Thoughts and Words Ill-Sorted

Not only are squirrels infuriatingly persistent when they’re, for example, trying to get at one’s bird feeders, they can also be extraordinarily insouciant. Today, as on many other days, our cats were going crazy by the glass patio door, watching a squirrel waltzing around a few feet away on the deck. The difference was that today the squirrel, seeing the cats, hopped right on over and started preening itself on the door sill. No more than an inch from the cats. Who were busy vainly throwing their whole bodies at the glass with repeated thuds!

Apparently the cats weren’t smart enough to figure out that the glass really wasn’t going to let them through. The squirrel, on the other hand, had utter confidence in the glass’s strength, and, by all appearances, was taking great pleasure in tormenting the cats.

Sydney

The kids and I waited in vain for Katherine’s bus this morning.  After fifteen minutes had passed, I finally checked the school website and found that, yes, they had indeed cancelled school.  Not for snow (we have none) or other precipitation (it’s dry and clear), but for “extreme temperatures.”  It was around 1 degree Farenheit when I woke up this morning, but, wow, the Iowa kid in me is incredulous.  If we had cancelled school at those temperatures when I was growing up, my parents would not have been able to keep their jobs.  I think we’re going to be glad Sydney and I have some scheduling flexibility this spring, since I’m guessing we’re going to have a few surprise days with Katherine before winter’s over.

Erin

. . . you take the time to notice things like this:

. . . Woodsmoke lets you take his picture:

. . . the kids color out of the same coloring book without fighting:

. . . they stay cute and peaceable long enough for me to take multiple pictures in the lovely light:

Erin

If I owe you a Christmas card, thank you, favor, or apology, please accept my apologies here.  I’ve spent the month of December sick (nasty cold, followed by strep throat, followed by another nasty cold), and am only just climbing out of it (I hope!).  And by climbing out I mean that I don’t feel comfortable driving yet and don’t expect to stay awake for the entire day today, but I did manage to walk Nathaniel to school this morning and I’m hoping to sleep in a bed instead of a chair tonight.  Poor Katherine: she’s not used to having a mom-walk at such a slow pace!

Erin

When I told the kids I would save some of their toys for their children, they both piped up in protest.

“I’m not going to have any children.”  “Me neither!”

“Why not?”

“They’re messy.”  “And they get sick.”  “We don’t want to have to clean up after children.”  “We’re only having cats.”  “Lots of them.”

Erin

Yesterday, as we were setting out clothes for the church Christmas play, I asked Katherine what pants we could pair with a white shirt.  “We could do black,” she responded.  “Black sheep are cute!”

I then told her that there was something special about black sheep so we were going to shoot for a white sheep today, but since she pressed, I explained what “black sheep” meant: pariah, outcast, sport (yes, I used other words).  She sat processing this for a minute and said, “Well, they’re still cute.  I like them.”  I then told her that they’ve always been my favorite, too, and wondered what this said about us.

* * *

After he made it through the Christmas program today, Nathaniel apparently went back to his classroom and, as the other kids were stripping off their costumes, told his teachers that he needed to remove his crisp white button-up because “It’s my costume!”  When his teachers, laughing, relayed this to me, I confessed that it was the first time he’s worn that shirt.  Hey, it requires ironing!

Erin

This morning I was accompanying a scootering Nathaniel to school and I cautioned him not to go over a bumpy strip of sidewalk, lest he fall.  “But I didn’t,” he responded as he zoomed by.  As I was starting to splutter, “But, but, but,” I remembered that young kids seem to have no understanding of risk.  They either fall or they don’t.  And there’s limited transfer between, say, remembering that you once fell off the monkey bars and being told you might fall when scootering.  So, as I look at the patchwork of bumps and bruises on his head, I’m filled with horror at all of the protecting and coddling I’ll need to do to keep him alive until he is old enough to start understanding risk.

Then again.

Most adults I know (I’m including myself in this one) have a limited ability to gauge risks and benefits.  My students are shocked when they learn they’ve failed the course, all because they took risks in skimming by with as little effort as possible, though such risks seem obviously not worth it to some of their peers.  Good students, too, will pull an all-nighter so that they can study, rather than buy into the benefits of rest, and then wake up from an unintended nap with the start of a cold and a late start for the exam.

And Nathaniel, while walking down the street just after our exchange, having handed off his scooter to me, promptly took a tumble on the sidewalk and got himself covered in mud.  Maybe his way through the world makes sense.  If you’re going to fall occasionally while walking (he’s a bit befuddled by a cold), what sense would it make to try calculating the risks of scootering over bumps?

Erin

Mom reminded me that not everyone in the world knows of our recent development: Nathaniel found Eeyore.  After we lost him in the first week of school this fall (I feared it was a sign of my ability to juggle parenting with Sydney away), Nathaniel recently found him: packed away in his big-boy backpack, which hangs in the hall closet and only comes out for long-distance trips.  Whew!

Erin

Arts and crafts are big around here recently.  We don’t bother eating at the table very often because it’s usually covered with crayons and paper until minutes before supper. 

We’re also enjoying our first Christmas tree.  Sydney reminded me that we have two young cats–one who loves to climb–but now that we are finally out of matchbox-sized living quarters and baby years, I couldn’t wait any longer.  The company of the Christmas tree and two cats taking turns in my lap after the kids are in bed are making end-of-term grading a bit more doable.  I hope to be done with all exams and grading by the time Sydney comes home (for good!) on Thursday night.

Erin

“Mama, can you cut the number 1 out?  . . . Can you cut the number 1 out?  . . . Hey, Erin, can you cut the number 1 out?”

I guess he’s keen to figure out what will best get my attention.  Given how many people can use my name, but how few can call me “Mama,” I think it might be wise to go back to the first strategy–even if it didn’t work this time.

Erin