Anyone Out There?

Hi all!

Wondering if anyone is still reading this regularly, or if it's time to let you just enjoy the archives.

If you're still actively following, leave a message in the comments!

Can't Everybody Just?

MADELEINE: Mommy!  I came up with a musical EXPERIMENT.
ME: Okay.
MADELEINE: So.  Wanna try it with me?
ME: Okay.
MADELEINE: So, try and see if you can say this exactly the same way I do: "Can't. Everybody. Just."
ME: "Can't. Everybody. Just."
MADELEINE: Okay! So, now, we're gonna do it in, kind of like, a round.  So I say "can't" and then when I go to "everybody," you start with "can't."
ME: All right.
MADELEINE: I'll say it one time through first, so wait until the SECOND time I say "can't."
ME: Got it.
MADELEINE: "Can't.  Everybody.  Just.  Can't"...etc
ME: (coming in) Can't...etc

We cycled through several times in spoken form, and I told Madeleine it was very cool.

MADELEINE: Yeah. I was trying to compose something that sounds, like, CLASSICAL.
ME: Is it gonna have notes too, or is it just spoken?
MADELEINE: Uh, yeah, it has notes.  I came up with: (singing a melody along with the text.)
ME: Oh, that sounds cool.
MADELEINE: Yeah, but I'm not sure yet how it's gonna sound together...
ME: Let's try it!

So we tried it in sung form.  It turned out to be pretty cool:






I think this kid might have inherited some composer genes!

Madeleine Busts More Moves

Madeleine made up some smooooth dance moves to V.V. Brown's "Shark in the Water."  She even wrote them down in case she forgot what step came next, so you may see her from time to time checking her reference paper. 

Some of her instructions for herself include:

"Milkshake"

"Jump shake"

"Give, give"

"Take, take"

"Waves"


I'm sure you'll know exactly which move is which when you watch the video below:




WORK it, girl!

Arts-Filled Weekend

The Rowes have embraced the arts this weekend! 

From creating chalk art all over our driveway:

to Madeleine's latest drawings of characters:

to musicking, we have been busy creating. 

Here is our end of weekend musical offering, featuring Julia, Ethan and I playing Handel:




Boy, you readers are getting more than you bargained for in today's post!  From our Metropolitan Museum-worthy art to our Metropolitan Opera House-worthy musicianship, it's like a virtual tour of the fine arts for you lucky followers to enjoy!

There Are Two Parents Here

The kids seem to have forgotten that they have not just one, but TWO parents at home every day.

Thursday, I was heading out for a run and told both kids.  I was especially insistent on making sure Madeleine knew where I was going.

ME: (making eye contact) Okay, Madeleine.  I'm going for a run.
MADELEINE: Okay.
ME: (kissing her on the cheek) I love you.  I'll see you in a little while.
MADELEINE: Okay.
ME: I'm going running, okay, got it?
MADELEINE: Yup.

I returned home from my run to find the following page+ of messages from Madeleine:

ME: Madeleine, remember I told you I was going for a run?
MADELEINE: I forgot.
ME: And, you know, if I'm not here, you can always ask Daddy.
MADELEINE: Yeah. I know. But I just really felt like asking MOMMY.

I can see why.  It worked out so well for her.

Today, when I went out for a run, I not only told both kids, but I actually happened to cross paths with Julia TWICE.

Nevertheless, when I returned home from my run, my phone had these messages:

Again, she could have texted the parent who was at home and could have gone to pick her up if need be.  The girls both know I don't usually have my phone on runs, and if I do, I am not going to stop a thousand times to check texts.

But, who knows.  Maybe Julia *knew* she could text Daddy, but she just REALLY felt like texting Mommy.

Remote PE Class

The difficulties of remote learning:

MADELEINE: I have to go outside and do a disc ball course for PE.
ME: Okay.

(Several minutes later)

MADELEINE: (returning inside) So, Mommy?  I was using the BLACK frisbee, since that one's OLDER, and it's, like, dirtier, and I threw it, but I threw it into the woods.
ME: Oh, okay.
MADELEINE: And then I chickened OUT of getting it, because of PLANTS.
ME: Well, you know there's no poison ivy in our woods, right?
MADELEINE: Well, THEN I went and got the NEWER frisbee, which is PINK, but I picked i up and there was a Daddy Long-Legs on it, so Mommy?  I decided that I think that's good enough, because I got it in three holes.
ME: Okay.
MADELEINE: It's kinda good that I got it into the WOODS, because...at first I was aiming for the COMPOST BINS, but...there were a lotta bugs, and they'd probably BREAK if I threw a frisbee at them, so...the woods is BETTER than the compost bins!


I'm gonna take her word on it and assume that whatever she was supposed to be doing for PE involving Frisbees and holes was done adequately.

And I guess our Frisbee is lost in the woods.

More Mother's Day

A few more highlights from Mother's Day:

-a wall hanging for marathon runners from Julia, which she had purchased with her own money a few months back while out shopping with friends
-some fine wines from Ethan
-a delicious home-cooked dinner by Ethan
-this card from Madeleine:

My family thoroughly spoiled me, although I will leave you with this final gift check-list from Madeleine.  As you can see, the boxes remain unchecked:

Oh well!  It's the thought that counts!

Mother's Day Surprise

I got a big Mother's Day surprise today when my family pulled off a LIVE PERFORMANCE of a BRAND NEW COMPOSITION by Madeleine Rowe!

I had no idea this was coming, as they had apparently hidden in the furnace room practicing so that I wouldn't hear.  I know we Rowes have been pulling off a lot of musical performances during this quarantine, but little did I expect to be the intended audience for a piece written for me!






Bravo!

Writers' Block

Madeleine is 77 pages into the first book of the "Founders of the Timeline Barrier" series that she is writing, but she claims to be facing Writers' Block. She decided to write to her current favorite writer, Shannon Messenger, for advice:

Let's hope she gets a response that helps her become unstuck!

More Poetry

Madeleine received her elementary school yearbook yesterday, and spent much of the afternoon perusing its pages.  She was especially taken by a poem posted on the first page, "Don't Quit" by John Greenleaf Whittier.  And because she's Madeleine, she was then inspired to write her OWN inspirational poem.

What Makes Me ME

Quarantine hit me harder than expected

I thought it might be fun, but I sure was wrong

All the things I loved are now neglected

And now here I am, ready to sing my own song

I thought my story would be pretty boring

Nothing would go wrong, but I’d still go on soaring

So if you can hear me right now, if you can hear my voice

Tell me what YOU want, because we all have a choice

I want quarantine to be gone

It’s going on for far too long!

I hate all this social distancing

When will I get back to swim practicing?

And when the memories flood

Right back into my head

I want to just cry

And sob

I can’t fly!

But I can

I just have to keep calm

I just have to stay positive

I just have to stay strong

So if I stay strong

And if I stay calm

And if I stay positive

And if I stay kind

I can help out the world

And the world can help me

And eventually

I’ll have made my change

And now I’m learning

That change is what makes me ME.

-Madeleine Rowe

Again, because she's Madeleine, she became extremely self-conscious and embarrassed by my effusive praise of her poem, so by the time I persuaded her to read it to Ethan, she had to do it like this:

We Rowes deal with praise so gracefully.

Poetry Party

Today at "school," Julia's ELA class had its Poetry Day Celebration.  This was supposed to be an actual in person party which parents were to be invited to, but instead it took place on Zoom.  Julia asked me to straighten her hair because they were supposed to dress up for the event.  She wore a solid black tee-shirt and jean shorts.  Guys.  That's how far down things have sunk in society right now.  Jeans are a dress-up item.  Otherwise it's all sweatpants, leggings and pajama pants, pretty much universally, am I right?

I logged into the Zoom meeting to hear all the poetry, and guess what?  I was the ONLY parent there!  I'm sure Julia loved that.  Luckily, I saw the head of a mom friend of mine bobbing around occasionally in the background of her son's screen, and I was all, "OMG A REAL HUMAN ADULT MOM FRIEND!!!" and started messaging her throughout the poetry reading.  Again, that's how far things have sunk.  A mere glimpse of the side of a head of someone I know and I'm all off my rocker with excitement.

Anyway, Julia's poem was beautiful, and one of my favorites that she's ever written.  I wasn't able to record the Zoom session but I can post her poem here:

Things I Hope to Always Remember
by Julia Rowe

I remember sticking a suction cup
On my forehead.
Boy, was that a dumb decision.
At least I invented
Grapehead.
I remember sunny summer days in France.
Swimming in the salty Mediterranean Sea,
Its teal colored waves crashing against the rocky beach,
Walking along the promenade,
The mountains looming in the distance
Like city buildings surrounding a highway,
Eating gelato under the stars.
I remember swimming at the best meet
Of my life.
The amount of time I dropped was incredible.
I remember Salem
And the horrifying haunted house
Taunting us and daring us to keep walking
And getting chased by that clown.

I remember games at recess.
My friends and I were the weirdest
First graders on earth.
(And probably are the weirdest seventh graders
on earth.)
I remember the Little Red Schoolhouse
And Ring Around the Rosie.
Even though we might've
All fallen down
A little too soon.*
I remember winning a gold medal at MICCA
And singing at Symphony Hall.
I remember the pride and happiness I'd felt
When they announced that Needham Middle School Select Choir
Had won gold.

I remember summers at Lake Champlain
And being too chicken
To tube in the lake...
But being brave enough to tube down a mountain
And have the time of my life.
I remember that day at Fairfield Beach
And conquering my fear of the ocean.
I remember my eyes raking the list of who had gotten into Wind Ensemble
And seeing my name** printed right there ont he paper the color
Of a lamb's fur.
All my hard work and effort had paid off.

I remember cracking up
As Madeleine
Spread peanut butter across her feet
Just so that Clara would lick her.
I remember telling everyone
That I was a big sister.


*This is really true.  I was chaperoning that field trip, and they were definitely playing Ring Around the Rosie: Savages Edition.  The goal was apparently to yank everyone down to the ground way before the lyrics "All Fall Down" were reached, and they were like a group of feral, crazed animals dressed primly in little prairie outfits.

**Ironically, her name was posted as "Julia Rower."  Julia was too scared to ever address the Wind Ensemble director about this typo, so that's how her name appears in every concert program we receive.




I have to say in all honesty, I hope to always remember this poem because I love the beautiful memories Julia has of growing up, and especially the fact that these memories evoke a life before quarantine!