making plans

Babs loves a good plan. She especially likes to make a diagram so we can see just how the plan will work out. (I love this.)

Two Sundays ago, she had the markers and paper out on her bed, making a plan. She ran to the living room where the boy was, then shouted at him. He looked at her for a moment, then went back to his toys. "Hmm," she muttered, then ran back to her room.

She drew another plan, chortled, then, paper in hand (so she could refer to the plan) she came back to the boy, and did something else. Poked him maybe? Same bemused, quiet, reaction from the boy.

This process went through at least 5 iterations, possibly more. Finally, he could take no more, and when she bugged him again, the boy let out a yell of frustration.

"YES! My plan worked!" she triumphantly cried.

growing up

Babs stood on her tiptoes and hung a hanger in her closet.

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "I didn't know you could do that. You're getting so tall!"

The boy, who was in the room at the time, drooped his little shoulders and sighed, "I not."


He is in that awkward middle phase. Too small to do the things he wants to (go to school with the girls!), yet being told daily that he is a "big boy" because he uses underwear (mostly successfully). We don't know what size you are either, little guy.

angles and geometry

Kiddo was starting her homework last night, and asked me what an angle was. I answered the question without much thought, helped her distinguish it from a vertex, and went on making dinner.

She wrote a song about angles and vertices (using both the singular and plural version correctly!), instead of doing her spelling. But it's a great song.

Then later I felt guilty. If Kiddo doesn't know something about the homework, then it wasn't explained well, or at all. And not every kid has parents who can answer any question about the homework. So I really should let the teacher know. Or in other words, I shouldn't feel the need to help her with her homework every again. Wa-hoo!

(It turns out I don't know how to type any longer without emoticons. I'm not sure how I feel about that.)

Easter cantata

I am singing in the choir for an Easter Cantata in a few weeks. I signed Kiddo up to sing in the girls' choir portion. Given her size compared to other girls, I'm pretty sure she's one of the youngest. But today at the dress rehearsal I heard her sing out loud and clear.

And before the rehearsal started, I saw her share her jokes with the girls, and befriend them in that easy way that 8 year old girls have (especially my girl).

I was so proud to be her mom today. She's really growing to be a beautiful person.

we got ourselves a runner!

I've taken up sprinting in the last few weeks. I would probably enjoy it more if it wasn't always accompanied by the heart pounding fear of whether I would catch up with the Boy in time to stop him from running into the road (a super calm parking lot at the elementary school, not a highway).

I guess I could start running sooner, but then how would he have the thrill of the chase? And the opportunity to practice a little independence?

On the other hand, he almost ran into a moving car (which was going approximately one mile an hour) today, so whatever slight free range opportunities he had in a parking lot are gone, gone, gone.