Songs from the Rowe Household

For the last day of school before the holiday break, Julia's class got to watch a movie.  Yippee!  Or, in Julia's case, BOO!  The movie of choice was the first Harry Potter film, which Julia has seen so many times she's actively bored by it.  So instead of watching with rapt attention, Julia "just LISTENED," and spent her mental energy on the composition of two songs.

This took some serious effort.  Look at how long this first song is:

JULIA: And Mommy?  I *know* how the melody goes, but I just didn't know how to really write that part out.
ME: Will you sing it for me?
JULIA:




ME: That was really beautiful!
JULIA: It's about: you shouldn't have war, 'cause it makes people sad.  Even though it's about a bird.

Julia's second song was less symbolic, but it was a fun festive celebration of Christmas:

The performance:

Don't worry, folks, Madeleine was not to be outdone.  This morning at breakfast, she performed her very own reverse version of Rudolph:

Great performance.  Like an Icebreaker!

Alecto

Ethan and Madeleine are nearing the end of their Harry Potter journey, as they reach the final chapters of the final book.  Apparently, Madeleine has decided to take some creative license with certain characters within the seventh book; specifically, Professor Alecto Carrow.  Madeleine insists that instead of Alecto being the punitive Death Eater serving Voldemort, she is instead a beautiful heroine who has infiltrated the Death Eaters as a rogue.

Here's the new book she's writing to let Alecto tell HER side of the story:

Harry  Potter and Alecto of the LEADERS!

Although the cover page is all that has been completed, Madeleine filled me in on the main plot point and the character of Alecto.

MADELEINE: She's nice.  She has a brother named Bruce, who's a Death Eater.  She becomes the leader of the Death Eaters, but she's still not mean, and she's not evil, she's nice.  She has TRICKS.
ME: What kind of tricks?
MADELEINE: She, like, um, when her new leader tells her to get Harry, she, like, doesn't know what to do, then she has an idea: she tells the two Death Eaters to come behind her, and, like, so, she picks up Harry and takes him away.  And her new leader can't see Alecto, because then she'll see Harry.
ETHAN: Does she make the Death Eaters nice?
MADELEINE: No, because she knows that they wouldn't listen, even though she's their leader.
JULIA: Isn't Voldemort their leader?
MADELEINE: Yeah, but when Voldemort dies, they need a NEW leader, and besides, they decide to come up with the idea of a Death Eater whose leader is still...whoever their new leader is.


Wait.  Why do they need a new leader after Voldemort dies?  Won't that basically be the end of the Death Eaters anyway?  Or maybe not.  Maybe all they need is a new, inspiring leader who has TRICKS.  Also, is Bruce a replacement for the twin brother that Alecta has in the books, or is there a third sibling we just haven't heard about?  At any rate, I definitely think Madeleine managed to choose one of the least explored characters in all of the Harry Potter books to expand upon, so I'm excited to see where she takes us!

Morning Tussle

Today, as the girls and I walked to school, we came upon a group of boys, one of whom is in Madeleine's class.  This classmate started to tussle with his older brother, and things quickly escalated to actual kicking and hitting, with Madeleine's classmate in tears.  Another parent and I broke up the fight and I asked Madeleine's classmate if he wanted to walk with us.  He declined, so I just asked if he was okay, and walked a few paces ahead of him in case any fighting started up again.

Aww, yeah.  Hero mom.  Mom of the year.  Kept kids safe, prevented further violence, supervised the rest of the walk to school while not appearing to be supervising.  My kids must have been proud.

WRONG.

After school today, Madeleine and I discussed the morning:

ME: Madeleine, remember those boys fighting on the way to school?  Wasn't that crazy?
MADELEINE: Yes!  I even told my FRIENDS about it!
ME: You did?
MADELEINE: Yeah.  I said, "It was, like, BASICALLY the most EMBARRASSING thing ever."
ME: Wait.  You were embarrassed for the boys?
MADELEINE: No.
ME: You mean *I* embarrassed you??
MADELEINE: Yes.  It was SO embarrassing.
ME: Why?
MADELEINE: Because he DEFINITELY said "no."
ME: So you felt embarrassed when I asked if he wanted to walk with us?
MADELEINE: Well...maybe even when you walked over.

SHEESH.  Who would have thought I could already be embarrassing my daughter when she's only in first grade?

Luckily, my showing up later that morning as Mystery Reader didn't embarrass her.  She was delighted to see me, although she didn't let my presence distract her from finishing up her seat work, nor did it distract her from sitting in "Whole Body Listening" on the rug during Morning Meeting.  Most of the other kids could not keep their bodies still.  Five or six kids got up to get paper towels, drinks or water, or what not, half the kids were unable to keep their bottoms down on their spots on the rug, and there's Madeleine, sitting "criss cross applesauce" in complete silence.  WHO IS THIS KID?!?  Is this the same girl who crossed her arms and yelled "NEVER!" through tears at her kindergarten teacher when asked, "Are you ready to do your must-do work?"  Wow.  Is it too much to hope that Madeleine's emotional maturity has finally caught up with her intellectual ability??

I even got this sweet picture that the teacher snapped and emailed to me:

Thank goodness I was able to save the most embarrassing day ever from being a total flop for Madeleine!

Underwear Slave

Okay.  This whole underwear thing of Madeleine's is getting out of control.

I may have mentioned in past blog posts that Madeleine has, somewhere along the way, designated a specific pair of underwear for each day of the week.  It took me awhile to even understand this concept, as she came upon this decision without providing any information to anyone.  In the early days of the specified underwear obsession, things went kind of like this:

MADELEINE: Mommy!  You picked out my SATURDAY underwear, and today is THURSDAY!
ME: ?....?....?!?...


I gradually came to learn which underwear are her Saturday underwear.  The light blue ones with black polka dots.  It helped that she also had a designated Saturday outfit, at least during the summer months; a magenta sundress.  It also helped that during the summer she was mostly in bathing suits for the mornings, and would pick out her own clothes and undies after we returned home from swim clinics.

Then the school year started and the underwear hit the proverbial fan.

Because Madeleine is SO.  DAMN.  SLOW. about getting herself up and groomed and dressed in the morning, I make sure that she has an outfit picked out and laid on her floor the night before.  This doesn't necessarily make her move any faster because she is an expert at finding stalling techniques, but it at least removes the wasted time in the mornings digging through drawers to find an acceptable outfit to wear.  Here's the problem, though: I am expected to pick out the correct underwear corresponding to the day of the week.  And I just might have a lot more pressing issues occupying my brain than remembering which pair of underwear goes with which day.

Madeleine finds this unacceptable.

Here are some examples of the criticisms and demands lobbed my way should I drop the ball on the underwear thing.

MADELEINE: Mommy!  Why did you pick out my SUNDAY underwear?

or

MADELEINE: Uh, Mommy, can you do laundry today?  Because my THURSDAY underwear are still in my laundry basket!

or

MADELEINE: Mommy, you ALWAYS pick out my Saturday underwear on days that AREN'T Saturday!


One day, at school pick-up, the bell rang and Madeleine ran to where I was standing on the playground.  Instead of being greeted with a hug or a "hello," this is what I got:

MADELEINE: Mommy?  First of all: TOTALLY wrong underwear today, and secondly...

I actually don't even remember the "secondly" part, because my brain was so outraged by the recrimination over the underwear.  I mean, can she not just put the offending underwear back in her drawer and pick out the correct ones her own self?!?  Does she think that I'm going to have hurt feelings if she changes the underwear I picked for the "proper" ones?  Man, it's a good thing she gave me that dressing-down, because now I'll think twice before I pick out the wrong underwear for her.

This is how I know things have gotten out of control.  (As if the aforementioned isn't enough.) Sunday evening, after Ethan and I returned home from a rehearsal, I snuck into Madeleine's bedroom to lay out an outfit for the morning.  (Something I had asked her at least three times to do herself throughout the day, which she promptly ignored.)  Ethan walked by Madeleine's open bedroom as I was frantically rummaging through her underwear drawer in the dark.

ETHAN: Everything okay??
ME: (frazzled) I can't find her Monday underwear because I can't see anything in the dark!

Last night I tried something new.  I laid out Madeleine's outfit but no underwear, because although I'm pretty solid on her Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday underwear, I can't for the life of me remember the Tuesday ones.  I figured she can just get the underwear herself.  Like the 7-year-old that she is.

Nope.

This morning Madeleine came out of her room holding the underwear she had just slept in.

MADELEINE: Mommy, wrong underwear!
ME: Honey, those are your Monday underwear.  You must have taken them off with your pajamas and then picked them up off the floor.

I mean, come on Madeleine!  Even *I* know they're your Monday underwear and that you JUST WORE THEM.  She just picked the dirty underwear up off the floor.  Without even realizing it.  Seriously, Madeleine, get it together with this underwear thing.

And even more seriously, it's definitely time she do this on her own.  I refuse to be an underwear slave any longer.  FREEDOM!

The Victorian Era

Today, driving to church, I got to use a route that we haven't taken for ages, thanks to one of the most important roads between our town and the next being closed for 6 months.  Along the way, we remarked upon some sights that had changed since we last drove by.  I pointed out a grand old home that has since been painted hot pink.

ME: Woah!  Look at that color!
JULIA: I know, I was just noticing that.
MADELEINE: Wait, what was it?
JULIA: It was a bright pink Victorian house.
MADELEINE: What's a Victorian?
ME: A house that was built in the Victorian Era.
JULIA: Wait, Mommy, when WAS the Victorian period?
ME: I think, like, in the early 1900's.  Late 1800's into the early 1900's.
JULIA: Well Mommy?  The Mintz live in a Victorian house, but it was built in 1799.  But it, like, has turrets.
ME: Oh, okay.
JULIA: But wait.  Mommy?  If their house was built in COLONIAL times, but it's a Victorian style, what would you call it?
ME: I think houses are named by their architectural style and build.  So I guess you'd call it a Victorian.
JULIA: Okay, good.

I'm glad that I was able to reassure Julia about the historical validity of her imaginary family in their imaginary house.

Next thing I knew, Madeleine was trying to point out Victorian architecture.

MADELEINE: Wow, that BRIDGE looks like a Victorian bridge!  But...I really don't think like the ORANGE part.

I guess it's the bawdy color that stood out in Madeleine's mind as being related to the Victorian home painted hot pink.  Because I really don't see what's particularly Victorian about a bright orange concrete bridge over the turnpike.  Maybe it was built in 1799.  I'll have to check with the Mintz.

Another Gosh Darn Mouse

This evening, Auntie Shannon discovered a dead mouse in our garage.  For those of you unfamiliar with the great mouse fiasco of 2015,  all I can say as that at least it's not dead inside the house.

The girls have had wildly opposite, and completely characteristic, reactions to the newest dead mouse.  Madeleine immediately wanted to go and see it, and, as is her wont when looking upon dead animals, began fawning all over it.  It's so CUTE!  Awww!  Thanks to Madeleine, the dead mouse now has a name.  Clarabella.  It's a boy.  That's a pretty original name for a boy, although not an original name on the whole, given that Auntie Shannon has a dog named Clara Bell.

Julia, on the other hand, is terrified that mice are going to get into her room and crawl all over her at night.  I overheard Ethan trying to talk her down from her ledge.

ETHAN: Okay. Julia.  Listen to me because I'm only going to say this once.  I don't want to hear ANY freaking out about mice.  You don't need to be scared, it's ridiculous to be scared, so I want you to just calm down.
JULIA: But what if it gets in my room while I'm SLEEPING?
ETHAN: I think that's very unlikely.
JULIA: But can mice even climb stairs!??


By the time we were putting the kids to bed, Julia's mouse terror had expanded to a general, all encompassing anxiety spiral.  While she and I independently read silently in her bed, she persisted on chattering at me on an average of every 2-3 seconds.

JULIA: Mommy?  If an asteroid hit the earth, would, like, EVERY person on Earth die?
ME: Umm...if it was a big asteroid, it's pretty likely that nothing but the deepest sea creatures would survive.
JULIA: That's SCARY.
ME: Well, you don't need to be scared.  Astronomers know how to keep an eye on that sort of thing and they haven't found any major asteroids on track towards Earth's orbit.

Two seconds of silence

JULIA: Mommy?  Do terrorists have, like, a REASON for terrifying other people?
ME: Usually, but I don't think that violence and terror is ever the right way to try and get what you want.

Two seconds of silence

JULIA: Mommy?  You know what I don't get?  Why, like, in an earthquake drill, did students have to hide under their desks?  That wouldn't really PROTECT them from the earthquake.
ME: I guess in case there was debris falling from up above, so they wouldn't get crushed.
JULIA: Boy am I glad we don't live in a place where there are lots of earthquakes.  That would be really scary.

Three seconds of silence

JULIA: Wait, I think I was thinking of volcanoes.  I don't know why I was- (with barely contained panic) THERE'S A BUG ON MY WALL!

I finally had her quiet and settled, immersed in her book enough, to leave the room.  Unfortunately, that was the same moment that Auntie Shannon, who had borrowed our car to grocery shop, pulled into the garage and accidentally leaned on the horn while grabbing her grocery bags.

CAR: *BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*
JULIA: (running out of her bedroom, eyes wild)
ME: It was just the car horn.
JULIA: That SCARED me!!

I mean, at this point, when it's coming down to bugs and car horns, I think it's safe to just give up on Julia quelling her anxiety for the evening.  Let's just hope we can have a mouse-free day tomorrow.

Smile

Madeleine started writing a poem called "Smile." Sounds like a happy, cheery title for an upbeat poem, right?

Umm...

It's like Shel Silverstein meets The Shining.  Shudder.  That girl is not going to murder me in my sleep at all.