Wed - November 22, 2006Those golden archesDavis is the picky eater of the family. He has
certain foods he likes (fruits, cheeses, meats) and certain foods he doesn't
like (the entire vegetable group.) We make him try a vegetable at every dinner,
under the theory that sometimes you need to try a food many times before you
like it. We explain this to him in great
detail.
What he'd really like is hamburgers and french fries every night for dinner. Call me un-American, but I hate McDonalds. I don't eat there and I don't bring the kids there. (unless we are in an airport and we have 20 minutes to eat and make a connecting flight.) I just don't like it. Of course, every time we drive by, I hear the chorus of "McDonalds! Mama, there's a McDonalds! Can we go there?" This morning, I answered Davis' familiar cry with "We can't go there because I don't like McDonalds." He replied, "Well, Mama, sometimes you need to try a food 20 times before you like it, you know. You should try just one bit of McDonalds." Touche. Posted at 11:49 AM Thu - August 24, 2006PlanetsDana learned a song in Kindergarten last year.
She sang it almost every day:
I know the planets, how about you? I know the planets, how about you? I know the planets, how about you? Let's sing them all together. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars Jupiter and Saturn around the stars Uranus, Neptune and Pluto too All spin around the sun, it's true. I picked up the kids early today to go register for First Grade. We caught the end of an NPR report on the demise of Pluto. It would be no exaggeration to say that tears were shed in the back row of my mini-van this afternoon. "But Mama, Pluto is my FAVORITE planet!" and then, "But, Mama, my teacher is going to have to change the song. And it won't work without Pluto." I'm just mad because I made it through my whole life not knowing the exact order of the planets (except for that one test in 6th grade). Thanks to the song, (sung over and over and over again), I finally learned them last year. And what do they do? Change it. Darn. Posted at 09:41 PM Tue - May 9, 2006A horse walks into a bar...Dana has started telling jokes. Really bad
jokes. So bad that even a mother can't laugh at them. They aren't funny. She
doesn't seem to get that jokes should be funny. And worse, they make no sense.
"Mommy, why did the chicken cross the road?" (Gee, I don't know....why did the chicken cross the road?) ..."Because the pig was over there!!" And then she and her brother crack up, laughing so hard you'd think that we were on stage at "Wait, wait, don't tell me." (if you ever see me in my car laughing so hard that I'm crying...chances are that I'm listening to Carl Kassel.) I try to laugh. really I do. Maybe the problem is me? Maybe I just don't have a sense of humor? Maybe the stress of daily life has beat it out of me? But then, she tries another: "Knock Knock" (who's there?) "Elephant" (Elephant who?) The Elephant lives in the tiger cage at the zoo! I give up. I can't laugh at that. Call me stuffy. That is just not funny. Thank God for Davis. He worships the ground his sister walks on and will be in the front row of any comedy club she ever decides to headline. He thinks she is very funny, indeed. Posted at 09:08 PM Mon - March 6, 2006Vive la differenceWe were in the car this afternoon - when Dana
sighed a deep sigh and said to me in a soft voice, "Mama....I'm not like other
girls."
I asked, "What makes you say that?" Her response: "Well, I don't like pink. And I hate wearing dresses. And I really don't like princesses. I like dinosaurs. I like math and science. But most of all, on library day at school, I'm the only girl in my whole class who goes to the non-fiction section." Her library books today were a book about a strange dinosaur-age shark called a megalodon, another about dolphins and another about automobiles. We read them at bedtime and she was as engrossed in the historical facts about the megalodon as I was in the story and literary themes when we were reading "A Wrinkle in Time." So, gentle readers - stay tuned to see what happens when a mother who adores fiction and thinks pink is cute and loves to wear dresses (while fancying herself a princess, I might add) attempts to raise a remarkably bright and independent daughter like Dana. Posted at 09:33 PM Thu - March 2, 2006Bambi's MotherWhen I was pregnant with Dana, people would ask,
"When are you due?" After I answered "Nov 17," they would give me a look of
deep sympathy. "Oh, I'm sorry, " they would reply. It took me a while to
figure out why. I naively assumed they thought I might deliver late and miss
the Thanksgiving turkey. But no, that wasn't
it.
In 1999, November 17 was the opening day of the deer hunting season. All those well-meaning people simply assumed that I'd be delivering our first child alone - while my husband was up in a tree stand with his rifle, attempting to listen to his first child's cries through a spotty cell phone connection. Luckily, we're not from here and neither Doug nor I have any interest in shooting a deer, or even picking up a rifle for that matter. Dana's birth was an easy priority for our family. These days, Davis' favorite book is a dog-eared copy of "Bambi" that used to belong to Doug's uncle when he was a little boy. I thought he might be sharing his softer side - what with this new found obsession with the little orphan deer and his friends Thumper and Flower. Not so much. Every single day, I hear, "Read me the part where the hunter shoots Bambi's mother! Read that part again!" First he asks us if he can watch a Green Bay Packer game, and now this. Good lord, what have I created? Posted at 09:11 PM Fri - December 30, 2005She can't be related to me.Conversation that has occurred more than once
this week:
Dana: "How come we haven't gone ice skating yet?" Me: "Well, it was too cold at the beginning of December (below zero) and now it is too warm (above freezing.) But we've got at least 3 months left of winter, so we will get a chance, for sure." Dana: "only 3 more months???" Sigh, "I wish winter was longer." Posted at 09:04 PM Mon - December 12, 2005At the BalletWe went to our annual viewing of the Nutcracker
this weekend. Just as I was about to silently congratulate myself for raising a
son who enjoys ballet..(this is, after all, the fifth ballet he's
attended)...Davis turned to me and said, with
glee:
"Mama! They are fighting! Look! Fighting! The Mouse king and the Nutcracker are fighting! And they have swords! Cool!" ...and he's been talking about the "ballet fighting" ever since. Posted at 09:11 PM Sat - November 5, 2005OverheardWe have the world's best mailman. He is friendly
and kind...and when it rains, he brings the mail right to our door. His name is
Dwayne but Davis calls him "Doing"...and he doesn't even seem to mind. That's a
good mailman.
Today, Davis took the mail from "Doing" and Dana immediately grabbed a postcard from the pile. Dana: "Davis! This is for you! Look what it says....'A Girl For You,' isn't that exciting!" Davis: "But I want two girls" Dana: "No, I think it is just for one girl." Davis: "Oh man" The postcard actually said "A gift for you" but some of the writing was cursive-like and Dana can't read that yet. Hopefully, Davis will love the magazine subscription to "My Big Backyard" that is coming for him so much that he will forget all about the two girls he thought he was going to get.... Posted at 08:48 PM Fri - October 21, 2005Quote of the DayAnother one from
Davis.
He got a bad scratch on his nose this week from a fall at preschool. This afternoon, a little boy asked him what happened. Davis didn't answer so I said, "He ran into a shelf at his preschool." Davis widened his eyes and added, "And the shelf winned." Posted at 08:53 PM Thu - October 20, 2005Literally speakingAll week, Davis has been asking me "Is it the end
of the world, mama?" I thought maybe that his father's trip had caused deep
seated emotional trauma or something. Or he heard about all these hurricanes
that insist on hitting our coasts. I kept assuring him that it was not, in
fact, the end of the world.
After many days of him questioning about the apocalypse, I finally broke down and said, "Why? Why - Davis - Why do you think it is the end of the world?" He answered, and I quote: "It's the end of the world and we know it. But I feel fine. Mama, I feel fine." We went to an ice cream social at a park in our neighborhood last weekend. (Yes, we live in a neighborhood where they have ice cream socials....they are having a bonfire this weekend, complete with s'mores, too.) They had a band playing - neighborhood residents playing covers - mostly bad music from the 80's. It was great fun. They played a lot of R.E.M. Obviously, Davis was listening. Posted at 09:33 PM Wed - October 12, 2005Overheard...Davis: "I'm going to marry
Mommy."
Dana: "You can't marry mommy. She's already married to Daddy. You can only be married to one person. That's the law." Davis: "Then, I'll marry you, Dana." Dana: "Sorry, Davis, you can't marry me. It's against the law to marry your sister." Davis: "OK. I'll marry Daddy." Dana: "Silly. Daddy's a boy. You can't marry another boy in Wisconsin. You'll have to move to another state to do that. (Name of best friend) and I are going to get married, so we'll come with you. Girls can't marry girls in Wisconsin, either." I gotta stop listening to "This American LIfe" with the kids in the room. Posted at 09:06 PM Mon - October 10, 2005Why oh Why?We've reached what I consider potentially the
single most annoying stage of parenting. The "Why" stage. Everything we say,
no matter how mundane is greeted with
"Why?"
You can't win the Why stage. They will always out-why you. I've yet to meet a parent who was a conversational match for a "why-ing" 3 year old. I decided that if you can't beat 'em, you might as well join 'em. So I offered a daily dose of conversation this afternoon designed specifically to play the Why Game. "Davis, did you hear that the president's approval rating is lower than low?" ....Why? "Well, I think it has something to do with the Harriet Miers nomination" ....Why? She just doesn't seem qualified. I'm sure she's very smart and very nice....but very unqualified to be on the highest court in the land. Even the conservatives don't like her. ....Why? She's never really done anything that matters, in terms of Constitutional Law. She was the Partner-in-Charge of a major law firm in Dallas, but doesn't mean much. ....Why? A lawyer friend told me that everyone knows the Managing Partner of a Law Firm didn't get there by being the best lawyer. A good manager, perhaps. But definitely not the best litigator. .....Why? The best litigator makes so much money for the firm, they'd never take him/her out of client work. Anyway, we're off track. I hear Dobson is pissing off people left and right over his comments on the nomination. .....Why? He said, "I know the person who brought her to the Lord. I have talked at length to people that know her and have known her for a long time." Now, Harriet was a devout Catholic for years and years before becoming an Evangelical Christian. Dobson could perhaps be implying that before her conversion, she was not really with the Lord. ....Why? I don't know. That is the hundred dollar question. But evidently, in this administration - who you know and your particular flavor of Christianity is very important .....Why? My theory is that the President isn't very smart. He used to surround himself with smart people - but recently, they've all started getting in trouble. Those indictments take time to manage. I suspect that Rove was busy with the Judith Miller stuff last week, and actually let Georgie make a decision all by himself. ....Why? Lord only knows. But you know what bothers me most about the "holier-than-thou" religion thing? It's that they are opposing McCain's bill with the other side of their mouth. His Anti-Torture bill was passed in the Senate last week 90 - 9. I was shocked. .....Why? Because Bush/Cheney et al want to be able to torture prisoners without any accountability. They spent a lot of time and political capital trying to get the bill to fail. McCain opposes their view with all his heart. .....Why? Because unlike Bush/Cheney....McCain has actually seen war. McCain said, "I have been asked before where did the brave men I was privileged to serve with in Vietnam draw the strength to resist to the best of their ability the cruelties inflicted on them by our enemies. Well, we drew strength from our faith in each other, from our faith in God, and from our faith in our country. Our enemies didn’t adhere to the Geneva Convention. Many of my comrades were subjected to very cruel, very inhumane and degrading treatment, a few of them even unto death. But everyone of us knew, every single one of us knew and took great strength from the belief that we were different from our enemies, that we were better than them, that we, if the roles were reversed, would not disgrace ourselves by committing or countenancing such mistreatment of them. That faith was indispensable not only to our survival, but to our attempts to return home with honor. Many of the men I served with would have preferred death to such dishonor." Now, why can't we have him as our President? .....Why? Why, oh why indeed. If Cheney does the anti-bill lobbying I think he's going to do in the House when this is introduced, I will be sad for all humanity. Someone remind me how we are different from the terrorists? At this point, If McCain should run in 2008, I plan to switch my political affiliation to whatever party he is registered with, at least long enough to vote in his primary. He is one of the only voices of reason left. Posted at 05:25 PM Fri - September 30, 2005Why we send our kids to public schoolIn our neighborhood, most of the children do not
go to public school. They go to one of the many private schools in and around
Madison.
The school Dana goes to is at least half "low income" students (on some degree of public assistance.) They aren't all white, either. This scares people away, evidently. And the private schools definitely teach things that the public schools don't. One of them even has a full language curriculum of Japanese - right from Kindergarten. Once a month, on Friday, Dana's school has "popcorn day." Each student brings in 25 cents and they get a big bag of freshly popped popcorn to eat at afternoon snack. Last popcorn day, Dana said to me, "Mama, can I bring in an extra 25 cents? "Name of girl in her class's" daddy doesn't live with them anymore and he doesn't share his money with them and she doesn't have 25 cents for popcorn." You know what? I'll take learning compassion over Japanese any day. Posted at 07:32 AM Sun - July 17, 2005Play BallWe took the kids to their first major league
baseball game last night. Brewers vs. Nationals. (Nationals
won!)
The highlight of the trip was the premium item giveaways. The kids each got one of those "Bobblehead" things. A Rollie Fingers Bobble head. They love them. I'm not sure who Rollie Fingers was...but evidently he played for the Brewers at some point. And now he has been immortalized in the form of a ceramic figure with a wobbly head. Ah, stardom. Son D. seemed to enjoy the between-inning antics of the guys who came out to sweep the field more than the actual game itself, but he had a good time. Daughter D got very into the play count. How many balls, how many strikes, etc. And she had a good time too. And they both, of course, enjoyed the cotton candy. I was feeling pretty good. After all, going to baseball games was a huge part of my childhood. While other pre-teen girls had crushes on Shaun Cassidy and Michael Jackson and Parker Stevenson, I was madly in love with Jim Rice, Freddy Lynn, and Yaz. But this morning, after sleeping the entire night with his Bobblehead curled up in his arms, Son D. announced, "I had so much fun at the sweeper game! And Roly the Finger came with me!" It's a start. Posted at 11:54 PM Wed - July 13, 2005Daddy has a frog in his earSister D just read Amelia Bedelia and can't stop
using idiomatic expressions.
Doug just got back from a week in Asia. Yesterday, he got very sick. Horrid chest cough and a complete loss of voice. So, she told him that he had "a frog in his throat" and that he was "a little hoarse." Brother D doesn't get it. He immediately proclaimed that Daddy really had frogs in his ears. And that he, himself, had butterflies in his ears. (back in the day of constant ear infections, that is what his pediatrician told him.) Whenever Doug rests, D informs us that "Daddy is resting his frogs." And he is making us tiptoe around so that we don't wake up Daddy's horse. Posted at 09:33 AM |
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