Thoughts and Words Ill-Sorted

I had a number of students in my class using ‘however’ and ‘therefore’ as conjunctions and this was starting to grate on me, so yesterday I gave them a mini-lecture on the matter. I started out by putting ‘but’ and ‘however’ on the blackboard and asking them what part of speech each of the words was. Dead silence. Finally, one guy (one of my better students, incidentally) asked if they were prepositions.

I was about ready to pronounce the demise of Western civilization.

Now don’t get me wrong here. This isn’t a particularly important matter (students get much more important things wrong, trust me). Nor is it the sort of thing that I would expect most people to know. On the other hand, I’m teaching a class of smart students at an elite university. And not a single one recognizes ‘but’ as a conjunction?? So what did they learn in high school?

Sydney

I just came across the word “vomitrocious” in my stack of student papers.  I don’t know whether to be relieved or dismayed that other problems took higher priority when I was writing up comments for the paper.

Erin

On the evening of Good Friday five years ago I was baptized in St. John’s Episcopal Church in New Haven.  On the morning of Good Friday one year ago Katherine was born.

I know that both of these events have calendar dates (Katherine’s birthday isn’t until the 10th, next Saturday), but I am very glad that they’re also attached to other rhythms in my life.  As I saw the first bulbs appearing a week or two ago I was reminded, daily, of the difference between last spring and this.  And when we go to church on Sunday I will not be looking at the little ponytail sitting in the row in front of me, wondering whether I’d be holding pigtails or boy-mop, and who that little person would be underneath that hair–or, at least, that’s what I thought I’d be doing last year, before that Easter arrived, since I wasn’t expecting Katherine for a few more days.  I also won’t, as I was in fact last year, be riding home from the hospital, wondering what happens next.  This year I’ll be playing in the nursery in comfortable clothes, keeping my little one from eating the other guy’s cereal.

It’s somehow fitting that, like last year, I won’t be where I imagined myself: sitting in Easter clothes, listening to the service.  I hope this trend doesn’t last forever.

Erin

In the past two weeks Sydney and I have bought three sets of plane tickets . . . and we’re not done yet.

We’ll see whether or not this turns out to be a good idea, but I signed up to present two papers in the US before we leave the continent, and they’re both in June.  Buying tickets for one of them meant hemming and hawing over how long I could stand to leave Katherine, who will be staying with my parents in Iowa while I’m away.  This will be the first time I’ve gone to a conference without Sydney and Katherine (and a whole lot of stress and baggage) since she was born.  We’ll see if I can relax and enjoy the academic experience, or if I’m going to find my thoughts drifting to her all the time.

And we bought one-way tickets to England.  We’re leaving September 28th.

Erin

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Katherine’s new skill, the one that now requires nonstop practice, is holding multiple objects at once:

And, as usual, it just really is not acceptable for Mommy to be in the bathroom all by herself!

Several times recently we’ve found Katherine transfixed by something on the carpet–and we’ve only just caught her before she put the ladybug in her mouth.  And, I’ll admit, there have been many times when we haven’t caught her in time.  With ladybugs appearing all over our apartment in this warmer weather, no amount of vacuuming is enough to keep Katherine from her new hobby.  Such good blackmail material for when she’s older . . .

Erin

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I’m having a hard time getting far enough away from her to get a proper shot.  It’s a small house!

Erin

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