get ready for the plunge

We get this teaser -- a day, two days actually, when for the first time in many weeks the temps will creep up to just above freezing. It's as if we're reminded what pre-spring will feel like (great!), only to get slapped down immediately after, with the biggest Arctic blast yet. (Monday will give us a high of.. 0F, or -18C. And we'll be starting that day at -11F, or -24C. Still wonder why I spend so much time thinking about, talking about, writing about the weather? It's never just boringly mild!)

 

 

 

The sun's out -- another benefit to the morning (it will cloud over by noon). But, but... are we back to normal yet?? Yes we are. Ed finally tested negative. True, he doesn't sound normal, but then, even simple colds have a way of lingering if you're, well, our age. Covid really knocked him down and he has taken his time to return to his normal only-two-naps-per-day schedule.

I have a morning appointment and some small errands to run, and I again make the mistake of doing this before eating breakfast. It all takes longer than I could possibly have imagined and so I sit down to my "morning meal" at noon. But here's the glorious upside -- Ed is now up and hungry for lunch and he comes over to the farmhouse freely, maskless, and whips up some eggs for himself while I churn out my oatmeal. Together at last!

He wants to go for a walk, but honestly - I'm out of time. If there is one thing I've learned, it's that I need to manage my days with greater care. I understood that fully this morning as I paced the very tiny clinic room because my doc was 30 minutes late. I could not sit still. What is wrong with me?! Since when do 30 minutes matter this much? That, capped with a "scold" from my doc ("no judgment here, but might you be overdoing it a little?"), gave me the strength to say no to packing in a walk, in between straightening the farmhouse and picking up the kids. I am reminded a little of the New Yorker cartoon, where the woman says -- "my calendar's pretty full, but I can squeeze you in between my post-holiday burnout and my midwinter blues." No, I do not have midwinter blues and by American-employed-young-mother standards, I live a life of leisure and decrepitude, but honestly, the day can get pretty full around here very quickly. One appointment and a few errands can kill a morning for me and, well, there is no afternoon downtime to recover the lost hours.

A quick read, a bit of writing and I'm off to get the kids.

In the car, I ask about their day. Sparrow's is a happy one: first tooth fell out, he wrote a letter to the tooth fairy. Snowdrop is less tickled with the events of her day. She tells me emphatically - I wish there was a girls' school, without boys. With the exception of you, Sparrow! You could go. Maybe one or two other boys. But not the others! 

I hate to ask, because I can guess, but I give her a chance to list her grievances: why? 

They ruin everything! In music class, the song sounded so pretty and then all the boys start making noises and singing badly on purpose, on purpose!! And it sounds awful. It's so frustrating! 

All the boys do that that? 

All! And in PE, we are on the volley ball unit. The girls just stand there because the boys just steal all the balls. Grab them before a girl can get to it.

What does the teacher do?

He tells them to stay in place, but they don't.

Well, you can feel sorry for the teacher then! You know, they just want to teach their subject, and bad behavior messes with that. Anyway, one lesson of school for you is how to get on with life despite difficult people, because, you know, difficult people are always in the mix. Ask your parents!

At least they dont push each other and beat each other up and make weird noises! (I'm thinking maybe they do, metaphorically speaking... )

To tone down her fury at all fourth grade males, I do remind her that of the two kids who cause most trouble, one happens to be a girl. 

Yes, but she is so much trouble that she requires a special assistant! The boys in music class -- they just do this stuff on purpose.

Listening to this discussion, Sparrow pipes up from the back seat -- in your all girls and all boys schools, what would you do with non-binary kids? The boy is raised in the 21st century alright.

At the farmhouse, we finish reading the book, they play. Sort of together. She's drawn to classic legos because he's shown such an interest in them and he's drawn into story telling because she always spins something that just pulls him in.

 

Their playtime is my catch up time. I make inroads on the veggies for a soup tonight.

And now it's the evening and Ed is back in the farmhouse. I cook our favorite soup, we turn on a movie. A mushy one. His choice. And he stays awake for it. Just barely, but who's counting!

with love...