2020

MADELEINE: People don't even need to SWEAR anymore.  They can just be like, "What the 2020?!"

I couldn't agree more on how nefarious the term 2020 feels.

And speaking of swearing, Ethan and I have been sharing a beloved tv show with the girls, "Schitt's Creek." The kids are loving it so far, but have trouble referring to the show because for some reason they can't allow themselves to say the title, even though it's a person's name, not the word "shit."

Madeleine has, surprisingly, FINALLY come around to calling the show by its title instead of "Mreer Creek."  Julia, however, can only refer to it as "Sk-a-hitt's Creek" so as to avoid even SOUNDING like she's saying "shit."  Interesting that both girls can refer to a beaver dam without finding creative ways to avoid saying a word that sounds like "damn." 

Maybe we can clear things up by deciding that "shit" ONLY means "Schitt" and from now on when someone really means "shit" they'll just say 2020.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance

So, Netflix cancelled Madeleine's favorite tv series, "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance" after one season.

This leaves things on quite a cliffhanger for the hordes of you following the adventures of Deet, Rian, Brea and the rest, but guys: DON'T WORRY.  Madeleine is already writing the next season herself.  Taking matters into her own hands like a brave Gelfling, she's got us covered and we can breathe easy knowing we'll get some resolution to the arcs of our favorite characters.  WHEW!

Feel What You Love

Because Madeleine is dreaming BIG with her "Timelime Barrier" series (think franchise), she has not only planned for the books and the movies-made-after-the-books, but she has composed a theme song AND a lullaby to be sung by one of the film's characters.

I was pretty enchanted by this sweet little lullaby, and even more enchanted by this sweet kid singing it for me:

Here are the lyrics (also written by Madeleine), just in case you couldn't make them all out:

“My sweet darling, don’t you cry.

Mama will not ever let you say goodbye.

Now remember, whenever

Times feel dark

Just open up your heart.

And when the lights are all out,

Feel what you love.”

Now, before I get too sentimental, I just learned that this lullaby is sung to the main character, Silareah Sound, by her Earth Mother, Eliza Sound. NOT sung by the mother character named after me, Courtia (recently edited to Couria), the somewhat negligent "Starblaze" mother who actually raises Silareah. So, like, seriously, what the heck? Not only is the Courtney-inspired character kind of a dud of a mom, but she doesn't even get to sing?!? HARSH.

Panic and More

Last night, as we were leaving for swim practice, I was suddenly subject to a barrage of panicked questions and remarks from Julia.  It seems she was having a total internal melt-down about climate change, politics, and pretty much everything else.  Our conversation started as we got into the car and continued on our drive to the pool.

JULIA: Massachusetts is gonna flood and we'll be TOTALLY underwater.
ME: That's not something that's going to happen in the immediate future.
JULIA: But it's too late for us to save the world from climate change.
ME: Some things are irreversible at this point, but there's still a lot we can do to prevent worst case scenarios.  Hopefully we can get our country back to agreeing to combat climate change.
JULIA: But Joe Biden didn't vote for the Green New Deal!
ME: Yes, but I think he would re-enter us into the Paris Climate Accord.
JULIA: But Donald Trump is just gonna win again.
ME: Well, if he does, then we'll have to work really hard as individuals to reduce our impact.
JULIA: Mommy? Do you think he'll win again?
ME: I really don't know what to think.  The polls were so wrong for the last election.
JULIA: But Mommy? I've been reading all this stuff about dictators, and I read that Trump is acting like Hitler did in Nazi Germany.
ME: But in the United States, we have a democracy, so people are allowed to speak out against Trump without getting thrown in jail. We're in a much better situation to fight against any attempts to create a dictatorship than the Germans were.
JULIA: (distraught) But I realized we're basically living in a Nazi world because our country has Neo-Nazis.
ME: But we also have the ability to speak out against them.  This country has checks and balances, so even if Trump tries to become a dictator, there are systems in place to prevent that.  
JULIA: (becoming increasingly more distressed) But what if he loses and he refuses to leave?
ME: Well, that's why we have institutes like the Supreme Court, to help uphold the rules.
JULIA: (reaching panic) But Brett Kavanaugh is just gonna vote for anything Trump wants.
ME: Look. Ruth Bader Ginsburg won't vote for that. Elena Kagan won't vote for that. Sonia Sotomayor won't vote for that.

During this conversation, Julia and I kept getting text notifications on our cell phones, but since I was driving I couldn't check.  It turns out Ethan was messaging us with some breaking news.  As Julia was reaching her pinnacle of despair, she happened to check her phone.

JULIA: (on the verge of hysteria) RUTH BADER GINSBURG DIED!

Okay. Crap. Any attempts to calm her down at this point were futile, and the way we left things was Julia going into the pool building and texting me, "I'm in and I'm scared." I can't say I blame her.

Madeleine's practice was just ending, so when she got in the car, I gave her the news about RBG.  We then discussed the other members of the Supreme Court and their political leanings during the remainder of the car ride.

This morning, the girls had swim practice yet again.  Ethan did the drop-offs, and I did the final pick-up shift, getting Madeleine from her practice at noon.  When she got in the car, she cheerily told me about her workout, then fell silent for a moment as she scrolled through her phone notifications.

MADELEINE: (in shock) Ruth Bader Ginsburg DIED?
ME: Honey, we talked about this last night.
MADELEINE: I remember you telling me about SOME Democrat, but I didn't know you were talking about HER.

Who's surprised that Madeleine doesn't remember me telling her about this last night?  Anyone?

The Final Chapter

School starts tomorrow for the kids (remote only), so Madeleine was determined to finish "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" today.  See, in Madeleine's eyes, it doesn't count as "summer reading" unless she: A) started the book AFTER the last day of school in June, and B) finished the book BEFORE the first day of the new school year.  So despite everything I tried to tell her to reassure her that she didn't need to FREAK OUT about finishing her book before tomorrow, Madeleine was bound and determined to make it a done deal.

She read several chapters throughout the day today, and announced this afternoon that she was on the final chapter.

MADELEINE: Mommy? I feel like, for the final chapter at bedtime tonight, I should wear, like, an ALL BLACK outfit.  In honor of the DEAD.
ME: Um. Okay.

Unfortunately, Madeleine does not possess such an outfit, let alone in a pajama set.  So this evening she donned a navy blue pajama top with pink patterned pajama shorts.

MADELEINE: Mommy? Does THIS (gesturing at her pajamas) seem APPROPRIATE for the last chapter?
ME: Yes.
MADELEINE: Okay. (sighing) Poooor Dumbledore.  This is gonna be the most STRESSFUL year of school yet.

It's as if she hasn't already had the book read to her and watched the movie ten thousand times, she's having such a visceral reaction.  I guess you're really living in the book's world when you're dressing the part of the mourner at Dumbledore's funeral.  I guess I should be prepared for when she reads the next book in the Unicorn Quest series, because we may need to break out a horn for her to wear while she reads.

Book Repair

 Madeleine is currently reading "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Ethan read it to her a few years back, and our copy of the book had been read multiple times prior to that, between Ethan and Julia. By this point, the outer cover has been worn down and ripped. Don't worry, though; Madeleine fixed it! You can't even tell it even had any cosmetic work done!:

Little Einsteins

 Look, I don't mean to brag about my kids, but when they have smarty-pants moments like this, it's hard not to share:

MADELEINE: (playing a game on her phone) Oh, thank you, fifteen left!
JULIA: (galloping by) Who's Vivian?
MADELEINE: 
JULIA: Who's Vivian?
ME: Who said Vivian?
JULIA: Madeleine did.
MADELEINE: No, I said "fifTEEN."
JULIA: (leaning over Madeleine's shoulder to peer at her game) Oh! I think Sadie has this game. Is it called "Best Finds?"
MADELEINE: No, best "fee-ends."
JULIA: It's pronounced "finds."
MADELEINE: No, it's "fee-ends."
JULIA: (laughing at Madeleine's ignorance) No, Madeleine, it's pronounced "FINDS."
ME: Do you mean "FIENDS?"
JULIA: Oh!  Yeah.  "Fiends." I knew it was either pronounced "fiends" or "finds."

Good think school has gone all-remote for the month of September, because I'd be afraid of my kids running circles around their peers if they got the advantage of in-person school!

Welcome, September

September is here and summer vacation is in its last few weeks.  If you thought school might be foremost on Julia's mind today as we turn to September 1, you would be wrong.

JULIA: Mommy!  Today is Lilly Mintz's birthday!

Yup.  The Mintz are still around.

Speaking of birthdays, I was spoiled with all sorts of thoughtful gestures on my birthday yesterday, from a beautiful recording and slideshow that Ethan created for me (which caused me to sob all over my computer keyboard) to an Amazon gift card Julia got for me ("I knew you were sad that you didn't get an Amazon gift card from your students this year, so I wanted to get you one!") to several thoughtful and homemade creative gifts from Madeleine.

One of Madeleine's gifts to me was a hand-made book of brain teasers/riddles.  Not only did Madeleine type this up herself, but she thought of each riddle and its answer all on her own!

Sometimes getting into her head space proved to be a bigger brain teaser than the riddle itself.  For example:

ME: (reading a riddle) There are twins, but were born in completely different towns in their state. How is this possible? Hmm.  Was one born before they could make it to the hospital, and the hospital is in the next town over?
MADELEINE: Nooooo.
ME: Are the twins both born from the same mother?
MADELENIE: Yes.
ME: Was one born at home but then they needed to get to the hospital to get the other one out?
MADELENE: Nooooo. Do you want me to just tell you?
ME: No, let me keep asking questions.  Are they humans?
MADELENE: Yes.  So Mommy.  It's like: one is THIS, and one is THIS.
ME: Huh?
MADELEINE: Like, one is THIS, and one is THIS.
ME: Are they both alive?
MADELEINE: Yes!
ME: And it wasn't like, the mom had to give birth to the first twin in the car on the way to the hospital?
MADELEINE: No. Here, Mommy.  Think of the W's.
ME: Uh...okay, where were they born?
MADELEINE: It doesn't matter!
ME: Was one born right before midnight and the other after so they were born on different days?  And the town got re-named overnight?
MADELEINE: No. Think of the W's!
ME: Who, what, when, where, why?
MADELEINE: Yes. Okay. Say one was born at 2:40.  When was the other one born?
ME: Uh, 2:48?
MADELEINE: Okay...do you want me to just tell you the answer?

This one turned out to be too much of a stumper for me, so I finally had to look at the answer.  How could I not have figured this out?!?

Q: There are twins, but were born in completely different towns in their state. How is this possible?
A: One was just later than usual.

ME: Wait, Madeleine, I don't get it. How does that make them born in different towns? 
MADELEINE: I don't know! I was running out of ideas for riddles.  My BRAIN just wasn't really
able to THINK of anything else!

That was riddle #11 of 20.  I'm scared to see how random the answers become as I move along down the rest of the page...