The Amazing Race

A family television event. This season of TAR we decided to watch with the kids, our first official family TV extravaganza.

Now, Lou and I always choose our pick for eventual winner at the starting gate, so we decided to allow the kids the same choice. Whose pick went out in the first episode? Mine. Oh, yeah. I got to set an example of a serene loser, not that it helped. When Greyson's team was eliminated, he wept. (As if they were being put in jail or something, not sent off to someplace sunny and warm in Sequesterville.) Charles's team is miraculously still in the Race, despite an atrocious attitude on the part of the guy and a lot of bad decisions on both sides. So every episode he bites his fingernails and jumps up and down a lot and whines a lot about how inevitable it is that they're going to be eliminated. (Veronica, on the other hand, managed just fine when her team was eliminated.)

But they've really gotten into it. They're not as into the challenges as they are the end of each episode, but they're probably not alone in that. Next season is "All-Star" (which appears, based on the cast list, to translate to 'random people from the previous few seasons'), which should be very interesting.

Christmas cards

First Christmas card of the season, as usual, came from my Aunt Agnes. She's getting up there in years - probably it won't be too many more years before there aren't any more, and then someone else will have to be the early bird of the season. Or will they? More and more people seem conflicted about Christmas cards - either they send them electronically, feel guilty about sending them, don't get around to them, or for some other reason don't send them. Personally, I love them. It's the only time of the year that going to the mailbox is really something joyous - you get to see pictures and read updates and generally hear from people you don't at any other time of the year. People can (and do) argue that maybe that means you don't need to hear from them at all ... but I disagree. A Christmas card relationship can help you feel connected to family and friends and other generations in a way that no other type of regular communication seems to be able to. Long live the Christmas card, I say! (Yes, holiday card is probably more PC. But it doesn't flow the same. Not at all.)

thankful

I know, everyone's doing it. So I might as well.

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for a happy, healthy, intelligent family. A gainfully employed and well-paid spouse and another year of being married to my best friend. The Internet and all the wonderful additions my life has gained because of it. The good folks at BioWare and Steve Valentine and Fanfiction.net and my husband for inspiring and encouraging my writing. The great joy of being in my 30s and the increased objectivity toward others and comfort with myself that has brought. Facebook and how it has brought me both closure and closer to every part of my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

affirmation

The rampant paranioa amongst my fellow parents disturbs me. Since I can't argue with all of those who buy into the "predator around every corner" mindset, this is my affirmation of all the things I don't worry about.

I don't worry about: predators, chemicals in the food, screen time, the Internet, dangers posed by vaccines, information privacy, germs, or kidnapping.

What do I worry about? It's a very different list.

I worry that my kids will be bored and/or socially unhappy in school. I worry about car accidents, influenza pandemics, the likelihood that someone who disagrees with my parenting practices will cause trouble for me that can't be undone, long-term illness or permanent disability, and losing the respect and friendship of my children (other than during the pre-teen and teen years, during which the last one is pretty much inevitable).

Mini-rant over for the day.

teacher conferences

I had my last teacher conference of the year this morning. All three kids' teachers gave them glowing reviews, which were lovely to hear.

The oldest is a big reader, sometimes rushing through his work to get to his book. But then again, his father and I used to do that, and so did his teacher, so he's in good company there! He's polite and interesting and funny and having a great year.

The middle child has achieved leaps and bounds forward in reading. He's an engaged and engaging part of the classroom and has actually been a stabilizing presence, according to his teacher. He enjoys school, doesn't take it too seriously, and is generally pretty cheerful about his life.

The youngest child is described as "very independent" by her teacher, but the teacher assures me that incidences of refusal to cooperate are fairly minimal, and getting better all the time. She applies herself well, finishes her tasks in a timely fashion, and is learning to use her words with her peers. Happy to get to school in the morning, happy to come home at the end of the day.

In sum, no problems. Three pleased teachers, three happy kids enjoying their school year. What more can you ask for?

who are you convincing?

I have this Facebook friend who is constantly posting links and articles about the evils of vaccines. And by constantly, I mean two or three a day. (It's not just vaccines, either - it's general chemicals in the food and in the water and in the paper receipts are printed on reactionaryism as well.) Now, I would hide her, but she also tends to post pictures and things that I don't want to miss. So I grit my teeth at the endless stream of propaganda she puts up. But I have to wonder - what does she think she's accomplishing? Either the people reading these articles already agree with her, or they're never going to. So the propaganda is worse than useless, because it annoys the people she wants to convince.

Of course, she did the same thing well before Facebook, so pointing this out to her isn't going to get me anywhere. I mostly ignore the inundation, but every once in a while when the news feed fills up with it, I have to shake my head and ask myself who she thinks she's convincing.

not happening

So I had an interesting blog post in mind about yesterday's marathon shopping expedition, but frankly, with the constant interruptions of my three children and my general level of already-behind-on-my-list stress, it's just not happening. I will merely note for today that it is cold and dark and something smells funny and the week ahead of me has way too much in it for my sense of well-being. I need a nap.

a rant about paranoia

The other day I clicked on a link to a popular "Mommy blog", in which the mom was detailing the horrors of having to attend a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party. Now, I'm not a huge fan of Chuck E. myself, and am pretty happy that my kids are mostly out of that phase. However, what disturbed me about this was the following anecdote:

Following a number of comments about Chuck E. as "pedophile heaven," which I find a flawed and paranoid hypothesis from the get-go, the mom proceeded to tell a story about not being able to find her son, chasing after him, and see him [GASP!] having. his. shoe. tied. by another parent. A FATHER, no less. The mother was panicked and displeased that a male adult would come near her child (no matter that another woman clearly found him trustworthy enough not only to have children with him, but to send those children to Chuck E. Cheese with him), and the man even made the comment that he had been afraid to tie the child's shoe, for fear someone might think him a predator.

Worse yet, a number of moms in the comments section VALIDATED this insanity. What the hell have we come to, that we can't trust other parents in what's got to be one of the least pedophile-friendly places you can go? (Come on, where are they gonna go? They can't get out the front door, and the bathrooms are full of little kids and their moms in various stages of Chuck E. Stress.)

Knee-jerk thoughtless paranoia has become the go-to reaction for our society, and we're already seeing the costs. Sex offender registries out of control because everyone qualifies as one, the TSA (need I say more?), parents afraid to let their children out of the house because God forbid they might have a life experience. Where does it stop?

5 things that make me happy today

It's a lovely beautiful sunny day, and what makes me happy?

1. Not having to go anywhere. Lovely, lovely day with nothing on the schedule. Three quiet children enjoying themselves with technology.

2. Coffee. Right now, General Foods Cinnamon Dolce Latte. Yum.

(For the record, one thing that does not make me happy is Quaker messing with their oatmeal. High fiber, low sodium, 'women's health', it all just tastes like watery cardboard. Stick with what works, folks.)

3. Phineas & Ferb (and their like). I enjoy that my kids' favorite shows are amusing for me as well. I don't know if that says more about the shows or about me being easily amused, but either way, it works out.

4. My tall, interesting, increasingly self-sufficient children.

5. The holidays! I love Christmas shopping, Christmas decorating, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas music ... the whole nine yards.

book reviews

Oh, my poor little blog, how I neglect you! I've had these books waiting to be reviewed for almost a month now, too. Without further ado:

John Reader, Cities. Reader took on the dauntingly large task of studying the history of cities in a readable-sized book. In places, he did well - many of his chapters, especially the earlier ones, were very interesting. His discussions of the amount of land needed to support a growing city and the issues of water and sewerage were fascinating. But about halfway through the book switched and became less about history and more about pushing the green agenda. I wouldn't have minded cogently argued (and proven) points, but this was more preaching to the converted, of which I am not one, so he lost me.

Laura Ingalls Wilder, These Happy Golden Years. Have I waxed sufficiently rhapsodic about how well these books stand up? There is depth and subtlety far beyond the ken of the tween (or younger) girls to whom this series is marketed. Laura, so bold and confident in who she is, becomes remarkably reticent where her courtship and marriage are concerned. Too shy to declare her love for Almanzo even to her parents, over half a century later she is too shy to trumpet it to her readers, either, and thus leaves a sweet prairie love story to be imagined more than read.

Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach. I'm not obsessive about Dahl - as a matter of fact, I think James is the only Dahl book I really love - but I do enjoy this one. Poor James gets to escape his sad little life in the kind of fantastic and unbelievable manner small children everywhere dream of. The other characters are interesting and lovable. The Centipede's songs get old after a while, but in general it's a fun and lovely little story.

Jane Finnis, Buried Too Deep. A lively and fast-paced story. The continuing adventures of Aurelia Marcella are still interesting, well-researched, and bring the world of Roman Britain vividly to life. The time jump between this story and the one preceding it was a bit too far - I had to go back and double-check that I hadn't missed a book in between. And the romance is a bit understated for me ... but that's personal opinion, and the way it's done suits the style of the book. Altogether, I really enjoyed this one, and am looking forward to the next.

Halloween has happened

I was low-energy for Halloween this year. Unlike most years, we didn't have costumes decided on by the end of August, cobbled them together pretty late in October, as a matter of fact. The Friday before Halloween, not only didn't I have the get-up-and-go to take the kids to the school's big Halloween extravaganza, I didn't manage to take them to the play I'd planned on attending instead. (I wound up at home with the littlest one, in my pajamas, while Daddy took the hit for the team and took the boys to the shindig thrown by Greyson's ATA.) Even on Halloween itself, I didn't feel particularly energetic. We got through trick-or-treating and the candy draft, but no effort was made to attempt anything further.

Ah, well. Hopefully all that unused energy will help me get a jump-start on the holidays!