Old friends

Last Saturday, we wnt to Yorktown to visit a friend of Jack's whose family had moved up there last summer. We were friendly with the parents, too, but it was mostly to give him a chance to see an old friend. We had done something slightly similar once before, inviting a preschool friend to a party, and that didn't go overly well...a year apart had been like forever for that friendship. So we kind of figured we would stay a couple of hours, catch up and then head home.

Instead, Jack and Brian kind of picked  up where they left off. They spent the next several hours playing with toys, sticks, video games, whatever, and then we headed to a nearby state park and we all fished, then they used a couple of metal detectors to find a bottle cap and a piece of colored glass on the beach. And then it was getting late, so we stayed for dinner, then broke out what appeared to be a limitless supply of sparklers, fired them up, and watched the kids run around waving them in the dark. While a seeming herd (flock? Gaggle?) of gray tree frogs serenaded us with their songs, and we were reminded that you don't have to drive too far out of the suburbs, which I feel like we live in even if we don't, to be in the country (which it felt like we were in even if we weren't).

Driving home, with both kids sleeping (Kate spent the day playing happily with the older brother, and fishing, and having a love-hate relationship with the sparklers), I felt better about the whole connecting with old friends thing,  not only for Jack, but for us. We went up mostly thinking it was good for Jack to see someone outside his regular group of friends, but it was a lot of fun for us, too. You get stuck in routines of doing the same things with the same people and forget about all the other things there are to do (fishing! Ordering from a different Italian restaurant!) with somebody you don't see all the time.

So anyway. Jack had fun and we had fun, and it's nice when that happens not just when you drag your kid somewhere, but when you go there because of them. The next day I got an email from the Mom saying her son "was so happy -- he thinks Jack's his good luck charm," partly because he caught three fish after not catching any before. So that was pretty nice, and we'll go back there. Maybe next time Jack will catch a fish, too.

Although I think finding the bottlecap and colored glass made up for it.

Moving on up

Kate had her Moving Up ceremony today,  which means she graduated from kindergarten. I am not sure exactly what she would have had to do to get held back, but regardless. She wore a lovely dress, and she and her classmates sang the songs she has been practicing around the house the last few weeks, and her various teachers and assistants spoke, and it was pretty nice. Jack had one two years ago, of course, but I don't remember it too well...will have to check the archives. I remember him wearing a blue striped shirt from the pictures I've chanced upon, and that he is still friends with most of the same kids. And Kate has made some nice friends the last few months, I think, so I hope she is too.

Anyway, all the parents stood around with our cameras, snapping pictures of the kids singing and waving and then getting their little diploma type things and smiling and waving some more. A friend sent a picture of Kate getting hers with a little proud smile. We took pictures with her friends and teachers and jack...nice morning. And the last moving up ceremony.

After, Kate and I went shopping and got lunch. Her choice, McDonalds. At home I mowed and she drew with sidewalk chalk. Kind of an ordinary Kate and Daddy afternoon. But fun; usually I have both kids, or neither so the one to one is nice sometimes. 

At bedtime she told me she had a nice day, then sang herself to sleep.

Champions

We went to Basking Ridge, New Jersey last weekend for Jack's first Summer Travel baseball tournament. About three weeks ago he tried out for the team, and two weeks ago we found out he'd made it. Since then it basically rained for most of the last two weeks and he had all of one practice. But the tournament was on the schedule -- kind of a kickoff to the summer season -- so we just figured we'd do the best we could.

SATURDAY

It was pouring rain when we woke up in Port Chester, and Jack was scheduled to play his first game at 12:45. No way, we thought, but apparently the weather was a little better in New Jersey, so we headed out. Jack and I both dressed in our uniforms (I'm an assistant coach) for the drive, thinking all the way, eh, we'll get there and it will have already been cancelled. But no, it had cleared up, and although it was really unseasonably cold, and we both had 2-3 layers underneath our shirts, we played.

I played little league baseball as a kid and through grade school, and have been coaching Jack's rookie team the last two years, but the rookie team, at least, is nothing like this. A good share of the kids are playing are, well, not overly interested in the proceedings. Some of them like to bat, and a few like to play in the field and are focused, but it's probably 50-50 at best. Here, almost all of the kids were focused, competitive, and pretty good.

We weren't sure what to expect out of Jack. Would he be overmatched, nervous, intimidated. In rookie ball he got pitched to by his own coaches last year and a pitching machine this year, so he'd never even seen a kid pitch to him -- never faced a wild 8-year-old thrower ostensibly trying to strike him out (really, though, they're mostly just trying to throw strikes, period). I had images of the first pitch hitting him and that being it for the weekend or something. Not really, but I just had no idea what to expect. Nor did the coaches, evidently, what with only one practice; he was slotted 11th in the batting order out of 13 kids.

But when he stepped up to the plate, I was kind of amazed, because he looked like he knew what he was doing. To be clear, Rookie ball isn't at this level of play, and we don't watch a lot of baseball, so I was basically impressed by everything Jack did: digging in at the plate, stepping out to take some practice swings, swinging at pitches. Didn't look the least bit troubled, intimidated, or overmatched out there.

And then his second time up, in the bottom of the 5th of a 2-2 game with two outs and two on, he ripped a looping line drive beyond shortstop that drove in what proved to be the winning run, keying a 5-run rally in a 7-2 win (games are six innings). The crack of the bat, him running to first and getting a pat on the back from the coach. I don't know if it was the most exciting moment of my life, although I may have said as much shortly afterward, but I don't think I'll ever forget it.

After the game the other coaches were talking: "That hit was HUGE....!"  "If he doesn't get that hit, we don't score any of those runs...." Opposing coach also said, "You guys got some clutch hits from the bottom of your lineup..." Uh, yeah, it was pretty awesome. Except for the part about it being really, really cold.

We had another game that night, a 7:30 p.m. start time which around our house is usually known as "putting the kids to bed time." I remember when we got the email about the game and were all like, What? And Emily was nervous and skeptical, as she has been throughout most of the Summer Travel process (prior to this weekend...!), and we figured, well, Emily will take Kate back to the hotel. But nope, we all went to the game, and our team was excited about the earlier win, and their team couldn't throw strikes, and we won handily. And happily went to bed, about two hours later than our kids normally went to bed.

And as I filled in the starting lineup the head coach gave me, I noticed Jack was batting 9th...up three spots from his previous spot. And he played all 5 innings in the field, as well. (The best six kids were in the infield and pitching, and the remaining seven alternated the outfield and the bench. But Jack was on the field for about 2/3rds of the innings, which was pretty good, though he didn't actually touch a ball on defense all weekend. I think there were about 4 plays by outfielders the entire weekend...not much gets past the infield.)

SUNDAY

We didn't have a game scheduled until 5 in the evening, so we hung out at the hotel for a while. We all went swimming in the indoor pool, which was the highlight of the trip for Kate. (Fortunately she's also friendly with little sisters of a couple of Jack's teammates, and loves to tease and run around after the boys, so she had fun at other times too.) We tried to get our increasingly tired kids to nap without much success, although Kate did nap some when I brought Jack to the field a little early for batting practice, but it might have been starting to catch up with Jack a bit. Not that he'd admit it.

That evening's game was a nail-biter against another 2-0 team. The winner would make the 4-team playoffs the next day, and the loser might too (did, ultimately), but it was a tense, close game. I know Jack had a walk and a groundout...don't think he had another hit. But they won by a 6-2 score and it was a happy bunch that went back to the hotel for dinner and drinks.

Adults stood around and talked proudly, kids raced around like crazy people, playing basketball and dodge ball and tag, some jumping in the pool.

I think I wanted Jack to do Travel baseball for two reasons...one, to maybe become pretty good at baseball, because it's a full schedule of games and practices all summer, and it's clear that at the end he'll either be pretty good, or maybe he'll be tired of baseball. (So far he's clearly leaning to the pretty good side, and oh yeah he loves it.)

Second reason was that I thought it would be good for him to hang out with a bunch of boys (mostly boys) his age at stuff like this. He has playdates and such, but it's not the same, and he doesn't have brothers or nearby boy cousins. And of course, he had a blast, and there will be two more weekends like this one this summer, plus all the in-week practices and games. So far, so good.

MONDAY

Jack's semifinal game was midday. In the morning we had a leisurely breakfast, and Kate and I went down to the pool together. It was nice, because we had the place to ourselves, and she's like a little fish, jumping in and out of the water over and over again. "Watch me, Daddy! Watch me the whole way!" And she swam and laughed and jumped and I watched. On the way back to the room she announced that she wanted me to put her to bed that night, "because I had so much fun swimming with you." That was nice.

Jack's team won the semifinal easily. They had some batting practice before the game, and maybe that was a factor, I don't know, but they had three 5-run innings in the first four (you can only score 5 runs in an inning, after which it's over whether there are 3 outs or not). Jack had another hit similar to the game-winner the previous day, and a hard foul ball down the line. They all hit the ball well, and celebrated going to the championship game, which was 4 hours later. Yes, our weekend which had begun with thoughts of, "Maybe we'll play well enough to make it into a playoff game Monday morning, or maybe we'll just get up and leave," had become "We're playing a Championship game at 4:30 Monday afternoon, and oh yeah tomorrow morning they go back to school." We got a late lunch at a wings place, the kids messed around like the 8-year-olds they are, and I got the starting lineup from the head coach. Jack had moved up a spot to 8th.

And, we won. Jack had a turn at the plate with two on and two out and a 5-2 lead and I don't think I've ever wanted him to get a hit so badly, but he struck out, but he was fine. Not overmatched, not all sad about it, just disappointed as you'd expect anyone to be, but fine. You never know; some kids didn't handle adversity that well. Because, well, they're 8.

But we got the last out in a somewhat jittery final winning, won 5-3, and were champions. We celebrated on the field, got a big trophy and a bunch of little trophies for all the kids (although bigger than you might expect...pretty nice), and there was applause and happiness and a lot of smiles.

Kind of crazy. Not only didn't we really think the team would do well, and didn't know exactly how Jack would react to the whole thing, we didn't have any idea how good they would play...how good 8-year-olds could be. You think of kids that age pitching and stuff and assume all the games will be like 15-12 or something. But it was real baseball, and the most fun I've had watching a baseball game in quite a long time.

I work in football, and that's pretty much the only sport I've thought about the last few years. There's the Red Sox, but I'm not as huge of a fan as I once was. My own baseball experience ended around high school, leaving out college softball or occasional fill-ins or whatnot, plus the Rookie coaching.

I don't think I realized I could enjoy baseball this much, or get into it so much. Mostly it was that Jack was playing. The rest, though, was that it's a pretty awesome game.

It was great to see parents applauding us after the wins. Lot of happy faces, happy and proud parents. It was even better to see the happy kids, whooping it up and just kind of giddy. I don't know the other kids well enough to say, but with Jack it was clearly a mix of happy, proud, and really, really tired. The way home from the game, the two hours back to Port Chester, he slept in his seat, head bent over sideways on top of the armrest. He looked all gangly, arms and legs and exhausting, snoring quietly in his seat.

And he was happy.

Before he fell asleep, I told him I was going to get a catcher's mask, so he could practice pitching to me. "Really?" he said, happily. Sure, I said. And so I will.

Because I get the feeling we're going to be playing a lot more baseball.

Mistakes

So, I didn't feel like a great Dad a couple of times today. The first time, Kate's class was having a picnic at Crawford park, and I was supposed to show up (apparently it was more certain in her mind than mine), and I was running late, and I got a little lost. One of our friends who was there called me, and said Kate was kind of upset. So I finally got there, and not only was she sad, but she was freezing, dressed for hot weather but it was kind of cool and breezy at the park.she had a sweatshirt, left at school. So I picked her up and she clung to me, all sad and freezing. We ate cold hotdogs, and the Magic Show started, and things got better. Finally.

At night, I saw Jack had this old video game of mine from the attic, where they aren't supposed to go, and I got angry at him and took it away. And his face kind of crumpled, as it does when he's really upset, and he said miserably, "But Mommy said I could have it...." And I immediately felt bad, and said, you know, I always meant for us to play it, it was mine when I was a kid, it needs batteries, but we'll get them and play with it. And he was brightening, and said, "Now that I know it was yours when you were a kid, I will be extra careful with it." And we read a dinosaur book and he went to bed.

I forget sometimes how much they love me, I guess, forget how easily they can be hurt, or disappointed, or sad. But they are also very quick to forgive, and to rally, and to cheer up. Quicker than me.

Tryouts

Jack had tryouts this morning for Summer Travel baseball. It is a pretty competitive league that would have a lot of kids playing at a higher level of baseball than him, but some at the same, I think as well. He would basically be playing baseball 5 or 6 days a week this summer, and either get pretty good or get tired of it.

We walked over at about 10 am for tryouts. Some of his friends were there, some kids he only slightly knew. I am friendly with a lot of the other parents from the baseball he plays in now.

It was 2 hours of parents standing around watching their kids do drills. Sometimes we stood, sometimes we sat on stands, sometimes we paced. I get that this is apparently something parents do, watch their kids try out for things, but it was all new to me. I watched him hit and was impressed, he connected on 5 in a row, good solid contact. I watched him in the infield, respectable, outfield, so so. He did as well as he plays, threw well, tried hard. What I said to him beforehand, just do your best. He did.

Walking home, there was a moment when he lamented he didn't think he was good enough. I gave encouragement, easily, honestly, seemed to cheer him. Emily did the same at home, when again he fretted he didn't make it. Seems to me it could go either way.

I will be disappointed if he doesn't make it, because I think he has some talent. Objectively, even though I am not objective. I have been told good things by others, coaches. If he makes it, I think he could actually become pretty good. Better than I ever was. He might already be better than I was. Seriously. We play in the backyard and I can't believe how well he can throw. The ball soars. A year ago the yard was plenty big. Now it is less certain.

Later in the afternoon, I asked him if he wanted to toss the football around. Just thought he needed a break. We did it for 2 minutes, and then he said, "Can we play baseball?" A month ago, he only wanted to toss the football around. Things change quickly.

So we played baseball, and I watched his throws soar.

Guest blog by Jack

Random

- Kate corrected me when I was singing "Thrift shop" this afternoon. I said, "This is really awesome," a clean version of an un kid friendly lyric. Kate said, "no Daddy, it's 'This is Being awesome.'" I said, uh, okay, sure. That is the lyric then.

- Kate's first T Ball game was last night. In the first moments, to my dismay, she knelt in the grass and wanted no part of it. I threatened her with playing in her room all morning the next day. I pointed out that two of her school friends were on her team. I don't know which words resonated, but she got up and played. And was being awesome!

She got her hits and admired them from the batter box, finally hearing the people (including Jack) yelling, "Run! Run, Kate! Run!!" She proceeded from base to base, as told, uh, every so often. In the field, she tried hard the first inning, even getting her glove on a ball once. To her surprise: she suddenly looked in her glove and there it was. She tossed it in the general direction of first. The next two innings, well, her interest in fielding a ball kind of waned. But she stood up throughout,,which was something.

- Reanna's Bat Mitzvah last weekend. The kids danced and played and easily made friends with previously unknown relatives or kids of similar age. Jack decided this kid named Miles was his second cousin, though I do not believe they are in anyway related. Both were fascinated by year-old Alex, especially Kate, who sort of babysat him for much of the weekend.

Both were very good at the 2-hour service, which was impressive. Jack was sitting next to second cousin Miles, which helped. Kate moved from Emily's to Grandpa's to my lap. But hey, no one had to go to the bathroom or get a snack, so Aces.

- Jack had his first baseball game tonight. Hit Ok, threw ok. He and I could probably stand to practice a little more if he wants to make the Summer Travel team. Weather is starting to get nice, so we will get out there a little more. And, uh, I will talk him out of throwing the football instead.

- I told Jack he had another new teammate, somebody from the waiting list who was added to the team. He said, "Great, more people for the outfield." One of his statements that's funny because it's true.

Happy Kate

Kate's been off from school this week, basically; 3rd-5th grades have testing in the mornings, so kindergarten kids are off until 1 p.m. The first day we got donuts and ran a couple of errands, and the second day she had a morning playdate.

Today Kate slept in, and was very cheery, so after we dropped Jack at school, we ran a couple more errands -- returning books to the library, and mailing birthday cards at the post office.

At the library, we dropped books in the overnight return box. Kate wanted to do her own books and gave a happy little noise as each one dropped in.

Walking the short trip to the post office, I took the direct route while she took each long, winding path. I went up the steps, she took the access ramp that went back and forth and back and forth. She ran so as to beat me, and laughed when she did. I let her.

Inside the post office, waiting in line, I stood while she climbed back and forth over the ropes that separated the line from the windows. Often I tell her not to. Today I just watched, letting her climb over and back, over and back, laughing happily at her agility.

We walked back to the car, or rather I walked, she skipped.

Spring!

It's been a cold spring, rainy and snowy and less than ideal for being outside. So the last couple of days have been pretty nice.

Saturday began at Home Depot, the idea being to get flowers and a wheelbarrow and whatnot. But there was a kids carpentry activity going on, and jack was entranced. He got a little orange apron, and he and I made a bird feeder. Took a picture of him when we were finished and it was an easy, natural, and proud smile.

At home, swept up in the carpentry fervor, Jack wanted to do more building. So we found some scrap wood, the fact that I throw nothing out occasionally pays off, and made him a little toolbox. Came out pretty nice, if I do say so myself. He happily filled it with cool-looking tools and stray nails and such, and then set about instructing Kate on How to Be a Builder.

 Later, while Kate had dance class, Jack and I went to the ball field to practice. We met a couple of his teammates and a couple of other dads, hit some balls, fielded some grounded, made some throws. At times Jack messes around and doesn't take things seriously, then I remember he is only 8, then he focuses and gets a nice hit or makes a nice play, then he doesn't...it's a fine line. Anyway, felt great to be outside. Couple of times, playing short, he ranged to his left to field a grounder and snagged it in his glove while on the run. It actually looked natural, like an extension of his arm.

Today we went to Teatown Lake Nature Center, hiked 1.5 miles around a lake, saw some cool owls, an eagle, and vultures -- all animals that had been in some way hurt and couldn't have survived in the wild. "Education Ambassadors" the signs called them. Kids loved the animals, and most of the hike, making up little games with leaders and followers, captains and navigators. They were game for everything, even when the wind off the lake was pretty strong and we were all chilled.

What was a little funny was Jack being disappointed we didn't see more animals, owls flying about us, snakes slithering by as we walked the trail. I tried to explain that just being in nature, hiking, feeling the air and the sun, was the appeal, but realized I was the same way as a kid, as we went on numerous trips out to get wild flowers and such. I wanted to see animals, not this rippling water, swaying tree stuff!

Anyway, it was a nice hike, and I am convinced Jack and Kate will one day write about such trips themselves, fully appreciating them.

Baseball

Wednesday night was Kate's first T-ball practice, Thursday Jack had baseball practice. The thing to mention first is that it was pretty cold both nights.

I kind of thought Kate would be touch and go, and so she was. First she clung to me. Then she knelt on the ground and buried her face in her hands. Then she cried. Then when I tried to stand her up she went limp. Nothing I hadn't seen before, but always difficult. I cajoled, threatened, warned, implored....20 minutes later, she was about the same. Not participating.

Finally, by offering to restore the TV privileges I had taken away, she stood up, went over to the coach, joined the team. She batted a little, not as exuberantly as in the backyard, but I will take it. She stood in the field near a girl she knows from school and actually seemed happy. Totally oblivious to the ball being hit by other people, of course, but having fun. Babbling happily on the cold walk home, too.

Next week is another practice. It will be warmer, and I dearly hope Kate, in her second experience, is more comfortable.

Jack is a little different. I don't remember his first T ball practice (I know he was a year older), but I am pretty sure he was more into it. The sport is far more male, obviously; I am not sure he has had a female teammate in three years. Anyway, to him practice is like a big party. He loves playing baseball, loves hanging around with his friends ... The ones he knew beforehand, and the ones he's made 15 minutes into practice. He's good that way.

He's going to be trying out for a summer travel team, which has up to 4-5 practices or games each week. At that point he will either get really into baseball, or not enjoy himself because it is a little more serious...should be interesting.

I hope they will both be into it as the season moves forward. And, you know, as it gets a little warmer.

Friends

It was a sunny afternoon, more or less, certainly more so than it has been the last few weeks. The kids and I went outside, and ran a few football drills in the backyard. I know, it's baseball season, we've got these three-player routes though.

Anyway, after doing that for a little while, the neighbors kids and their Mom were outside, so we invited them over. Kids played, we chatted, and somehow while talking about being at home with the kids, and not working in an office, she asked me if I had friends.

Kind of a strange question, although it made a little more sense in the context. Anyway I eventually said, well, most of my friends are the parents of kids in Jack and Kate's classes. Dads I meet through, oh, baseball coaching and whatnot. Used to make friends at work, Boston and Denver and so forth, but not so much with the working from home thing.

She went off on a tangent about her writing and such, while I thought about my lot. All the friends I make are other Dads! Oh sure there is the occasional fantasy football league mate, can't forget those guys. But mostly there's family and other Dads.

Your friends are usually the people you have stuff in common with. I guess that's why if I talk to high school friends, we generally talk about high school stuff, music and old movies maybe; college friends, we talk about, I dunno, the newspaper and drinking; twenty something friends, work. And today's friends, we talk about all that stuff, and our kids. Because really, that's how we became friends, and maybe why we're friends.

So as our neighbor's son busied himself digging a hole in our yard with a trowel, I reflected that the fact the people I coach baseball with, see movies with, and go out drinking with are generally people I meet through my kids just makes sense. We've got more in common with them than our immediate neighbors, sometimes.

I had a couple of other friends this week, of course. The ones I took to Dunkin Donuts on Monday, the Aquarium on Tuesday, and to meet their Mom for lunch on Wednesday. They're not just that, they're not mostly that, but if you spend enough time with someone, they become that. Goodnight, friends.

Whole lot of random

Couple weeks, what's been happening...

Both kids were sick with fevers and coughs for a couple of days, first Jack then Kate. So I had company. Watched the Spider-man movie (please! The Tobey Maguire one) with Jack, Cinderella with Kate. Jack was appropriately into it, we had held it back for a while thinking it might scare him. Hey, Willem Dafoe, scary even to me. Kate has seen Cinderella about 20 times,and its funny, she talks to the screen and gets angry at the stepsisters every time. I tell her Mommy has a nice stepsister and she says, "what?!"

We went to Great Wolf water park. Both may have ended the trip with slight relapses, swimming for two days in a heated water park migh do that. Kate missed two more days of school with an ear infection. It was sad when she was feverish and unhappy, she missed a play date she was really looking forward to, and also lamented missing Jam Band (I think that is what it's called). But we watched a movie and read some books (frog and Toad...doesn't get old), did some puzzles too. And when she was feeling better she made a nice painting. Painting and music, those are probably her two favorite things right now.

Jack is training for first communion, which involves us meeting with Pastor and several other families roughly every other week. I have brought him a few times, Emily some, Grandma last week. She said he mentioned Uncle Scott up in heaven as someone he would say a prayer for, which was nice.

Kate and I read Mouse Soup tonight. She laughed a lot at the story about the crickets.

Will try to write more often, because I forget stuff.

Games

Jack and I played football and baseball outside the last two days. It's been cold, but not icy, and we get outdoors when we can.

Jack likes watching football more, and at present he likes tossing the football around more, too. He says, and I can understand, that with baseball he wants to bat, which we can't really do in our yard (decent sized, but not big enough to really hit it). In any case, we spent 15 minutes throwing the baseball, which is relaxing and fun, especially watching how he has improved since last year. He's been doing a weekly Winter Clinic, and he's 8 instead of 7, so he's bigger, stronger, better.

But then we switched to football, and it's as different as the two are on TV. He runs almost non-stop, naarating plays (the zig-zag, the flea-flicker, etc.), then sprinting deep. He dives for almost everything, and catches a lot of them now. Much more so than he used to, just a few months ago. It will be interesting to see him playing baseball this year.

I also introduced him to sudoku puzzles yesterday, or he introduced them to us. He opened up the paper, we did the jumble, took a halfhearted stab at the Crossword, were basically mystified by the Cryptoquote -- how on Earth do people do these things? Then did the Sudoku, successfully, much to his satisfaction. He left a note next to my bed at night, which said, Don't read until tomorrow morning. I read it this morning: "Good morning Dad. Let's get the paper and do Sudoku! From Jack." And then a P.S. You are the best Dad ever. Uh but I don't want to brag. Well maybe a little.

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Kate and I played the Memory game today, which I think used to be called "concentration" (for you old folks out there). I will need to work with her a little on being a good sport, because not only did she totally kick my butt all over the place, but she laughed like Woody Woodpecker while doing it.

At each wrong guess on my part, I said, "Oh good grief," and she collapsed in laughter all over again.

I am not sure which one of us had more fun.

Vermont, and more skiing

Went to Vermont last weekend. The kids love it and get pretty excited in the days leading up to it. Tough to say what they love more: seeing Nana and Baba, taking a trip (until about an hour into the drive), playing with the 40-year-old toys, or checking out the Disney catalog of VHS tapes. Jack also enjoys rifling through my shelves for books and (a new one this trip) digging through drawers in Scott's room for knickknacks I have never seen before and in some cases don't even know what they are. He came back to New York with some of my Choose Your Own Adventure books, an HWR stamp/seal or some such, and my old reporter's dictaphone. And Kate saw 101 Dalmations and I believe Lady and the Tramp, although maybe she didn't finish the second one.

The first day we went skiing at Okemo, and got up pretty early to do it. Quick breakfast, quick drive, I had no idea it was less than 20 minutes away. Rented skis, checked in, dropped both kids at their lesson, insanely got on skis ourselves, thought we were crazy all the way up the magic carpet, fell a bunch on the way dpown, but kept doing it, and got better. And had an absolute blast.

We checked in on Kate before lunch. I walked in and asked after her at the counter. The woman looed at a sheet behind her, then said, "The good news is, she's not on The Cry List." That's right, there's a cry list. And Kate wasn't on it! She then checked with the teacher, and came back to say, she's doing fine. "She's apparently a little stubborn," she added. Emily and I laughed at that one. OH, not our Katie!

We collected Jack from his lesson; the instructor spoke well of him but seemed reserved, which was weird because we couldn't believe how well he did later with us. Maybe he ran over the guy's foot or something. We had lunch with Jack, which was a blast, 'cause we were all starving and ate everything, and then skied together. It was funny, because he was basically lapping us. "Go straight," he encouraged. "Fast!" as we made S curves down the mountain. He just cruised on down, stopped on a dime, turned to avoid people. Considering it was just the second time he had been on skis since a very introductory lesson two years earlier, I kind of couldn't believe it. Amazing! Better than us already. He probably could have handled the lift, I thought, since he didn't know enough to be concerned. And he continued to encourage us to speed up, as he lapped us yet again.

Eventually we got a call saying Kate was done (refusing to continue, in fact, which is fair; it was a longer lesson than we intended anyway), so did a few more runs, Emily collected her, and we took turns doing runs with Jack. Kate had a blast sliding down a little slope on her butt, saying "Wheeeeeeee!"

It was an awesome day. Got some pictures of happy skiers, cruised home weary and sore to shower up for a steak dinner, and spent the rest of the snowy weekend sledding, making a snowman, hiking in the woods, and playing. Kate laughed a lot during sledding, even when she fell off the sled halfway down (which was typical). Emily and Jack had me in a near-panic when they wandered off in the wood exploring and were gone for what seemed like an hour. I went after them, only to find them way behind the house with walking sticks, looking at deer and bunny tracks. Not lost, not hurt, but walking trails my family and I walked 35-40 years ago. If there is a better way to spend a Vermont weekend with kids, I don't know it.

Crazy it took us so long. It won't again. To quote George Eliot, thanks to the front quote of The One and Only Ivan, "It is never too late to be what you might have been." Hey, maybe not.

Skiing

Took the kids skiing today. Kate had a little weekend cold, and we weren't sure yesterday if we'd take her, but she seemed fine this morning so we tumbled into the car and went. We'd scheduled lessons for both, with Kate in a beginner one and Jack, who'd had the beginner lesson two years ago, one step up.

Besides Kate's cold, we considered bailing because it was really cold, and windy, and we had this worry that they'd both be freezing and have a miserable experience. But again, we shrugged it off and went anyway.

And good thing we did. Both of them completed their 3-hour lessons -- with a brief break for hot chocolate and snack -- with flying colors. Jack seemed to fall a ton the first hour, but I didn't see him fall at all in the last hour. Kate, by the end, was doing some slow zombie walking and some flopping, but she kept getting up, kept doing the next run, kept smiling.

It was cold, but it was sunny. They were tired, but they kept doing it. At the end, when I brought Kate back to the lodge to return her rentals, she could barely stand. But she did. And we got her back into her boots, and then Jack showed up, windburned and red-cheeked and exhausted, but fine. (Said he wanted to ski more, in fact.)

I didn't ski a lot as a kid. I remember having lessons a couple of times. I don't know if I didn't like it, didn't want to push myself, didn't want to get pushed, whatever. But I wish, now, I'd skied more, and I'm glad, now, to see Jack and Kate doing it, and enjoying it. In a few days, we're planning to go again.

We went to a diner and ate burgers and fries, cruised home, spent the afternoon relaxing. Kate went to bed singing about having a great time skiing. Jack figures he's knows how to ski now and doesn't need another lesson, which is the way he is; already knows all there is to know, until of course he finds out he doesn't.

Anyway, I was proud of them today. I don't care if they become big skiers. But it's cool to think they might be.

Ice cream

Jack had his winter clinic baseball tonight, so Kate and I dropped him off, and then we headed to Carvel, because there was an event of some sort where you buy lots of ice cream and 25% of the proceeds go to a fundraiser. Plus we got to meet Fudgie the Whale!

Kate had been afraid of Santa, so I couldn't be certain she'd be ok with a ballpark mascot sized Fudgie. But she walked up to him, and we shook hands, and she beamed "Hi, Fudgie!" And then we got ice cream, and she watched Fudgie, and showed me how he did a little dance where he threw his flippers in the air, demonstrating. And then she posed for a picture, and hugged Fudgie goodbye. And she babbled happily all the way home.

That's pretty much it, suffice to say that it was as much fun as you can have getting ice cream in February.

Winter

We didn't have much snow last winter. I think it snowed in late October and then once more after that. So it was pretty cool when it snowed two weeks ago and we made a snowman, and then snowed this morning and is still snowing now, 14 hours later.

We made another snowman, or really I did and convinced Kate to help me with the face and getting the carrot and stuff. Jack went inside, uh, he probably had something else important to do. Kate posed for a picture.

After lunch it was snowing and snowy and beautiful, and the kids needed some exercise, so I talked them into heading down to the little playground. And Jack suggested we bring his sled, which was an awesome idea I would like to take credit for. I did get it out of the shed and blow it up last night!

We traipsed down to the park and Jack, for the first time in two years, zipped down the hill at the edge of the park, a fairly decent incline, laughing all the way. And Kate ran down after him, laughing almost as much. And I kind of thought she might be a little wary of the hill, but in fact, she wasn't. Or rather, she took a turn anyway, and afterward said, "that was so scary!" and "can I go again?"

They went down separately, and together, over and over again. I am pretty sure it was Kate's first time sledding. It was pretty cool.

Baseball

Jack had baseball tryouts Saturday. He will be playing regardless, but this was a chance for him to move up from Rookie, where he played last year, to Minors. So we loaded his gear into the car and off we went. It was kind of cool; he was clearly excited about the whole thing, even though we stressed it didn't matter which level he played at.

We checked in at the gym, threw our jackets on the stands. At first I thought I would be able to watch. Uh, no. Kids were shuttled into a smaller gym, given a number to stick on their shirt (#205 for Jack), and parents were sent into the hall. Then kids were sent into the bigger gym and the heavy doors slammed shut.

We stood in the hall, me and the other Dads. Maybe there was one Mom. At one point we heard a kid wailing, like he had taken a ball in the face. Not Jack! Whew. Maybe 20 minutes later, Jack came out. "I need my bat!" he said. It's in there, I said. He ran back in.

Evidently they all fielded a few popups, a few ground balls, made some throws, ran some bases, hit some pitches. I asked a friend who was helping out later on how Jack did. "jack did good," he said, both encouraging and noncommittal.

We headed out and Jack seemed happy with himself. Said he hit 4 of 5 "in play," which sounded promising. I told him I was proud of him whatever happened, said either level would be great. And meant it.

Quarterback Princess, etc.

Went outside yesterday afternoon to play football with Jack. It was bitterly cold, but it was clear, and it was a football Sunday, so we bundled up and went out. Kate was inside playing, and I didn't think she'd be interested, but within a few minutes of us going out, I heard the door opening.

She was dressed in her winter jacket, comfy zebra hat, pink gloves, leggings, sparkly pink boots, and her pink princess dress. And she wanted to play football.

For 20 minutes or so, we drew up plays that involved one of us snapping the ball, then handing it to another, pitching it to the third, and then throwing it downfield to Jack. That was the usual rule, anyway, since Jack could catch the long passes, and I could throw them, and I was glad to let him do the running.

But Kate, also, ran downfield earnestly for passes, unmindful of the fact that she wore a dress, and perhaps didn't quite look the part. Strangely, she looked completely ready to catch the football and run through a wall.

At one point, of course, I tossed her one, it glanced off her chest and hit her in the mouth. She blinked for a minute, then dissolved into tears. But we talked her down, and then cheered her up by me hitting myself in the face with it, and then we practiced field goals, which is always a crowd pleaser.

Cold and happy and footballed out, we headed inside for dinner.

______________________________________

Emily had the suggestion that it would be funny to do a blog on the random, hilarious things they say each day. I tried, but the truth is that even while trying to do that, I forget stuff, or I don't have a pen or paper handy. But here's what I came up with over a few days last week. In general, these were statements that didn't really follow from anything, they'd just come completely out of the blue.

KATE: "Guess what? For buying lunch at school, there's not a fork or a spoon. There's a SPORK!"

KATE: "We aren't allowed to scribble-scrabble at school." What, I asked, is scribble-scrabble? She said, "It's THIS:" And then she made wild scribbling gestures in the air with her hands.


JACK: (In reference to a picture he'd drawn at school of a tree, with a bird's nest in it, and a guy approaching with an axe) "He's a Nature-Killer." Jack's nature-killer, by the way, was wearing an iPod, I guess because you've got to listen to music while you're cutting down trees with birds in them.

________________________________________

it's been pretty cold lately, and it's weighing on everyone's mind. Putting Kate to bed the other night, she sang me a song.

"I like it better,
when it's warmer.

When we don't....
have to wear.....
 JACK-ETSSSSSSS!"

 ______________________________________________

Jack had a baseball lesson on Saturday. It went pretty well, and afterward he was pretty tired but still chattering away happily.

"I learned a baseball secret that I can't tell you," he said. OK, I said. Pause a beat. "OK, I'll tell you. You know how when you catch the ball sometimes it hurts your hand? Well, I learned that if you put these two fingers into the same pocket in your glove, it doesn't hurt!" Pause. "But you can't tell anyone else that secret. OK, you can tell Mommy and Kate. It's a family baseball secret." OK, Jack. 

Evening with Kate

Jack had baseball practice this evening, and Emily was at work, so I hung out with Kate. I realized that I do t often spend a lot of time alone with Kate, especially evenings. If Jack has an activity, I usually take him, or else they're both here. Something I need to work on, I think, in part because she's a lot of fun.

We had brinner, breakfast for dinner, which generally means Kate eats a lot. So four scrambled eggs, an English muffin, a yogurt, a piece of banana bread, half a red pepper, and various other foods later, she was done eating. As we ate (I had been planning on splitting those eggs with her...nope), we listened to Taylor Swift and occasionally she sang along and talked about her day. "For snack I had my apple, and I think Anna stole my Cheetos. And then I went back and I looked for them and they weren't there. I looked under my bag and Brooke's bag and...." (the upshot was that her Cheetos disappeared at some point, so I told her to make sure she zipped up her lunch box when she ate snack.) anyway, she didn't seem terribly upset about the whole thing.

After dinner I cleaned up while she looked at our photo album from around our wedding, which we dug out recently for some reason. "Daddy, you look nice!....in this picture only you and Lucky are smiling, but in this one you all have nice smiles..... That's great that his name is Lucky, he must be lucky....oh is this your wedding picture? No, you aren't dressed up nice....but you have a shirt with a wedding picture on it...and so does Mommy! ...why do have birds on your floor? What's a patio? Oh, the birds are so cute! Ooh, thats a nice dress Mommy has." (laughter) "DADDY! I see your belly button!" (more laughter) "We didn't see turtles at the beach! You were so lucky!....Ooh, those flowers are so pretty!"

It pretty much went on like this for a while. She flipped through all the pictures, laughing and talking cheerfully. Then we went and watched "Diners, drive-ins, and dives," and I wished i had more food than a piece of reheated pizza for dinner. But the company was great.

Sleepover

For his birthday this year, Jack wanted to have a bunch of his friends over for a sleepover. We ran it by the usual suspects for parents, they all signed off on it, so we said, Ok. Pizza, chips, Fudgie the Football ice cream cake from Carvel, Avengers movie DVD....check, check. Then more trips out for balloons, candles, plates, juice boxes, chocolate chips for cookies, more potato chips to replace the ones I ate....

Jack was beside himself with excitement all day. Counting down the hours. Looking out the window (Jack, it is still two hours before anyone will be here). Random whoops of enthusiasm. Finally, around 5, the first friend showed up. Jack spirited him up to his room while we made smalltalk with his mom. Second kid shows up, Jack comes downstairs long enough to collect him and again disappear. Repeat.

For the first hour or so, they ran around the house. It was like kids getting out of school or prisoners getting out of jail, I guess: they just wanted to run and yell and tell fart jokes. And since Jack had received the Fartmaster 2000 or whatever for Christmas, not my fault!, they had a lot of fun with that last one. Indeed, I was unaware it was possible to have a running conversation about farts for as long as they did. It was really impressive. You know, in a way. They ran, they laughed a lot, they were happy. It was cool.

We ordered pizza. You would think a bunch of boys would polish off a lot of pizza, but it was more like they didn't want to be bothered with stuff like eating. I think they did polish off 2-3 juice boxes each, because all that running around yelling makes you thirsty. Then we brought out Fudgie the Football (Carvel makes a Fudgie the Whale cake, and they make the same cake in football shape, thus Fudgie the Football) sang Happy Birthday, and the kids wolfed it down (along with a whole lot of chocolate chip cookies....hmmm maybe that's why they were all up so late....) and rushed off to watch The Avengers.

I expected them to be riveted, but in fact, a couple wanted to watch, a couple wanted to talk, or ask questions, or have more cookies, or another juice box, or play NintendoDS. There was some random tension over differing motivations, and then the team Assembled and finally we...uh, they...were all focused on the movie. At one point they acted it all out, pretending to be Thor, or Hawkeye, and arguing which hero was coolest. Jumping around in their pajamas (midway through they decided to change) --- you know, just like real superheroes. Pretty cute.

They went up to bed around 930 I guess, and what followed was laughter, yelling, more fart jokes, and of course one boy nervous and wanting to go home. And then stay. And then go home. After an hour or more of that,  I took him home. He came back for breakfast the next morning. Kind of rough, but we also expected it; for most it was their first sleepover.  They were all up past midnight, a milestone they celebrated with raucous cheers, and then slept...until 530 a.m. Ouch. They woke us up, natch.

Coffee, breakfast, happy, tired kids, and then it was time for them all, one by one, to go home. Some, I would later hear, had long naps that day, others (like Jack) were just behind and groggy for the next 2-3 days. But they all had a blast, and we...uh, they....got caught up on sleep eventually.

Maybe a year from now we'll do it again.

January song

Putting Kate to bed tonight, I asked if she wanted a song. She said, "Rudolph." I said, Rudolph? It's January. She said, "Ok. A January song." I said, hmm, I don't  know a January song. She said, "I have one." And she sang.

"January, is time 
For playing with presents
But you can't play
With all your presents.
Because they are so pretty.......

January...is my favorite month.
Because my brother's birthday is in it.
Jack's birthday...
Is 
January .....
SEVEN.
Seven!
Seven!"

Christmas Eve

Seriously, who has the time to write these things on Christmas Eve? Actually, I kind of do, because it's 930 and the kids are in bed and the parents are headed that way, and with any luck an hour from now they'll all actually be asleep! So today....

- jack was wildly excited and bouncy and giddy all day long
- Kate was as healthy as she has been in a week. Naturally, though, she is coughing now.
- we began a tradition of tacos on Christmas Eve. Next year I hope I don't have to run to the grocery store at 4 pm because the meat we bought two days ago looked bad.
- we went to church and the singing was beautiful. It always is. Carol of The Bells and O Holy Night were the highlights. They always are.
- got home and my parents were there. Merry Christmas!
- jack wrote a note to Santa and I helped him put out cookies. Delicious. They looked, that is.
- read the kids The Night before Christmas, as I do every year. Kate was riveted. Jack sang along, not always at the right speed.

Watched some of It's a Wonderful Life, as we also do every year. I think next year we shall watch it the night after Thanksgiving to make sure we get the whole thing in.

Now to check out the NORAD Santa tracker, then bed.

Sunday, Sunday

Couple of good moments today, which included some of the usual pre-Christmas running around by me, Emily, and other assorted family members, plus with Kate still being slightly under the weather, somebody keeping her company here.

- She had an afternoon nap, and afterwards I got her up to sit with me on the couch and watch some football. I told her we were rooting for Ray Rice, and she nodded in assent and obligingly cheered, "Go Ray Rice! Go Ray Rice!" I gave her a cup of water, and told her she could have an orange snack with me, but one on condition: when I gave her an orange section, she had to put the whole thing in her mouth, not take a bite of it or pick strings off it and get juice all over everything. And she agreed, so I'd peel her a section, she'd eat the whole thing, and ask for another. We sat on the couch eating two entire oranges this way, cheering for Ray Rice.

- Jack was sick last Sunday, and I went out to a football gathering, and I feel like the previous Sunday it rained or something. Anyway, we haven't been able to play football the last couple of Sunday afternoons. Then today he was out caroling and at his cousins and so forth. So as I put him to bed tonight, I said, Jack, we HAVE to throw the football around next Sunday. I don't care if it's cold, or rainy, or what, we're throwing the ball around in the back yard, because we've missed the last couple of Sundays. He agreed this was pretty bad. "Deal," he said, and we hugged good night.

Saturday at home

With people trying to get over being sick, and cookies to be baked, we spent much of the day at home. Some of what occurred:

- we watched Year without a Santa Claus, followed by Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Kate was going to be scared of the Heat and Cold Miser, I think, and then I pointed out how goofy they were. Look, he has a little trio of hims as his backup singers! "Yeah, he does!" she laughed.

- we ate pizza, because there wasn't enough room in the kitchen to cook anything or clean up afterwards. Jack settled for that; we would save his first choice, tacos, for the next night. 

- I read stories to Kate, a Biscuit one (she read most of it) and then Christmas in the Manger. Jack and I read Cool Stuff Exploded.

- we made some pictures, and Kate made a birthday card for Uncle Ian. 

Pretty sure we did more, but on this, the 22nd day of Christmas, I am pretty frazzled.

Sick, not sick...bleh

Kate was sick today and stayed home. High fever, she slept a lot. When she's sick, she kind of just crumples up into a little ball, wails when she's awake, whimpers in between. I held her for a while on the couch, though I also felt awful, so she watched Rudolph...and the Grinch...and....   Gave her cereal for dinner and put her to bed. Am hoping she's better tomorrow, because her day wasn't much fun.

Jack feels GREAT, which he reminds us of every 5 minutes by leaping and dancing around. "It's almost Christmas! You don't know what it's LIKE to be a little boy just before Christmas!" Uh, actually, Jack, I do. It's pretty awesome. Anyway, Jack watched the Harry Potter movie, and I watched some with him; not bad really. Holds up well. Love the Wizards Chess scene. We played Parcheesi, I sort of let him win for a change, and put him to bed. Before bed we watched a little of the "Brian 'O' Barley Bowl" or something like that, which is apparently a college bowl game currently sponsored by some chain of burger restaurants. We were watching these commercials for huge burgers and steaks and I felt bad that I'd only had cereal for dinner. Anyway, Jack was in a goofy mood, so when I expressed awe over the size of the burger in the commercial, and elaborated on the elements (burger...bacon...and cheeeeesse) somehow this struck Jack as the absolute funniest thing in the world, and he was totally cracking up. Every time I said cheeeeeesse, peals of laughter would follow. It was pretty funny, and a good note to end the day on.

The Grinch

Way back when, I told Jack's teacher I'd join his class as a chaperone for their field trip to Madison Square Garden to see the musical of The Grinch. That day was today, and although I Wasn't feeling my best, I managed.

At the school I met the two boys who, with Jack, I would be in charge of. One of them said to me, "Do you like your hair that way?" That was pretty awesome.

We got onto the school bus, I sat with another boy's mom, Jack sat between his two.  Friends. They chattered away happily the whole way down. We saw a really big battleship, that was really cool. We saw Times Square, drove by the Empire State Building, sw the restaurant that didn't have room for us this summer.

At the show, one boy had to go the bathroom before, one had to go about 20 minutes from the end, and then Jack had to go about 5 minutes from the end. Guh. Jack, I made wait. He was ok.

Me and a mom took 10 boys to the bathroom after the show. Scariest 10 minutes ever. Bunch of 7-8 year olds running around ("Walk!") as I did head counts over and over again. I went in with the kids, she stood just outside, and I sent 'em out as they finished. Nerve-wracking. None were lost.

Most of it was great, the Grinch especially. Funny. Some of the Who songs, I kind of sympathized with the Grinch. Loud. At parts the kids lost interest.

But the best part was at the end, when the Grinch brought the toys back, and it SNOWED in the theatre. Not real, but it seemed real. All three kids stood up, reaching out, faces aglow. Worth the price of admission right there.

Christmas art

Today when I got the kids home from school, with their gingerbread houses and Christmas trees they'd made in class, we.... Well, actually, first we unwrapped the plastic on both of them, well no, first we tried to untie the ribbon on the top of them, and then I found the scissors and cut through them, and then I ripped the plastic off them, and then we set up in a place of honor on the dining room table, even though Jack's teacher Ms. Bernstein actually made the thing because Jack was out sick.

Anyway! We sat down at the kitchen table with paper, crayons, and scissors and made pictures. I made an old standby, Santa in his sleigh, waving, being pulled by reindeer. Kate also made Santa in his sleigh, and Rudolph, and cut each of them out and we taped them up to the kitchen windows. Jack made a picture of Santa coming down the chimney into the living room, where there were big presents for everyone. He drew a reindeer on the roof, and then drew another picture with more reindeer. Those, too, we put up on the cabinets in the kitchen.

Merry Christmas!

Bleh

Now I'm sick. Brief blog tonight.

Jack stayed home again, but was mostly feeling fine as the antibiotics kicked in. I worked, 'cause I have a deadline, and dragged him to a couple of different doctors -- two, because I got lost going to my appt and had to go to a second one. He agreeably went along with me, reading a book and filling in the doctor on my various medical history, only some of it relevant. "He broke his collarbone three times!"

Yeah, that's it, I'm going to bed.

sick Jack

Jack was home sick today, as the latest illness makes the rounds. (I'm not feeling so hot myself, so this will be a short one.) You really feel it when he's actually sick; he basically just lies on the couch, or sits with his head resting against the cushion. Cheeks flushed, hair matted against his head, eyes glassy. It's terrible but it's also kind of cute; I kind of just want to sit there and hug him. So I did that some today. He'd have momentary flashes of excitement -- something cool in an episode of the Avengers cartoon, or some highlight he saw from a football game -- but then he'll lapse back into silence.

The funny thing is that when Jack is sick, it seems to have the opposite effect on Kate. She was full of energy and joy, perhaps glad he wasn't running around competing for our attention or something. Us not having to entertain him beyond bringing him water every once in a while meant more time to spend entertaining her. Seemed that way, anyway. 

He didn't want to get off the couch at dinner, so I sat next to him and fed him chicken and rice. We watched a little of the pregame, then it was off to bed. And now it's my turn.

Sunday

This morning at church was the Christmas paegant. Jack was a shepherd ("Every Christmas it's the same...I always end up playing a shepherd.") and got a couple of lines and a pretty cool costume with a long robe, a staff, and some sort of wrap on his head. No fake beard though, I was a little disappointed. Maybe next year. Kate was a sheep, and the girl who was one of the stars of the Friday concert clung to the Sunday School teacher for the entire performance.

Afterward Jack had a fever, so he couldn't go to the football party we went to. Emily stayed with him, I went with Kate. Forgot the friends had a dog, which barked at us through the door. Oops. Kate is a little nervous around dogs, especially ones that bark at her. So, she spent the afternoon upstairs in the daughter's room playing with dolls -- in fairness, she would have anyway -- and I watched football. So, not an out of the ordinary Sunday.

Got home to find Jack with a cold, cough, and fever. Put him to bed early. He politely turned away when he had to cough. Sleep tight, Jack.

She loves to dance

It was parents observation week at Kate's dance class, which means we got to sit inside the room (normally parents aren't allowed) and watch Kate dance. It's ballet and jazz dancing, or as much as it can be for 5-6 year old girls, I guess.

And it was pretty cool. They lined up and did their steps and their bends and padded along on their little feet in their ballet slippers, smiling and posing and looking both proud and shy at the same time. Kate is kind of a ham, she clearly loves performing and being on stage...shy in situations where she has to meet people or whatnot, very outgoing in situations where she is on stage. Kind of funny.

Lined up with all the other girls in the same little outfits, she managed to look both very big and very small at the same time.

Today

The morning began with the Christmas concert at the school. We showed up half an hour early to get seats. Kate was in front, in the middle, and she played to the crowd. She sang loudly, she smiled, she waved. Susie Snowflake, Rudolph, etc. She likes to be on stage. Jack was in back, looking a little wooden and sleepy. When it was over, he joked around with his friend Peter ("we walked into a door!" he said later), but during the show he just went through the motions. Kate continued to wave.

After school, they had a gingerbread house class. I helped out, pouring candy into bowls and trimming tips on  icing and such. Working the room, helping kids in need. Often Kate.

We went home, and Jack gave me a tour of his gingerbread house. The trapdoors, the secret passageways, the different attributes. He was pretty pleased with it. Well, he lamented it wasn't as nice as the one in the picture on the box. I said they took a lot more time on those. He admitted his was unique.

We brought Kate to a girl scout meeting. Jack and I stood outside and tried to make up games until Emily showed up. But went inside because it was really, really cold.

At Aunt Cathy's, we ate latkes and lit the menora for their Hannukah celebration. And Jack and his cousins goofily sang 12 days of Christmas. Then we went home.

We hugged and kissed them both goodnight, then sat on the couch and were glad they were sleeping upstairs, safe and sound. Then went up to kiss them goodnight again.

Library

Today we went to the library after school. We go almost every week, it is the only way to keep up with Jack. He is what you call a voracious reader. We park, and we go in...I return books, they run upstairs to the kids area. Jack collects about a dozen books. He is into encyclopedia brown, Beverly clearly, and some other mystery types of books. And Weird at school or whatever.

Kate goes for Biscuit, which is her reading level, and Dr. Seuss, which might be a little beyond me to be honest...that man was nuts. And Olivia, and Pinkalicious. And she likes doing the puzzles there, too.

We head home, and they each want to carry their own books, and read them in the car. It's nice. At home, jack flops over a chair or arm of the couch to read. Kate flips through one, then asks if I want to play a game. She's getting there, though.

12th day of Christmas

Today was going to be a night of leftover spaghetti and meatballs, which would have been fine with the kids I think, but instead I decided to go grocery shopping and get something special -- fish sticks, couscous, and frozen crinkle cut carrots. They love those things, all of them.

We ate in the kitchen, which they also love; not sure why they view it with such reverence, but they do. Next to eating out is Eating in the kitchen.

After dinner we watched Santa Claus is Coming to Town, which I figure I have seen 100 times over the last 30 or so years. I'm not sure how I would rank it, the Grinch, and Charlie Brown... I like them for different reasons. Gotta say, I think the Grinch might just be perfect. But nothing gets me like the end of Charlie Brown, when they are singing and Written by Charles M. Schulz comes up.

Anyway, kate was a little scared of the Winter Warlock, but she liked it eventually. Jack too, but he remembered it more than she did.

Kate's story choice tonight was Goodnight Gorilla. Haven't read that one in a few years.

Brinner

Emily went out for the PTA Holiday Dinner, so I gave the kids dinner -- brinner, we call it, as in breakfast for dinner. Scrambled eggs, bacon, english muffins or corn toasties, grapefruit, orange juice. Basically it's a meal I can make without really taking the time to cook, although you really have to be attentive to get that bacon just right.

They gobbled it all up (Kate: "I love scrambled eggs AND hard boiled eggs!"), we had lemon cookies for dessert, and then watched A Charlie Brown Christmas for about the third time. I sat between them, the tree was lit up and beautiful, the stockings were hung by the chimney with some degree of care (and the Elf on the Shelf peeking out of one of them), and the show was as great as ever. And so were they.

10th day of Christmas

Sick day for Kate, half day for Jack. Work day for Daddy and Mommy, which can be tough. Because the kids crave interaction, and it's tough to do while working. There's a lot that's great about working from home, I know that. What's not so great is that when you're sitting at a computer trying to work and yet you're home, it doesn't seem like you're at work. It seems like, Daddy! Will you play with me?

And the tough part is that I know there will be days when I wish I had said, OK! Let's play the Playground game, or Scrabble, or Monopoly, or Zoominoes. But in the moment, at the time, I'm just thinking, Gah! I have a deadline! I have to work! I can not play with you right now!

I guess some people are in that situation all the time. They can never say, OK! Or they're working in an office, and not there to be asked. I know everyone in an office would probably trade places with the person working from home. So I won't complain too much. Just those some days.

One great thing today: Jack, knowing I had to work, said, he would get Kate lunch. In the morning, he told Emily proudly how he knew how to make cinnamon toast...He knew where the cinnamon was, where the sugar was, and he knew how to use the toaster. Where the butter was. So after I got him at school and we got home, he said, "Daddy, go work! I will get Kate lunch." So I went downstairs, and he made Kate lunch. Once I went upstairs to offer to pour juice for them, and he said, "Daddy, YOU go downstairs. Go work." So I did, and he gave Kate lunch.

And yes, there was a fine coating of cinnamon all over the counter afterward, but I got some work done.

Sick Kate

Kate was sick today...stomach virus starting around 2:30 a.m. Actually. Kind of makes it difficult to focus on other stuff like the holidays. And it rained all day, trapping us inside, which didn't make it any better.

On the bright side, she didn't get sick after being sick three or four times during the night. And we also got to relax a little, at least from the running around stuff. Played some board games, watched some football, jack took funny pictures of them with Emily's camera. Kate felt better late and proudly pointed out how she ate her chicken and green beans..... "I LOVE chicken," she said.

Together we read Rudolph, as we have every bedtime for the last two weeks, and she went to sleep.

Busy day

Today was a full day,mwhich for Emily and Kate culminated in a classmate's birthday party, and for Jack and me ended with a burger at his favorite eating place -- he's positively rhapsodic about it -- Elevation Burger. Seriously, as we approached it in the parking lot, he was like, "smell that? No, really smell the air. It's the French fries."

So as we were eating our burgers, I said, so Jack, what was the favorite part of your day?

And he said, "Definitely decorating the tree. No -- the snowball fight at the breakfast with Santa. (styrofoam snowballs, we don't have snow yet.) no, watching the "Avengers" show. No, this burger. No, playing with beyblades."

He took another bite of his burger. "I think it was the whole day."

I took Kate to ballet today. Parents don't get to watch, they just sit outside talking, or with their faces in a book or phone or whatever. So I was reading a book when Kate bounced giddily out of class with a "Booo!" And chattered away about "we did THIS and THAT and put our hands together to make a flower and we danced to that song you like and it's my favorite...."

All that and I almost forgot to mention that during breakfast Emily played The Nutcracker, which Jack's class had just seen a version of, and he marched around the kitchen and showed how the guy did this with the sword, and then the mouse sowed up, and the soldiers, and there was Kate saying "da da da da da, da da DA! Da da da da da da, da da DA!" over and over again.

7th day of Christmas

Jack said to Emily tonight, "I don't know why at school people think reading is work. Because, when you read a book, it's a whole story, and it's just great. If I'm bored, I can read, and, you know....." Then he kind of trailed off, because he couldn't quite express it.

Recently Jack had found a key ring, and asked me if he could have other ones. I looked at him, confused, and said, no, Jack, because we need them, we have keys on them. And he found one on a key that we weren't using and said, well, can I have this one? And I said, okay, I guess so. And he said, I need one more. And I could see he had them on a piece of paper with holes punched in one end, and I said, no Jack, I think two is enough to hold that up or whatever it is you're going for. And then he found another one, and I said, ok great. And then he disappeared.

A few minutes later he came back to show us what he had done. He had drawn pictures on three pieces of paper, and linked them together with the key rings. One had Santa on his sleigh. One had eight reindeer. And the last one had Rudolph, leading them all. It was this cool mural, connected by key rings.

What could I say? Well, Jack, you were right. I stand corrected. That is a much better use of key rings than hanging on hooks in our kitchen. That is really, really great.

Quick one

Watched The Grinch again with the kids and put them to bed. Read The Happy Lion Roars to Kate, which like most sequels was not as good as the original, The Happy Lion. Jack and I then read an Encyclopedia Brown story. Strange how I remember most of them. That's the stuff my brain hangs on to?

Then I came downstairs and shut off the computer before I had blogged, so I wrote a quick one on my phone and turned that off too

Swimming

The kids have swimming classes back-to-back on Wednesday, Kate at 3:30 and Jack at 4:20. What this means is I'm there for two hours, entertaining Jack for the first hour and Kate for the second hour.

We speed over there after school, and Jack parks himself in the parents waiting area with a book while I get Kate into her bathing suit. She chatters away happily and I'm glad she's not the kid who's crying about something or other, presumably swimming I guess. I tuck her head into her swim cap and she asks for a sort of pony tail, "like you did last time." Basically I bun her hair up and stuff it into the cap without the benefit of an actual pony tail tie. We strap on her goggles -- she needs new ones -- and I send her happily off into her class.

Jack finishes his homework, and we spend some time in the game room. It's about what you might expect from a YMCA game room -- air hockey, foosball, pool table, table tennis, in various conditions. The foosball table is falling apart, but that's what Jack wants to play. So we do. I try not to clobber him, which isn't hard because the thing barely works and it's sitting on a slight angle, so if we miss the ball entirely it eventually rolls into my goal. I also nobly take the side that doesn't have a goalie. He wins 5-4 and is very happy, laughing when yet another rolls into my empty goal due to the rotation of the Earth.

I check in on Kate. Her goggles have broken and she's sad. I go in and take them and promise to get her new ones before next week. "Will they be pink?" she asks sadly. Yes, I say. She cheers up and finishes the class.

While Jack is in his class, I take Kate into the family bathroom, which has a shower. She's too old to bring into the boy's room, I obviously can't go in the girls room. The family room is OK, at least it locks. Kate has her shower and we manage to get her dressed without her clothes getting too wet.

I brought coloring books for Kate, and Highlights magazine. She colors happily and sings a little. For about 10 minutes. Then we look for thing in the magazine puzzles (A rake! A shovel! Daddy's vision at 25!), and she laughs at my jokes (Is that the fish? "NO, Daddy! That's a banana!" That? "NO, Daddy! That's a monkey!"). I get 5 minutes to read the book I brought, and then it's time to get Jack, bundle up to brave the cold, and head home.

Grinch was on tonight. "Then he got an idea.....an awful idea....the Grinch got a wonderful, AWFUL idea...."

I think Kate might be a little scared of the Grinch early on. But she loves his dog Max.

playdates

Kate had a playdate at her friend Brooke's house today, Jack had his friend Dylan over for a couple of hours. Tuesday's a busy work day so I try to avoid the complications, but Kate being out is a plus, and Jack being otherwise occupied when Kate's out is a plus.

Jack and Dylan played with Jack's Nerf bow and arrow; there were gasps of "Wow!" and such from the back yard as they fired nerf darts straight up into the air. They ran around and laughed and I realized as always that playdates are pretty good, because Jack needs to play with kids his age sometimes outside of just school.

Kate returned from her playdate chattering away. "Brook has a MILLION stuffed toys! Really! And I want to have Brooke over for a playdate. And a SLEEPOVER! And I want to go over THERE for a sleepover. Oh, bye, Brooke! Byeeee!!!!!"

3rd day of Christmas

Kids spent some more time playing with the Peppa Pig camping trip toys this afternoon. I realized, listening to them play with it, that Kate was really, really happy that Jack was playing with her, with toys. Because he's a little older, and he likes to read, and play football in the yard, and play computer games. He doesn't always want to sit down with Kate and play make-believe games with toys. And he was doing it, and she was ecstatic. "Here, Kate, let's do this." "OK! And, Peppa will be over here, OK, Jack?" "OK!"

A lot of the games they do play are imagination type things. They play "toy," where one of them acts like a toy and the other the child playing with them. They play some sort of roughhousing game where I'm always scared one of them is going to get hurt; I'm not sure what that one is called. "Nearly hitting head on coffee table," I think.

The games Kate likes best, generally, Jack gets tired of sooner, and he wants to go do something else, usually that Kate has no interest in. And she gets sad, or angry, and I try to either fill in when I can, or cheer her up, not often with success.

So it's nice when they find an activity they can both enjoy, and I don't always realize how much Kate appreciates it. Jack is kind of mild-mannered, I think, so he doesn't seem to make a big deal out of it. But I tell him, Hey Jack, Kate really enjoyed playing that game with you. It was great of you to do that.

I like to think he's happy to know that. 

2nd day of Christmas

Today was mostly a home day, aside from a morning birthday party for Kate and church for Jack. Back at home, I spent a whole lot of time watching football, and Kate and Jack spent a lot of time.... playing. It's a big deal, because they don't always just, you know, play with toys. Together!

Their first big toy activity was, uh, multiple wooden Nativity scenes we've collected over the years. We have them set them up each year, which is fun for them. But today they decided they'd play with all the characters like they were action figures.

Kate: "I'm going to be the baby Jesus!"

Jack (putting one of the wise men's robes on a cow): "It's ....Supercow! Yay, Supercow!....." He held the cow up and had it fly around the room.

Kate proceeded to have other Nativity figures bring presents to the Baby Jesus. Toys, mostly. Because, you know, baby. So the wise men brought Jesus a puppy and a small ball, rather than say myrrh or frankincense.

Jack enjoyed playing with Nativity figures from different sets, and thus of different sizes. "Look, it's a giant version of ME," he had one Joseph saying to another Joseph. "Look, it's a little version of me," said the second one.

Later in the afternoon, they played with the Peppa Pig camping trip set. I think this was prompted by Emily helping Kate clean her room, and they found it. Suddenly it was Kate's favorite toy again, and they had a blast with it. I only caught bits and pieces, because the camping trek went from Kate's room, to the playroom, and back again. Stopovers in the kitchen on the way.

At the end of the day, it was time to put the recycling out, and since we were outside, and it was Sunday, we played some football. It was nearly pitch black, but the football was half orange, so we could half see it. We threw it back and forth, and Jack tried to bring every catch back for a touchdown, for about 20 minutes without anyone getting hit in the eye since they couldn't see anything. And then we went in, ate dinner, watched some football players who weren't nearly as good as we were, and called it a night.

25 Days of Blogging

Been slacking on this lately, so what better than the busiest time of year to write a blog every day for 25 consecutive days? If you don't have a goal, you won't try to achieve it. So here goes.

Today we rose at the ungodly hour of 5:30 so we could be out of the house before 7 to drive into New York City to see the 9 a.m. showing of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. Jack helpfully woke Kate up as soon as he was awake and fairly dragged her out of bed and down the stairs, then encouraged her to eat her breakfast faster. "Kate! C'mon!" Anyway we got out the door and drove into the city.

Made it to Radio City and immediately dropped a small fortune on a couple of Santa Claus stuffed toys and a program. Took some pictures with glowy lights in the background and then of Jack and Kate with a real live Rockette. They did a nice job of smiling. The Rockette, too!

The show was pretty great. There was a lame bit where a mother and daughter played a video game to save Christmas or something, which Jack enjoyed, but everything else was cool. Kate was enthralled, I think, by the dancing. Jack liked some of it, got weary of some of it. Granted, we were all up really early. There were marching soldiers and dancing Nutcracker characters and a whole lot of Santas. And ice skaters. We asked Kate what the best part was, and she said, "Everything!" Jack mentioned the video game and I believe the wooden soldiers, because they were pretty cool.

After the show we went on a quest for coffee/food for the kids. After somehow walking about 4-5 blocks in New York City without encountering a Starbucks (we'd see 3 on the way back to the car later that afternoon), we settled on the Cafe upstairs from the NBC Store. Yes, I suspect we're the only people who have ever gone into the NBC Store for the coffee and the black-and-white cookies, which were fantastic. Kids got hot chocolate, which they enjoyed once it was lukewarm. When do kids start to like hot beverages? 

We then went to the American Girl and Lego stores, with the idea being the kids would think of things they wanted and tell Santa. They could each pick one thing. Kate picked a doll, we made a note of it, and on the way out of the store she came up with a different one. Jack picked some giant Lego truck, then switched to a Harry Potter Diagon Alley set, also halfway out the door. So yeah, they'll get something and may or may remember which one it was that they wanted.

We had lunch at Ellen's Stardust Diner, this 50s diner type place with singing waitstaff. While we were there somebody sang Lady Gaga and this other woman did a pretty fantastic rendition of "Everything's Alright" from Jesus Christ Superstar. Great voice! The kids menu was for under 6-year-olds, so Jack had a big burger from the regular menu, same as me actually. Did a pretty good job eating the thing.

Made it home, watched Charlie Brown Christmas, ordered pizza. Kids were a little on the rambunctious/overtired side, or maybe that was us. Anyway, we trundled them off into bed and weren't far behind. Nice family day in the big city.

Teacher

So at the kids' school they do these occasional after school classes/courses called Creative Knights, where kids get to do, I don't know, projects, science stuff, languages, learning about cars ....whatever volunteers are able to teach. So because last year I had done these Paper plate turkeys with the kids around Thanksgiving, Emily signed me up to lead a Thanksgiving crafts class. And that was today.

The plan was to do two projects, maybe three. We would do the paper plate turkeys, and then we would do these apple, marshmallow and raisin turkeys, and maybe some sort of tepee thing.  I had gone to the store and got the apples and everything, so it was all set. Thing I came to find was that doing projects with a couple of kids takes much less time than doing them with 23. We had all the stuff, and I had a couple of parents and nieces helping, but I was still running around stapling and folding and cutting and gluing googly eyes, because you have to have googly eyes, for all 23 kids.

I pretty much didn't stop to catch my breath for an hour and 20 minutes. There would be Kate saying "daddy! Daddy?" then an aside to her friend Brooke, "that's my daddy" before calling me again to help her out. There would be Jack asking for help before sharing a joke with one of his friends. Then another child needed a beak cut, and another a waddle. Or carbuncle? I have no idea. Whatever that red thing on a turkey's face is. And the glue sticks. Ah, the glue sticks. There were many. And lots of staples were used. I hope there are no barefoot kids there on Monday.

As I finished each turkey, all 23 a little different, I said, Hey, nice one! And it wasn't difficult to do, because they were all unique and all awesome. And then it was time to go and everyone said goodbye and a lot said Thank you and Kate named her turkey Siena or something and it was beautiful and they were happy.

In college or maybe after people sometimes said I should be a teacher. It was one of those things I briefly thought about but always figured I would do journalism and publishing of some sort, before one day drifting into a career that didn't even exist at the time and sounds fake even now. I don't know. I have a ton of respect for teachers anyway and probably even more after spending an hour in a room with 20 some odd kids. Because doing it every day, it would be pretty challenging. But doing it a little bit, here and there, every so often. That I could do.

And oh yeah we ran out of time for the apple turkeys. So when we got home, I got out all the stuff and Kate and Jack made them anyway.

Blackout!

Day 1

We lost power Monday evening. It was expected, and we had the flashlights and lanterns ready. We ate dinner by candlelight - leftover lasagna for us, yogurt and bread and peapods for Jack and Kate.

In the living room, unable to find the book I wanted to read to the kids by candlelight/lantern, I settled on Grimm's Fairy Tales. Kind of dark stuff, and might I note that the authors of these things must not have liked their wives very much. Most of the stories involved wives making their husbands do things they didn't want to do. ("Grimm! When you are going to finish those stories you keep promising to write? Grimm!")

After that, we made hand shadows on the wall. Somewhere along the line I must have inadvertently said "hand puppets," because that was what Jack went on to call them for the next day. So the next morning when he said, "Kate and I made some great hand puppets!" I went into his room looking for them, and there was nothing there. I made a dog, a moose, a bird, a snake, the old standards. Jack seemed ambitious, contorting his hands into wild shapes, looking at what was produced, then trying again. Kate made a bunny, remembering how she'd seen me make it. One of us guessed it, and she pointed happily and yelled "YES!" Then she made another one. Which was also a bunny. One of us guessed it. "YES!"

Jack made a dog, then when we guessed that he did one more. He rolled his arms really fast. Uh, a cotton gin? A lottery wheel? We couldn't guess it. "HURRICANE SANDY!" he yelled.

We laughed for a while, then went to bed. We'd moved Kate's bed into Jack's room (high winds, and there were more trees near her windows), so she slept in there. They slept quickly.

Day 2

We used the camping coffee pot to make bad coffee in our powerless home. (The gas burners on top of the stove worked.) We walked to Cathy's and spent some time over there (they still had power). Surveyed the damage from overnight, which included a pretty tree in our backyard having been snapped off; it rested against our fence and the neighbor's deck. Had to have it removed, which was kind of sad.

Played some games, left the kids there, went home to get some stuff done around the house while it was still light, and hoped power would come back on. It didn't. Had dinner over at Cathy's, and when the kids asked if they could sleep over -- their first ever -- we said sure. So they did. We went home, sat in the dark for a bit, went to bed early. Uh, it was kind of cold.

Day 3

Still no power. It was Halloween. Emily went back to work, and the kids and I walked up and down the street, taking a few pictures of trees and lines down. For Jack and Kate it was all a big adventure, really; there was no school, they could play all day with their cousins, we went to McDonald's for lunch...not so bad.

After lunch we went home, I got them dressed up in their costumes, and we went trick or treating around the neighborhood. Regular nighttime trick or treating was essentially cancelled on our street -- nobody had any power, there were no street lights, it would be really dark. So we went during the day. They happily ran to the houses next door, across the street, got their candy, and plenty of it (because the people handing it out knew there wouldn't be many other visitors). A friend who had power hosted an indoor trick or treating event, with adults standing in rooms handing out candy at doors. Kids got more candy, showed off their awesome costumes, were happy. They're probably both young enough -- especially Kate -- that they didn't remember how much more extravagant Halloween was a year ago. They left with people having enjoyed seeing them in their costumes and with them having got big buckets of candy. That's Halloween.

Day 4

We got power back. It was a huge relief. Told the kids they had to come home from Aunt Cathy's now. They did a nice job of not seeming overly disappointed.

It was sunny and warm, so we went biking. We brought their bikes down to Recreation Park. (Lyon's Park, the bigger one nearest us, was closed because of all the trees and wires down....too dangerous.) Rec Park also had trees down, several huge ones. It was crazy; like an angry giant had walked around the neighborhood pushing down everything in his way.

What was funny was that to Jack and Kate, the mammoth fallen trees were just another part of the park scenery. This huge tree had crushed the fence around the tennis courts and now lay across the courts themselves, and they just happily rode their bikes in circles, playing games, pretending to see monsters, pretending to go home. I sat on a bench a little way away, snapped pictures with my phone, and they went around and around and around.

Pumpkin Patch

So we needed to get one more pumpkin to carve, and my first thought was to go to Stop and Shop. And then I thought, NO! We're going to Sam Bridge Nursery, which has an actual pumpkin patch and stuff the kids can do. So I picked them up after school and we went right there.

It was awesome. We parked, grabbed a wagon, and I pulled them down to the patch. They jumped out to say hi to the big inflatable Frankenstein monster, and the three little pigs and big bad wolf, and the ghosts, and the scarecrows. And then they ran around in the middle of the pumpkins, and in the hay maze. They jumped from bale to bale and frankly I was a little nervous but Kate can jump further than you would think. Or than I thought. They did this for about half an hour, while I carefully and meticulously selected a couple of pumpkins. There was a tractor, which they climbed on, and off, and on, over and over again. I'm not sure they'd have left if I hadn't finally said it was time to go.

In the car on the way home, they happily sang pumpkin songs.

Kate:

"Mr. Pumpkin
Mr. Pumpkin
he's so orange
he's so orange"


Jack:

"When the ghost went out,
on Halloween night,
he screamed.......!
and he dropped his head right onto his toe!"

There were others, but those are the only words I can remember.

At home, they had a Halloween party. Kate wore a pumpkin cat mask she'd made at school. Jack quickly made a colorful skeleton mask. They made a sign; Jack wrote the words, Kate drew pictures of the pumpkins, hay bales, and tractor. It was pretty great. Then Kate came to me and asked me how to spell "pumpkin patch" so she could finish the writing. She did.

At the party, Jack read Halloween stories, and also Lost and Found, aloud, while Kate listened in rapt attention.

During the time they were running wildly around the pumpkin patch, Jack paused for a moment and said to me, "I feel bad for the kids who have to go to after school program!" Then he ran off.

I can't tell many people that, but it was pretty cool.

school trouble

It was a rough week for Jack, and us, hearing that he supposedly called another boy a name (he says he didn't, and we pretty much believe him), then getting in trouble for, I guess, telling knock knock jokes while lining up for recess with a friend and using a word he shouldn't have. That incident got him a "warning" because apparently there was another occurrence, totally accidental, where he brought a dot to dot book to school, and a pencil, and accidentally poked a friend with the pencil. He told me about that one and was kind of confused it was an issue. "I turned to talk to Peter and was holding the pencil and Jenna got poked."

He's a 7-year-old boy; I kind of figured I had a few years before I'd need to be worried about him getting in trouble in school. So we gave him the lecture about not wanting to hear any more of this kind of thing, and punished him, and said, you know, you could get suspended. And he was in tears, lamenting he was going to have to get through the whole year without doing anything wrong. And it's sort of like, well, yeah, I guess that's true. So I guess I won't be letting him bring a dot to dot book to school, and he'd better not be laughing at or repeating jokes that are pretty much created with 7-year-old boys in mind.

The funny thing is that -- while conceding I have a bias here -- I don't know any better kids than him. Happy, funny, likes everyone, gets along with everyone. (Near as I can tell, I'm not actually there at recess.) Every day do I need to worry about him getting in trouble for something or other? Again, I just figured it was a ways in the future, if ever.

He was in tears at the idea that somebody thought he'd called them a name ("If people think I said that they won't want to be friends with me!") and at the thought he might get suspended. Scared. Which makes sense; he likes school, likes reading, likes the work, likes his friends and teachers.

I feel bad for Jack, and I wonder what's true and what isn't, and what needs to change. I wonder what the next thing I'm going to hear is. And I hope -- that it will stop, that it's nothing, that he'll feel better in the morning. And when I can relax and not worry about stuff like this, and realize as I write this that the answer is probably, uh, never, or at least not for very long.

Bedtime songs

I put Kate to bed tonight and offered her a song. She chose Edelweiss, then said, "No -- ballgame." So I sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Then she said, my turn. This was her song, as best I can remember it.

"Bears like to sleep,
they sleep in the night.
They wake in the day,
and they like to eat salmon.

Cats sleep too,
and cats eat fish.
Dogs sleep in the night,
and they eat dog food.

People eat everything,
except food for animals.

People
like
to
sleeeeep."

Mommy away

Emily had to go to Chicago, so I handled the kids solo tonight. Here was how it went.

Picked them up at school. Kate ran around with some boys her age. Only took two weeks for her not to be running around with jack and his friends. Jack ran around with Nick, as always.

Went to grocery store to smash bottles and buy hotdogs. Fun was had by all.

Watched an Avengers with Jack. He picks up on subtle things. "Look how now Stark tower is in the sun," he said. "So everything is Ok." That's right, Jack.

They helped make their beds. Well, they put on pillowcases. Kate cleaned Jack's room. Did a good job, too.

FaceTime with Mommy. They had fun making faces. Uh, just like me when I FaceTime with Robin. Hmmm.

Ate hotdogs, chips, corn. Eating in the kitchen, which we tend to do with three of us, is a big treat. I don't really know why.

While I cleaned up, we played music. Titanium a favorite these days, so I found it on YouTube and we listened. They danced.

Bath and shower. Jack helped Kate brush her teeth and comb her hair. Thanking her for cleaning his room. I don't have words for that.

Read Room on the Broom. At the end, Kate likes pointing out all the different features on the new broom. "He has a pool, and he has a book, and he has...."

Gotta go make my own bed, now....