package, a little g by itself is a gram."

Jee laughed his sparky little laugh and we began a discussion about how the package should have had a lower-case g rather than an upper case one and how that was what confused him.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Transparent replies

Remember "Harold and the Purple Crayon"? The book about the little boy who could draw his entire world with a single, simple magical writing utensil?

I had the privilege of reading this book to Aee's peer group today, a group of seven girls in her Kindergarten class. At one point in the story (my favorite part actually) Harold draws a dragon which is too scary even for him. Harold backs up with his hand shaking and the wavy line is, you guessed it, water. Harold falls into the ocean.

For whatever reason, this scene elicited the "What would you draw if you had a purple crayon" discussion and I was delighted at their honest and transparent responses.

Girl 1: "I would draw a princess!" (She is on the forefront, ie the one most likely to say her dress is the latest design. Interesting.)

Girl 2: "I would draw a princess!" (Girl 2 loves and adores Girl 1.)

Me: (I can't help myself.) "Why would you draw a princess? What for?"

Girls 1 & 2 shrug. Blanks looks.

Girl 3: "I would draw a fairy." (a shy little girl, very delicate)

Girl 4: "I would draw a DRAGON. (she stands up while saying this) It would breath fire on your fairy and k..." (She doesn't actually say it. I laugh. She has older brothers, yes she does.)

Girl 5: "I would draw a plane." (Her home is on the other side of the world. She is completely unaware of her transparency.)

Girl 6, my little Aee, whispered so that only me and the Dragon Girl can hear: "I would draw -- the -- world ---." I can tell by the whisp in her voice that she is serious. She is planning out how she would build a world of her own.

Girl 7 who always comes to school hungry: "I would draw an apple pie."

Ha. Kids are so funny.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Sexism summed up by a 15 year old

"Girls are a lot smarter than boys, but they talk about things that are far less useful."

Ha!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Yes, No, or Maybe So

One of the coolest things about having kids is that you don't know if your parenting strategies are going to work out until *after* they are fully implemented and the repercussions are seen.

It's a leap of faith every day.

You do your homework, read parenting books and the various "Bay Area Kids" type magazines to find all the enriching things to do around town. You build a comforting routine and structure into their school week so they can be relaxed and prepared when they enter and exit school. You build exciting weekends so that your kids can have unique experiences to broaden their horizons. And then you wonder, "Is this too much? Not enough? Should I be filling her/his days with fun-ness or let him/her self-direct playdtime at home?" You (I and nearly everyone else I know) second-guess the process constantly. Balancing. Hoping.

So, all the kids from V to A have their school schedule down pat. Today is the best, hardest, most enriching day of the week (besides Sunday of course). Vee's is usually 6am to 10pm: seminary, school, study, and a game session with friends downtown that is (delightfully) taking the place of potential dating and dancing. (Big whew.) Kee does something similar, but usually spends his Friday night home either teching-out alongside Eee & Me or babysitting so Eee and Me can have a datenight.

But my favorite part of Fridays is Jee and Aee's days. They both have a good breakfast, head off to school and Jee stays at school for a Lego Robotics club. It has lit a fire under little Jee's bum and he is building more intricate structures than ever. For Aee (and this is huge, if you know her, you know this is huger than huge), she goes to school, then spends a well-structured playtime at Kids Village: Legos, snack, story time. Then (deep breath) she gets to go to yoga class with her friends. She is so relaxed, so exhausted, and so at peace after that class.

And me? Lucky me. I get to focus on work, slamming through the heaviest projects of the week since I have 9:30 to 4:00 free. During these hours, I have my best friend, the one I happen to be married to, chatting with me in IM, being present with me.

Even though it feels like I have arrived at that Place of Balance, I know that I won't see the effects until later. Right move? Wrong move? Too much? Too little? Who knows.

All I know for sure is that I love Fridays, not because they are the day before the weekend, but because they are simply Fridays. It is a day we have built and I like the way it looks and feels. I like waking up to a Friday and I like going to sleep on a Friday night knowing that everyone in our nest has had a good, fulfilling day.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

What was I thinking??

I encouraged Vee and Kee to join the Debate team, one of the most professional, rigorous, competitive Debate teams on the West coast. I thought it would be excellent for their public speaking abilities. I thought it would help them grow stronger spines and be more aggressive in fine tuning and stating their personal beliefs.

Silly me.

I did not bother to look at the cost of this all. I now have two teenagers in house who debate over --everything--. Extemporaneous Debate is now the normal form of dialog in-house. They shift to Policy Debate whenever the topic of household chores is mentioned.

Mom: "Vee, can you take out the garbage?"

Vee: "Is there an inherent value in me in particular taking out the trash? Three main contentions: Why me? Why now? Why do we place our trash inside the house in the first place rather than outside? Like, why did we move to indoor plumbing either instead of outdoor outhouses?"

Mom: "That reminds me, you need to clean the bathroom too."

Vee: "Um, you have the burden of the affirmative. You need to..."

And so it goes. They remind me very much of fresh little puppy dogs cutting their teeth on a new bone.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Ambivalence

I wish my Vee and Kee were home after school, but now they're off doing sports, study groups, and playing games with friends.

I wish my Jee was still the sweet little snuggle-bunny he used to be but instead, he's off and running on his own, fully independent. Some mornings I wonder if I could just sleep in and he'd still get to school on time (with breakfast eaten, clothes put on properly, lunch packed).

I wish my Aee was fully independent, confident, and strong, yet I don't want to miss a minute of these years while she's still light enough for me to pick her up in my arms and comfort her.

Ambivalence. 


Sunday, October 7, 2007

Winning?

Played a board game as a family tonight and when Vee and I took last place, Vee said, "Hey, we won last!"

How optimstic. I love that. "We won last."

Monday, October 1, 2007

One of my last "firsts"

When I picked Aee up from the bus stop today, she was chilly. The shaking of the bus acts as a sort of primal momma-bouncing-her-baby sensory input and Aee's eyes started to droop and her body temp dropped fast. So, she swaggered off the bus, felt the cold rush of 65 degree air and shivered. She asked for a coat, but I didn't have one for her.

I can't carry her because of that blasted slipped disk in my back.

So, we stop and snuggle on a bench for a minute and I realize -- ka-ching! -- she can take my jacket! She finally has broad enough shoulders and a tall enough torso to handle my jacket. She slips it on; I zip it up; she's ready to go! She takes off running with her arms swinging the excess arm length wildly back & forth. The jacket comes down to her knees, but it doesn't fall off her shoulders.

And I realize this is the first time of hopefully many that my daughter will wear my clothes.