Good Morning PukeFace

Posted on 2015/03/24 by circuskitchen

Tuesday, March 24th 2015

Cuddle Muffins

Amid the morning bustle today, ClaraJane was being extra clingy. There she is sitting on Daddy’s lap, joined by brother gratuitously getting in on the action. (Yes I’m in love with them and take photos ALL the TIME.)

After a while she is passed to me, extra clingy and melancholy (and sweet). I bring her into the bedroom for comfort before I finish getting dressed. First I lay back on the bed with her on top of me, singing sweetly in her ears for a few tender, peaceful, present moments until…BAARRFFFF! The hot blast fills the crook of my neck, and spatters everywhere; the duvet, BOTH home-made decorative pillows from our wedding, and all our clothes. “GUESS WHO’S NOT GOING TO SCHOOL TODAY!?” [according to the 24-hour school health policy] I holler to the other room.

I hustle her into the bathroom to spew around in there some more. Daddy brings towels, strips the bed and magnanimously volunteers to take Gavin to school, which is both impressive and disturbing considering he’s still recovering from double hernia operation. He professes to be up for it, and alack alas there is no “rest” in “Parenthood” anyway.

Soon after the final rounds of her body’s evacuation, my poor little pale, limp, clammy, dry- heaving ragdoll is stripped down and cleaned up. Finally she is cuddled up between big dry towels in our bed, sprinkled with powder and resting peacefully. “Be sure to get a shower,” Paul mentions before heading out. So the Boys are off and I start whirling around; wiping up, scrubbing clothes, starting laundry and taking that shower yet still finding more vomit sprinkled around randomly. I think I got it all but I catch unmistakable whiffs of vomit in almost every room I go. I open windows (brrr). I search and destroy. I spray citrus spray. I light incense. I’m tired. I give up. Still need my first sip of warm beverage for the morning. And the girl is already perking right back up.

She asks for cold water. I bring her that and a mango nectar popsicle and join her in bed. And because kids are Natural Scientists, she makes at least 4 independent discoveries through observation and experimentation within the first couple minutes of regaining consciousness. To wit;

Pukeface Science [49 secs]:

She is snuggly and adorable and we read books and it’s great, although tainted by the persistent stench of puke. Then it dawns on me… my hair. Yes I’d showered but in my haste to check on my daughter I hadn’t thought to wash it. I look in the mirror and sure enough; chunks. Colorful dingly dangly bits clinging to clumps of my matted down hair like miniature macabre Christmas decorations. You think I’m horrified? Or disgusting because I hadn’t even thought about my hair? HA. Then YOU don’t have kids! I mean yes I’m an idiot but mostly I’m just relieved to find the Source of Stench at last. (No wonder it was everywhere I went.) There is no “glamour” in Parenthood either. Also little to no “dignity.”

Not to worry; all’s well that ends well. The Princess has developed ennui of me, but Daddy is back to watch “Peg + Cat” with her, and I’m off to the shower. Here’s the Dynamic Duo convalescing now:

Daddy + ClaraJane + Cat

PS: Update on Paul. He said the trip to school was fine, he only hurt his incisions a little bit… shooting some baskets with our son in the gym. MEN!!! (And mine doesn’t even PLAY basketball. Gah!)

Posted in childhood, domestic life, education, faith, family, food, health, love, marriage, mental health, parenthood, patience | Tagged blowing chunks, cuddle muffins, dry heaves, dynamic duo, Kids are Natural Scientists, mango nectar popsicle, MEN!, natural scientists, Neil deGrasse Tyson, parenthood, Peg + Cat, post-op basketball, puke, school health policy, they also vomit, vomit | 1 Comment

To Nature Without Delay

Posted on 2015/03/23 by circuskitchen

Monday, March 23rd 2015

With the newfound urgency and commitment to getting into nature, I nab my kids from school on Monday and drive them all of three miles to the nearest Audobon Sanctuary in Belmont, MA, aptly named “Habitat“). Within seconds, Gavin is off-roading right next to the parking lot.

Off Road Boy

The kids immediately make a game of finding and pondering *holes* (in trees, in the snow, in the ground). Naturally some need to be poked with a stick.

What better use for a stick?

ClaraJane in fact made many holes in the ground with a stick, “for mouses.” As in, “Brother! Don’t step on my mouse hole!”

But he was too busy playing with ice shaped like a knife;

knife-ice

And challenging himself to heave the biggest hunk of ice he might;

bless my baby’s ubiquitous baby butt crack while it lasts...

This gives her time to talk (and me to listen). Here she is telling me about the Mouse and the Gruffalo, which I include here because she will only be 3 years old for 0.2 more seconds:

2015-03-23 The Joy of Listening to ClaraJane [44 seconds]:

Then glory be; A pile of sticks. “Let’s BUILD something!”

pile o’ sticks

And so we do. Like a tee-pee or something, which they immediately get inside.

Arbitrary structure in nature

I joked they look like they’re on “Time-Out.”

“Yeah it’s like a *jail!*” they agree with delight.

Funny we head into the outdoors and build ourselves a confining structure.

I don’t know what it means.

But it sure was lovely to get out there.

amen

We’ll be back soon.

I insist.

Posted in childhood, education, faith, family, health, love, mental health, nature, parenthood | Tagged Belmont, getting into nature, great outdoors, Habitat, Massachusetts Audobon Society, off road boy, outdoor structure, poking with sticks, sanctuary, wild child | Leave a comment

ManMeat Recovery Weekend

Posted on 2015/03/23 by circuskitchen

March 20th, 21st & 22nd 2015

Post-Op Boy – Variation 1

On Friday Dear Husband underwent a scheduled double-hernia repair. Compared to cancer surgeries and strained life conditions of the past, this seemed like such small potatoes that collectively we barely flinched. Of course one cannot be or have a loved one undergo The Knife under general anesthesia without humbling oneself to existential thoughts and prayers, no matter how secular.

Blink of an Eye

After a wee bobble and do-over amid discharge (to the tune of 83/49 BP!), he was safely installed at home to receive well wishes from friends and family through the fount of virtual offerings.

Variation 2

Present ones included.

Variation 3

Keeping him under VERY CLOSE supervision,

Nurse Cat

Attending to his EVERY NEED,

Grape Girl

He was in pretty good hands (and paws).

Intensive Care Unit

It even SNOWED some more (his favorite), in spite of officially turning Spring outside.

Peace on Earth

Even the bunnies kept vigil.

Nervous Nellies

After rounds of meds and sleep and finally some food, a little Art Therapy;

Art School with ClaraJane

Which I repeat here only because I cannot get enough of those two.

Twins

And not to put to fine a point on it, but the “I ♥ To Fart” mug was never more germane. When your abdomen has been sliced into, any relief in pressure is, well RELIEF. But(t)… meanwhile, pretty flowers!

Ta Da!

Love and hugs from Boy;

Hug Therapy

Then after homework and chores, he’s OFF;

See ya!

Leaving Daddy time to… well yes, it’s my blog so I’ll go there… POOP.

Victory Be Yours Forever

Which, if you know Paul, means he’s Ready to Eat again. So ClaraJane, apparently matching his dress code for the whole weekend, whips up a little something for Daddy in the kitchen;

Wild Thing Cooking

So with the children’s help;

Mama’s Executive Helper

I do my best to manage the ADL‘s of the homestead;

Saturday’s Agenda

When not at my gigs that is… of which there were three. So it was of great welcome relief when my *sister* showed up with her family in my stead, bringing her two kids for MY two kids to play with, permitting my DH to SLEEEEEP. (Even brushing Wild Thing’s *hair.* What a true God-Mother.) Also my Mom, taking over just as kids needed stories read before slopping off to the Land of Nod. For example;

[2014-12-16]

And after two days the patient can finally -not insignificantly- *shower,* revealing the workings of his new battle wounds;

All Better Soon Belly

As if to answer this constellation, as he floats back in and around a sometimes sharp, gooey medicated haze, the skies smile down upon us all;

From my cell phone

Literally;

From a professional (then tweaked to my taste, per usual)

From a professional (then unscrupulously tweaked to my personal taste, per usual)

Happy Healing to All, and to all a Goodnight, with blessings for another New Day tomorrow.

PS: Thanks for stepping in Mom and Amanda!

PPS: I love you, ManMeat. Keep up the great work.

Heal!

Posted in domestic life, family, health, love, mental health, parenthood, patience, work | Tagged ADL's, Art Therapy, double hernia repair, god bless the babies that sleep with you, Moon and Venus, post-op, Pussy Patrol, surgery, Venus and Moon, Wild Thing | 2 Comments

Pyoom Pyoom

Posted on 2015/03/22 by circuskitchen

March 22, 2015

Benefits to Brother being nice enough to share his Trio blocks with his Sister:

1) Children getting along generously, kindly, happily. #priceless

2) This:

Pyoom Pyoom [9 seconds]:

Posted in childhood, domestic life, family, love, nature, parenthood | Tagged ClaraJane, pyoom pyoom, shot through the heart, Trio Blocks | Leave a comment

Big Underwear Social Tour Forever

Posted on 2015/03/19 by circuskitchen

Thursday, March 19th 2015

Big Underwear Creatures

Without much thought or planning last Thursday, I grabbed the kids from school and just drove ‘em down to Rhode Island for us to enjoy perhaps our final visit to the Big Underwear Bus before its inhabitants disappear over the Big Pond yond again.

Within SECONDS of arriving, ClaraJane is “helping” Brady split kindling with a hatchet.

Hatchet Girl

Minutes later, as we all set off on our walk together. I look back and -SWEET RELIEF- my boy is careening down the street, waggling a stick, kicking a ball.

Free Boy

I feel this strange guilt that it took a several hour trafficy car ride to a distant place to off-leash my kids; to enable Boy to perform pure natural expressions that should otherwise be rightfully his (careen, waggle, kick… simultaneously no less), but that we can’t reasonably perform most days and places around the City.

[I am resolved to get to the country more often. I intend to start this coming Monday. Audobon Sanctuaries abound! But I digress.]

And other Normal Boy Stuff [N.B.S.], like waving and whacking things with sticks, preferably with a buddy;

“Reminiscin’ this n’ that n’ havin’ such a good time” ~Roger Miller

And chucking stuff into water, like hunks of ice into this estuary, for example;

Chunk Chucking Chums (say 5x fast)

My friend Brady is an Artist; from the soles of his feet through the core of his Being out to the tips of his profoundly unkempt hair, and back again. Among the many ways this is true, much of his discretionary time is spent in the self-stylings of an Archeological Magpie. With electrically sharp eyes he spots trinkets and treasures on the ground wherever he roams in the world (which is a LOT of places). From the incredible historical and fascinating finds he creates countless art pieces and -over the years- mini museum displays. [See: Big Underwear Art]. Here he shares one of his favorite digging spots, on the shores of the estuary by our friend Maribeth’s house in Warwick, Rhode Island, where The Bus has wintered this year (both of which you can see here across the in the background).

Treasure Hunting

According to Brady this is an old dumping ground from days of yore. The tide’s ebb and flow bring him a new crop of artifacts every day; Most notably lots of century-old bottles, marbles, pottery shards and porcelain sculptures. (Just this week he found a porcelain sculpture of a high-heel shoe… decades old, encrusted in mud, easily cleaned, still totally intact.) This activity parlays perfectly with feeding the local water fowl.

Creatures of the Big Underwear

It’s simply a wonderful thing to do (hunt and poke around shore’s edge, with an implied purpose), whilst enjoying a lovely walk and the company of friends, not to mention a perfect way to steer the unadulterated energy of young children. ClaraJane even gives up her prestigious perch atop Brady’s shoulders;

Clown Ride

… and gets in on the action. Alas, Normal Boy Stuff is of course also Normal for Girls. (I even found a couple bottles myself… even if they were Brady’s rejects, I was pretty stoked.)

Treasure Hunting in Mud

Being the cusp of Winter and Spring, the shores are covered in lace like crusts of ice.

Crusty Cusp

Perfect for CRACKING, one of DaddyLove’s favorite Winter Walk activities, for whom I include this clip:

B.U.S.T.-ing ICE [31secs]:

After this excitement, Brady climbs out on a precipice next to a bridge over the icy waters. Gavin wants to follow, they consult with Mom; “I trust Brady, I trust you Boy. I believe you can be careful.” And Voila; instant flirtation with Danger.

Dare Devils

For Gavin, I include this one; B.U.S.T. DareDevils [18secs]:

OK, here’s where I might lose you, Dear Reader. Part of living in a bus and professionally exploring the nature of money and friendship and trying to MINIMIZE ONE’S IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT, is utilizing —reusing— resources to their fullest. So if there happens to be a dumpster a tick down the road from your bus in which BRAND NEW WRAPPED GOODS are regularly deposited, that might naturally become one of your sources of occasional goods. Brady and Irmi were telling us some of the endless list of items wastefully thrown in the (Walgreen’s) dumpster, which they had recovered. To demonstrate, Brady walks over to it and starts laughing, holding up an entire CASE of brand new paper towels still in their wrapping. We go over and find countless boxes of intact CEREAL. “That’s my favorite kind!” exclaims ClaraJane. Then some bags of candy, to Gavin’s delight.

“This is when it starts to get interesting,” explains Brady, jumping up for a deeper dive. Of course I take a photo. Laughing some more, he comes up with several boxes of beautifully wrapped delicacy chocolates, like, nicer than you would ordinarily see being sold for Valentine’s Day. “NOW YOU’RE *TALKING!!!*” exclaims Gavin, in ecstasy.

Dumpster Dudes

“Shh! That’s too loud!” Warns Irmi. And she was right. Out walks this white guy with his belly bulging against his button down white shirt, wielding his Walgreen’s Manager name tag. (Not my fault if he sounds like a walking stereotype.) He scolds us and threatens to call the police, saying that is private property and we are breaking the law, and to put it all back. Brady resists his natural instinct to stand there and Have It Out with The Man. Ordinarily he would take the guy to task for the terrible wastefulness of the dumping practices and challenge him on the impact his being had on the Planet. But thanks to my kids… you know, to be a good Dumpster Diving Role Model and all, we walk away.

But not before making out with a half dozen boxes of CEREAL. Yes, we walked an ambiguous line there. My questions to Gavin were; Did we hurt anybody? Did we break a rule? What did he think of that rule? Which was worse; reusing perfectly good resources or throwing them away in the first place?

In any case, the kids could hardly WAIT to break into that unopened, perfectly good box of Honey Nut Cheerios;

So excited that CJ signs “Potty” (as in, “I have to go…!”)

Brady shows Gavin a found Buffalo Nickel while Irmi brings a nip of rum for my coffee;

Bus Bliss

Before we go, we enjoy some time with MariBeth and her son DJ. ClaraJane brings an offering to the wood burning stove;

Fireside in the Bus

We say goodbye for now, not knowing if we will see each other again before they depart for Germany at the end of the month. Later I arrive home with two entirely spent kids.

Spent Kids

Here is my take-home lesson:

Amen.

♦♥♦

Posted in childhood, domestic life, education, faith, family, food, forgiveness, Friendship, health, love, mental health, nature, parenthood | Tagged B.U.S.T., Big Underwear Social Tour, chucking chunks, chunk chucking chums, clown ride, cracking ice, defying death, digging in dirt, dumpster diving, feeding the birds, havin' such a good time, N.B.S., Normal Boy Stuff, Normal Girl Stuff, Roger Miller, treasure hunting, waggling sticks | 1 Comment

Gavin’s Home School – Writing Edition

Posted on 2015/03/19 by circuskitchen

February 24th-26th 2015

http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/foundational-“r”

Gavin’s edification continues.

[See: https://circuskitchen.com/2015/01/23/dear-teacher-from-gavin/ and https://circuskitchen.com/2015/02/15/gavin-progress-report-snowboard-edition/%5D

WRITING UPDATE:

Last month Gavin was refusing to perform his English Language Arts (ELA) Assessment at school. In fact his report card grade for this was *missing* due to his “inability” to complete the assessment (read; “refusal”). To hell if I know exactly what ELA is supposed to mean, but I believe it has to do with what we used to call “Writing.” (You know, one of the three “R’s,” so long as you disregard *spelling.* Grrr.) And I’m all about “Home-School” communication and partnership with the teachers, yet even though I’m one of the most engaged school moms I know, I still find my experience of understanding *what* exactly happens inside the classroom to be FORENSIC at best. (To that end, connectedness with the child and laying fertile ground for communication from THEM is my best bet.)

I do understand however that it was a “Persuasive Writing” assignment he was supposed to write. And thanks to above techniques, he volunteered that he felt “stumped,” because as he put it, “I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to happen to write about.” (Hmm.)

Because of “Natural Consequences” I am committed to our agreement that work he doesn’t do in class he WILL meet at home. (To the best of my ability of course.) So I told him that if there’s nothing more in the world he could possibly want, then we -his parents- must being doing TOO GOOD of a job meeting all his needs. (Ha.) Therefore Gavin and I came up with a privilege to *remove,* so he could persuasively write about why he should get it back. (His “Trio” blocks.)

“NoW i ReaLLy am HatEing this DAY.”

I even made him a “Graphic Organizer” like they use in school; basically a page with some blobs in which to jot down ideas to expound upon later in writing:

Home- Made Graphic Organizer

"Friends like it.  Helps me learn to bield.  
i like it.  it's Edicashunle."

Progress! Or so I thought. Until I got an email response from his teacher basically saying they need to handle the assessment in a certain way without my intervention and that the Literacy Coach will handle it. Woops.

Sure enough the next day, the Literacy Coach was brought in and said these magic words, according to Gavin; “‘Would you like do your work in a quiet room without any distractions?‘ and I said ‘Yes,'” and boom; out he comes with an essay detailing why he would like his family to all see the movie “Big Hero 6” together. Lovely. (His teacher later reported that he performed “really well” on this assessment. Yay! I hope I get to see it sometime.)

Next day the teacher provides him noise-canceling headphones within the classroom -another brilliant move- and boom; out comes a persuasive letter, to his own dang mother no less.

Persuasive Writing… is edGicashunaL

 DeaR MOM, 
i Please have My trio Back.  here are some resons.  my frends     LikE it.  i Like it.  it HelP's Me LeaRn to BeiLd.  it's          edGicashunaL.  so can you pLease Give Back mY trio.   

Love, Gavin

Love it! I didn’t even know this was a “Work Choice” in the classroom. When I pointed out how much the Graphic Organizer (which he had written at home on Tuesday) seemed to have helped his writing (at school on Thursday), he giggled with surprise. As in, he had *no idea.* I particularly love that in each case he soldiered forth with spelling by sounding it out, irrespective of technical accuracy. [“Spelling Brake Throo!”] This is a looong way from where we were in the fall when he wouldn’t spit out a single word unless he thought it was “right.” And I love that he finds Trio both Edicashunle and edGicashunaL. (Swoon.)

YES!

We celebrated with an afternoon snack at our favorite neighborhood spot. Coincidentally, ClaraJane had just earned a trip to the Toy Store by filling her Goal Jar with marbles earned for good behavior. Her budget was $5, although while there she *insisted* that her “Best Brother in the World” ALSO be given $5 to spend too.

I caved.

Posted in childhood, domestic life, education, faith, family, health, love, parenthood, patience, work | Tagged a quiet room without distractions, Best Brother in the World, Big Hero 6, ELA, ELA Assessment, engaged school parent, English Language Arts, home-school communication, noise canceling headphones, persuasive letter, persuasive writing, spelling, Trio | Leave a comment

The Amazing Nano Brothers Juggling Show

Posted on 2015/03/13 by circuskitchen

Spring, 2015

The Boston Museum of Science is home to the Amazing Nano Brothers Juggling Show. These two accomplished juggling comedian performers, Dan Foley and Joel Harris, together with the National Science Foundation and a bunch of other highbrow scientific organizations created this incredibly fun and educational show about Nanotechnology. What a wonderful medium for taking mind-blowing scientific information and making it totally accessible to children and families.

Here is an Amazing taste (demonstrating the composition of an ATOM, no less) [1min,43secs]:

Amazing Nano Brothers Juggling Show

And here, in case you can’t make it to the LIVE show, is a taped version in its entirety, compliments of the Boston Museum of Science [34mins,18secs]:

Or if you please, the 30 second promo instead:

FWIW, as I write, here are the performance dates remaining at the MOS this Spring (of 2015, all Saturdays):

March 28
April 4
April 11
April 18
April 25
May 2
May 9

And here’s more info: http://www.mos.org/amazing-nano-brothers

To me, this show has got it all; Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math.
In other words, #STEAM (one of the main reasons I want to bring the live performance into every elementary and upper school in our district, starting with our city’s School Committee Members… but that is another story).

#SWOON!

PS: For more about Dan & Joel, see http://treetopartists.com/airborne-comedians/

Posted in education, Friendship, mental health, work | Tagged #SWOON, Airborne Comedians, Boston, Boston Museum of Science, Cambridge, Cambridge Public School District, comic jugglers, composition of an atom, CPSD School Committee, CPSD School Committee Members, CPSD.US, Dan Foley, deconstructing an atom, fun physics, http://treetopartists.com/airborne-comedians/, Joel Harris, juggling comedians, live model of an atom, love these guys!, love this show!, model of an atom, Museum of Science, my heros, Nano Brothers Juggling Show, Nanotechnology, nanotechnology juggling show, physics, science, scientific juggling show, STEAM, Treetop Artists | 1 Comment

Breakfast in Bed

Posted on 2015/03/08 by circuskitchen

Sunday, March 8th 2015

I cooked it for you Mamma

Ingredients, to my view: My Little Pony, tiny doll bed, crayons, Hello Kitty ink stamper, foam cube, mini scissors and, as ClaraJane points out, “I made it with hot pepper!”

Also, wooden toast with Silly Putty “jam.”

Thank you Baby, I love hot pepper

A nutritious, delicious well-balanced meal.

C’mon Mamma, eat your jam!

I don’t know what I did to deserve all this attention, but Daddy brings me breakfast in bed too (after negotiating past ClaraJane):

Daddy weighs in

For entertainment, Gavin practices balance:

A rare moment of Zen

And ClaraJane performs her “What the Heck!?!” Face.

What the Heck!?!

I don’t know why they are so motivated to reward this staying-in-bed behavior, but I’ll take it.

Posted in childhood, domestic life, faith, family, food, health, love, mental health, parenthood | Tagged what the heck | Leave a comment

Spirit Week Day #4 – Dress Up Day

Posted on 2015/03/05 by circuskitchen

Thursday, March 5th 2015

Elsa & Anna

After staying up a tad late to put the finishing touches on ClaraJane’s ELSA cape last night, the kids’ outfits were ready for “Dress Up” Day. We’ve already made it through Book Character Day, School Pride Day, and Western Day (even if the substitute teacher told Gavin his coonskin cap was not an appropriate choice for “Western Day,” but that’s another story!)

And though Elsa is a Disney Princess character, even the principal herself had pointed out an Elsa as an example of “dress up” during the Peace Assembly on Monday. I had to clarify this with Gavin when he protested that his sister was going to look strange at school as the only one dressed as Elsa, informing me that he now “H-A-T-E-S” the movie Frozen. I assured him she would not be the only one, and even wagered him a bet. Being six years old he proved unprepared to wager anything he might lose, so I made it a win-win bet for him; $10 if there are no other Elsa’s, $5 if there are no Anna’s, otherwise 25cents per Elsa and “A dollar an Anna.”

[Secretly I know he still likes Frozen, because Frozen is AWESOME! And collectively we are not sick of it in this family because we do not have our kids abjectly *binge* on Disney Movies or anything else even if it would be more convenient to us parents to let them do so. More digressions for yet another imaginary post.]

ClaraJane’s Elsa Costume

OK see what I did here? I took an old hand-me-down Cinderella dress we have (that conveniently doubles as an Elsa dress), a hand-me-down cardigan sweater, and the glamorous sparkly snowflake fabric I got off eBay ($12) last fall with the intention of making her cape.

I zig-zag sewed a line around the sweater to keep it from fraying before chopping off the excess parts to turn it into a “shrug.” I cut the sleeves at an angle so the ends would dangle down in a teardrop shape (perfect for dipping in soup), and left one button at the top for fastening. The real Elsa does not wear a sweater, not even a shrug. And certainly both she and my daughter insist “the cold never bothered [them] anyway.” But Elsa’s mom is dead, so she’s not around to make sure her daughter puts on a sweater in wintertime. No such luck for ClaraJane.

Next I folded over and gathered one end of the sparkly fabric and sewed it around the shrug neckline for the cape, and glued white sparkly marabou fuzz around all the edges to give it that wintery, princess look. I also modified the flower that sits on the, er…cleavage part of the dress. (Were I real seamstress I’m sure I’d know the term.) I tarred and feathered it with glue and sparkles, cut the petals into snowflakey shapes and then hunted around the house for a sparkly little piece of notion for the center, and alighted on the crystal flower from an old broken toe ring in the bottom drawer of my sewing table.

DIY flower snowflake

Lastly I trimmed the bottom of the cape into the kinda fleur-de-lis shape, short enough to not get tripped over at school, but just long enough to tickle the ground behind her, wherever her precious feet may tarry.

Morning came. Our handsome Boy dressed up in his finery without resistance, as did our handsome Girl. UNTIL…

It was almost time to go, and ClaraJane blurts out, “I don’t LIKE my cape SHORT! Waaaaah haa haa haa HAAAAAAAA!!!…” And off comes her dress and cape into a heap. The glory of this story is that I did not get upset. Somehow I remembered that she is THREE, and this kind of nonsense is typical, classic and to be expected. Daddy helped her change while in my imminent motherly wisdom I collected the discarded rags into a (matching canvas) BAG to smuggle into school… should the princess, once at school -gasp!- change her mind.

Once calmed down in the car she appeared more amenable to… what’s it called? Oh yeah, reason. I told her I know how she feels. That my Grandma (Bubble Wow’s mom) once made me a Cinderella dress when I was a little girl, and I was mad because the glass slippers weren’t really glass, they were plastic. That I hadn’t understood that things in the movies and real life had to be different. For one, glass slippers would be painful and dangerous. (Which somehow never gets mentioned in the Disney version.) Furthermore, ClaraJane is right. Elsa’s cape does trail glamorously well behind her. And do you know WHY? Because Elsa lives in a gigantic ICE CASTLE, all by herSELF. And there are no Montessori children all over the place who might accidentally STEP on it. And that I -ClaraJane’s mother- didn’t want that to happen because do you know why? [Pause for dramatic effect… wait for her to ask “Why?”] “Why?” It would CHOKE you!

A few moments for the beautiful three-year-old wheels to grind around up in that priceless head of hers and, you guessed it; “I want to go back home and put on my Elsa dress and Elsa cape!”

Ah but not to worry right? I just happen to have them right HERE in this BAG. No problem. UNTIL…

We get to school and start to change. On goes the dress and… where’s the CAPE? My precious CAPE. No cape! On the phone with Dear Husband, I learn that in the wake of my cool, calm, collected SuperMom morning he found said CAPE in a heap on the floor next to the compost by the front door (which incidentally I had also somehow left wide open). I couldn’t believe it. With his new phone he texted me a photo for evidence (of my madness apparently, although kindly he did not say as much).

Believe it

What to do. What would you do? LET IT GO? (Sorry, had to go there.) Nope not ME. With my usual insane dogged determination I set the kids free in the school, and beat it back across town (in traffic this time… both ways), to deliver the PRECIOUS back to her highness. But it’s not “her highness,” it’s my daughter.

When I arrive back at class and spy through the two-way mirror, the kids are having a special presentation by a dad with what to them must be a really old-timey CAMERA (a 35mm SLR or such). I may be crazy but I’m not going to disturb an otherwise organized class of 3, 4 & 5 year olds over a piece of clothing. But just to add insult to injury, as I’m standing outside the door with the Precious in hand, it’s ClaraJane’s turn to pose in front of the special camera-thingy for all her class to admire. In her store-bought hand-me-down Cinderella dress.

ClaraJane’s turn

So close but so far. First world problems I know! I know. And so, with the wince in my heart, I turn to go, and leave the thing in her cubby.

*sigh*

She’ll find it come lunchtime, I’m sure.

♥

Posted in childhood, domestic life, education, faith, family, forgiveness, health, love, marriage, mental health, parenthood, patience, work | Tagged DIY Elsa Cape, DIY Elsa Costume, Dress Up Day, Elsa cape, Elsa Costume, first world problems, Let it Go, letting it go, old timey camera, SuperMom, trials and tribulations of motherhood | Leave a comment

Spirit Week Day 1: Favorite Book Character

Posted on 2015/03/02 by circuskitchen

Monday, March 2nd 2015

For “Favorite Book Character” Day at school, Gavin chose Greg Heffley, aka: the main character in all the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney.

Famous Anti-hero

ClaraJane on the other hand, chose the lady from Tomie DePaola’s endearing “Pancakes for Breakfast,” a current obsession. Here she is in fact making CJ’s favorite food: butter!

Pancake Lady

Here they are in character:

Pancake Lady & Greg Heffley

Don’t be fooled by Gavin’s bummed expression, he’s actually *acting.* They’re both in character! That is, pleased as punch with herself, and bummed out at the world around him, respectively:

Take two

I made it all out of extra large men’s undershirts I had around (albeit originally intended for dear hubsand. Sorry Babe!). Also paint, glue and some fabric paper onto which I printed some scenes from the books for context.

Pancake Lady from behind

Once at school I snapped these action shots. To my delight, his painted backpack hung rather like a real backpack:

Painted backpack

Here’s Cousin Miles as Harry Potter!

You can put a spell on me any time, Baby

And here’s our dear friend Zaida:

Pippi Longstockings

Being that with all the snow days there hasn’t been enough distraction from school lately, in addition to Spirit Week, assembly day, Dr. Seuss’s Birthday, Read Across America Week, first-of-month meetings and Movie Night this Friday, our school is also hosting it’s annual BOOK FAIR in the library this week. Naturally we had to go there immediately after school today with the speed and precision of so many cartoon bullets. Admittedly the kid had a pretty singular raison d’être today:

Decisions…

Magnanimously, I agree to buy *two* of the three he wanted, promising he could get the other when he finished these. By this afternoon he’d already finished one of them. I am both deeply honored, sheepishly proud, and rather disturbed about budget. I console myself that the book fair at least raises funds for the school library, although I’m also heading to ebay immediately after this post.

ClaraJane shows me how they sign “Quiet” in the nap room

The other book he got though, is a Diary of a Wimpy Kid “Do-It-Yourself.” It’s deliberately incomplete, with all kinds of prompts to assist the reader in writing their own story. Gavin was obsessed all afternoon, evening, and night.

Could not, did not wait ’til we got home

ClaraJane does not know what a diary is, and calls it “Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid.” For her part she decisively chose a book called “Pinkalicious,” and insisted on buying it her “SELF,” … after insisting I give her the money first.

Shh! Mom’s taking our picture again

Yes, I pulled the car over to take these shots. And YES, I take too many. But if you can literally not get enough of something… this is what happens. Spoiler Alert: Welcome to my personal CrackBook.

Speaking of “Do It Yourself,” although I’ve been working with him to sound things out and spell instinctively, he was so voracious today I didn’t have the heart to refuse him every time he asked me to spell a word. It kept happening so I introduced him to “My First Dictionary,” which is graphic and helpful… albeit not comprehensive enough for him I’m afraid. A great start though… especially for freaking first grade!

How do you spell “metal”? Not a *medal*… the other kind…

I don’t even know what’s happening in that diarrhea. At one point he goes, “Mom I need a dice. Do we have a dice?” So I give him the *die* (stupid word), and he’s rolling it and writing stuff down. Then, “Mom, when I grow up, how many children should I have? Zero, One, Two or Ten?” (Those were apparently the only choices. I went with two, but only because he asked.)

Later I had to hide the book on him so he could get ready for bed, then he was back at it until we cuddled, and back at it yet still after that. I told him I had really wanted to post photos of him & his sister on my blog today but I’d spent almost the whole day WITH them so there hadn’t been time. (Nothing new there.)

“Well, I guess your time with your husband is it then,” he concluded, for me.

That time has come and gone as has another reasonable bed time for me. But who needs bed time when recapturing one random day in the deluge of days not in order of significance but by the grace of luck and blessings and God and love.

Amen and pause for now. (After “publishing,” without editing alas.) Tomorrow’s another day.

Posted in childhood, domestic life, education, faith, family, health, love, marriage, mental health, parenthood, patience | Tagged book character day, Book Fair, ClaraJane, diarrhea, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Do-It-Yourself, Do-It-Yourself Diary, Dr. Suess' Birthday, dress as your favorite book character, Gavin, Greg Heffley, Jeff Kinney, Pancakes for Breakfast, Pinkalicous, Pippi Longstockings, Spirit Week, Tobin Montessori, Tomie DePaola, Zaida | 2 Comments

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