Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Yikes!

Daughter, at dinner: Am I dreaming? No, really. Am I?
Son: Well, if you are then maybe this won't hurt.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Springing It

Daughter penned her first poem in bed last night:

Daeses [Daisies] blossim
I do not hear them.
They are sweet.
Boys rock
Somtimes.

**
She also requests: Mom, when [grandma next door] dies, can you and dad move there so me and my husband don't have to drive to see you?

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Smile!

Daughter decided at bedtime last night, with wet hair, to have pigtails AND a pony tail put in. Evenly spaced around her head, she looked quite Junie B. Jones-esque. Surprisingly, they were all still in place this morning, so she wore them to school. Given that it was "wear your sweats to school" day, and that she has a matching set of pink athletic top and pants, she looked like she was headed out to a gymnastic meet.

And she looked... older, in addition to a little bizarre.

I'm wondering if this entire week has been a way to get parents to pay attention to school pictures day, which is tomorrow. They wore crazy socks on Monday (well, those who remembered to, after a week's vacation); sunglasses on Tuesday, clothes inside out (and/or back to front) on Wednesday (which had me wondering about the efficacy of flies on trousers when in the back...), and sweats today. Or maybe it was just a way to get all the different things kids could do for picture day OUT of their systems so they would submit to being dressed up nicely tomorrow?

Son, who didn't realize we would SEE school photos once they had been taken, scowled for them last fall like it was a mug shot. We pointed out that we actually paid for pics, and they got sent around the planet to the walls and wallets of relatives elsewhere. We pointed out that Son would have to pay for the retake with his own pocket money if he did not attempt at least a pleasant countenance. His teacher, who has a good sense of humor, has used the "mug shot" version in any school hallway affair, while reserving "pleasant countenance" for Christmas ornaments sent home from school, and the like.

I recollect telling my mother that "everyone" would be wearing party dresses in our school photo, and then being shocked that she had physical evidence to the contrary when the pics came home with me... and I was the only one in a full-length party dress (hey, it was the 70s).

What tales of school photos do you have?

Sunday, March 21, 2010

I'm Back!

Did you miss me? Did the taxes (check); cleaned out the raised beds from last year (check); rescued daughter who had tripped backward over some yard obstacle (first frightening dash through the yard as son screamed Help! Help! ... not recommended); drove five hours to St. Louis for FAB agents day and spent time with three interesting agents and a mess o' interesting kidlit writers while family wandered the zoo in sudden inexplicably cold temps; survived long drive home on snow-covered I-44 while kids watched movies and occasionally announced they had waited until bladders were on Defcon 4 before sharing the info with us, the drivers.

I may actually be ready to go back to work tomorrow!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Much Like Our Tax Return

Our spring break hasn't even arrived yet, and it's been "spent" several times over. Somehow, without benefit of a warp in the space-time continuum, we are supposed to :

  • Do our taxes (I know, I know);
  • Go to Kansas City for writer's workhop (yay);
  • Go to St. Louis for two nights for another writer's workshop (yay) this time taking the fam along to do zoo/museum/hotel pool/restaurant/arch things on the side;
  • Hook up with family 1 for lazy afternoon of games, letting the kids play and generally run amok;
  • Spend a day or two in PJs (because how else will we know it's a break?);
  • Get one day at work each;
  • Plant a garden;
  • Paint the MIL's porch;
  • Reorganize, declutter, and generally "spring clean" the joint;
  • Take the kids bike riding...

    You get the idea. Daughter wrote her own list last night after baths. It said:

    Swimming.
    Snow cones [I wasn't going to tell her NOT to use the "w" now, was I?].
    Dentist.
    Remy's house.
    Biking.
    Gardening.

    I prefer her list. We still get a garden started, but no tax return to do, and we don't have to go to work at all.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The Network

Son, feeling expansive after I let him eat a candy he produced from some pocket, and in answer to my question: Good grief, where does it all come from?

Well. (Hands in pockets.) Y'see mom... We kids look out for each other. We really do. And all kids know how important it is to have a supply of candy. Now, Gunnur's mom's treat bags really pack a punch. I think she's my favorite kid-party mom.

***

It's quite exasperating how much candy there IS to produce from pockets. When I ask where each specimen has come from, I get, variously but consistently:

-a friend at school, (insert name), gave it to me.
-the Art teacher gave them out at the end of Art Class today.
-the Music teacher gave them out at the end of Music Class today.
-the (classroom) treasure box.
-the Computer lab teacher gave them out at the end of Computers today.
-it's (insert name)'s birthday.

By the time weekend birthday party treat bags are factored in (no need to even invoke those other Candy Holidays of the Year) the kids really do have a constant supply. So much for parental constraints!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

The Kit

1 pair of pyjamas;
2 skirts;
2 pairs of tights;
2 tee shirts
1 long sleeved shirt
2 dolls
1 small bedroll

This was the kit Daughter packed in her first ever: "I don't like you, I'm running away and moving to a different house (but you're coming with me)" bag.

On another note: my business card, designed by Christel Benson, and from which the web banner here and on my site is derived, won a gold ADDY award from the Joplin Ad Club. Thanks and congrats, Christel!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Pretty Incredible

There's a moment in the DVD extra on the Pixar disc of The Incredibles in which Jack Jack, a pre-verbal toddler, has Mozart played to him by the babysitter. His eyes go out of focus for a moment and you can see the switch in his brain go on. From this point on, Jack Jack has super powers too.

Well. Daughter had a similar experience at Family Art Night at the university late last fall. Supplied with toothpicks and styrofoam, she hasn't looked back. Son even commented at the time: "She's gone 3D on us."

A recent epiphany at home (epiphany: daughter cannot make all her structures with paper and staples) has resulted in Art Supply Extreme Home Makeover. Daughter now has megabox, with clean recyclables, duct tape, masking tape, bubble wrap, tissue paper, ribbon, egg cartons, yarn, straws, and anything else it seems safe and feasible to provide. She draws blueprints, and then attempts to build what she has drawn. It's highly architectural, and her parents are so proud.

But we're also living in an art installation. The Art Supplies are taking over the house. I've also noticed that recyclables are a lot less recyclable after they are taped with ribbons and waterproofed with bubble wrap...

Sound familiar to anyone?

Monday, March 1, 2010

The Tooth Fairy II

Me, to Son, at bedtime: Show me that molar again after you've brushed. I think there may be a spot on it...
Son, far too cheerfully: If it's a cavity, can you make the appointment during school hours?

I mean really. (It wasn't a cavity, BTW.)

And now for something completely different: if you would like to brush up on your lie/lay/laid/lain business, here's a short post for you at WD blog.

Happy trails!