squirrel. kids

I haven’t written much about the homestead because it would approach book length and I wouldn’t necessarily come out of it looking very good.

Jane’s English assignments look quite a bit like Chinese to me, there are prepositional phrases that behave as bodyguards so that we can’t find the predicate. I’m pretty sure there’s a subject but then there’s some wacky article that’s clearly only there to confuse everyone so we have no way of knowing if it’s singular or plural because the article isn’t exactly next to the subject.

I have degrees in the sciences. I didn’t want to write words. I can’t help Jane, but I can read Cradle to Crade with her and help her understand what William A. McDonough is saying when he tells her about the irrigation system that the Egyptians built to accommodate the annual flooding of silt and soil from the Nile. We talk about our waste and where it goes, we discuss composting toilets and decide that we are, in fact, not that green.

I check her math, it’s good. It’s always good. She’s my daughter, math makes sense.

Alexander sails through school and we’re teaching him to not interrupt. Perhaps he needs a more challenging setting, perhaps he’s just confident and confident is good.

This morning I returned to ladies doubles. I didn’t play very well, but when everyone wanted to shake hands afterwards I said I’m not shaking hands.

I realized I’d said it much in the manner of a Chasid woman who was menstruating. The phrase I’d heard so often in my youth is, “I’m not touching anyone right now.” And we all sort of understood that she hadn’t been to Mikvah. I guess I was waiting for the group of women to understand that medically something was going on and I wouldn’t be touching, but I speak American Jew and they speak Goyisha, so I had to explain that I wouldn’t be shaking hands because I’m on five drugs that inhibit and then kick the crap out of my immune system. I don’t want to catch a cold.

After school both kids had Orthodontist appointments. Alexander may be out of braces soon, Jane has just barely begun, new hardware will hit her lower teeth in about 8 weeks.

Alexander had batting lessons today. He’s a right handed batter who swings lefty so he’s got to learn to pull the bat out in front of him. Alexander is really happy because he’s figured out the grip. He thinks he knows when he goes from loose hands to tight grip.

Mr. G is coming home from work on time, which is all I can really ask for. He played a little lunchtime tennis and got a bloodblister on his big toe. I was happy that I got to sterilize the needle and pop the blister. He wasn’t nearly as happy as I.

We’re back to boring here. We like it this way. After dinner I showed the kids and Mr G the best mommy video to ever hit YouTube.

If you’re eating, stop, and if you’re feeling judgy you can stop that too. Because this is wonderful.