A brand new book by Julia, written for her father as a birthday gift. The author herself reads aloud to us:
That was an exhilarating adventure with Nutso the Dougnut! What will happen next? Will someone make him SAD??? Or excited? Or embarrassed? Will someone accidentally call him "Utso?" The possibilities for a sequel are endless!!
Friday, June 30, 2017
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Two Little Bunnies
Madeleine made up a little song about bunnies a few weeks ago, and it has quickly become a family classic. Despite its tame subject matter, this song is pretty adventurous, both musically and lyrically. Not only does it NOT rhyme at all, but it doesn't even really have much of a melody; Madeleine relies on an avant garde sprechtstimme style of singing, rather than a lyrically sung tune. She even has accompanying hand and/or body motions!:
She has decided that I *must* teach this song to my preschool class. Not just the words, but maybe even the movements.
MADELEINE: Mommy! You could *try* having them stand up and act it out. But...if it gets to be a RUCKUS, they can just sit down and go back to puppets or hand movements.
Excellent idea, Madeleine! Maybe if my girls ever come into school with me next year, I can have Madeleine teach it to them herself!
She has decided that I *must* teach this song to my preschool class. Not just the words, but maybe even the movements.
MADELEINE: Mommy! You could *try* having them stand up and act it out. But...if it gets to be a RUCKUS, they can just sit down and go back to puppets or hand movements.
Excellent idea, Madeleine! Maybe if my girls ever come into school with me next year, I can have Madeleine teach it to them herself!
Monday, June 26, 2017
Madeleine's Input
Madeleine's input on a variety of topics:
On getting the house ready for a get-together we were hosting with a bunch of friends in town:
MADELEINE: Mommy? Wanna know the FIRST THING I did when I woke up this morning? The first thing I did was -- well, I *breathed* -- but then the first thing I did was CLEAN UP MY DOLLS!
I'm glad she cleared that up. I was worried she started cleaning her room while holding her breath.
On Ethan's birthday gifts from family members, which included a sweatshirt, a piano book, a CD, and homemade books and crafts from the kids:
MADELEINE: Hmm. This year, nobody bought Daddy BEER for his birthday. I guess maybe they thought he was getting tired of beer. That's what *I* thought, so that's why I didn't buy it for him.
It's a good thing that the thought of Ethan getting tired of beer is THE REASON WHY A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD DIDN'T TRY AND BUY SOME. Good thinking, Madeleine.
On Ethan changing his mind and joining us at the pool when he had no interest in swimming:
ME: Madeleine, was it just the highlight of your day that Daddy went swimming with you?
MADELEINE: Mmm-hmm! (thoughtful silence) Well Mommy. The highlight of my day was doing GYMNASTICS. Doing gymnastics at home AND at my class.
Good thing we have Honest Abe here to make Ethan feel extra good about his decision to swim in order to please the kids. Madeleine couldn't even bother to make his swimming a *tie* for highlight of her day, huh?
And finally, another item from school; Madeleine's input on what makes her sad:
"I feel sad when my mom is sad, when my sister is crabby, when I can't find my stuffys, when I can't have the dessert I want and when I try to take something back that's already been dicided. That's when I feel sad."
Those are pretty good reasons, Madeleine, and I'm touched by your empathy. However, uh, not having the dessert you want is kind of not on the same tier as the other things. Remember that whole video you made about first world problems??
On getting the house ready for a get-together we were hosting with a bunch of friends in town:
MADELEINE: Mommy? Wanna know the FIRST THING I did when I woke up this morning? The first thing I did was -- well, I *breathed* -- but then the first thing I did was CLEAN UP MY DOLLS!
I'm glad she cleared that up. I was worried she started cleaning her room while holding her breath.
On Ethan's birthday gifts from family members, which included a sweatshirt, a piano book, a CD, and homemade books and crafts from the kids:
MADELEINE: Hmm. This year, nobody bought Daddy BEER for his birthday. I guess maybe they thought he was getting tired of beer. That's what *I* thought, so that's why I didn't buy it for him.
It's a good thing that the thought of Ethan getting tired of beer is THE REASON WHY A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD DIDN'T TRY AND BUY SOME. Good thinking, Madeleine.
On Ethan changing his mind and joining us at the pool when he had no interest in swimming:
ME: Madeleine, was it just the highlight of your day that Daddy went swimming with you?
MADELEINE: Mmm-hmm! (thoughtful silence) Well Mommy. The highlight of my day was doing GYMNASTICS. Doing gymnastics at home AND at my class.
Good thing we have Honest Abe here to make Ethan feel extra good about his decision to swim in order to please the kids. Madeleine couldn't even bother to make his swimming a *tie* for highlight of her day, huh?
And finally, another item from school; Madeleine's input on what makes her sad:
Those are pretty good reasons, Madeleine, and I'm touched by your empathy. However, uh, not having the dessert you want is kind of not on the same tier as the other things. Remember that whole video you made about first world problems??
Friday, June 23, 2017
All About Me
As I was going through the piles of classwork the children brought home on their last day of school, I came across Madeleine's fill-in-the-blank reflections on her year of first grade. Can you tell she LOVED her teachers? And it certainly wouldn't be in true Madeleine fashion if there wasn't some brutal honesty:
Yes, sorry, teachers, that your math choices just weren't up to snuff.
If I could change one thing about my first grade year, it would be makeing the boreing math choices fun.
She's a tough critic. Her teachers are lucky that everything else passed muster and that she had nothing but glowing things to say about them as people!
Yes, sorry, teachers, that your math choices just weren't up to snuff.
If I could change one thing about my first grade year, it would be makeing the boreing math choices fun.
She's a tough critic. Her teachers are lucky that everything else passed muster and that she had nothing but glowing things to say about them as people!
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Piano Improvisation
Madeleine decided to give an impromptu, completely improvised piano performance today, and asked me to video it. Check it out:
She definitely takes after her daddy when it comes to sitting at the piano and improvising on the spot. Madeleine adds a little extra theatrical flair to her piano noodling, however: she's a born entertainer!
She definitely takes after her daddy when it comes to sitting at the piano and improvising on the spot. Madeleine adds a little extra theatrical flair to her piano noodling, however: she's a born entertainer!
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Birth Year Confusion
JULIA: Mommy? If you were fourteen, would you be born in 2004?
ME: Like, if you're fourteen right now?
JULIA: Yeah.
ME: Well, if you were already fourteen right now, you'd have been born in 2003.
JULIA: But what if it turned in January?
ME: What if what turned in January? You mean, like you turn fourteen when it's January 2018?
JULIA: No, like...(seeming at a loss for words to explain what she means)
ME: So if you were born in 2004, you'd be 13.
JULIA: But *could* you be 14?
ME: What month?
JULIA: What?
ME: What month do you turn 14?
JULIA: (suddenly evasive) I dunno...
Then it dawned on me.
ME: All right. Which Mintz is 14?
JULIA: (a self-conscious smile spreading across her face) LILLY Mintz!
Lucky for me, I know Lilly Mintz's birthday! (This is a bit sad. I actively can recall the birthday of an imaginary person from an imaginary family that my daughter made up and still imagines about. I might need to get more of a life.)
ME: Okay. So September 1, if Lilly was born in 2004: on September 1, 2014, she would be 10. On September 1, 2015, she would be 11. On September 1, 2016, she would be 12. And on September 1, 2017, she would be 13.
JULIA: But what about someone born in January?
ME: They would still be 13.
JULIA: But-
ME: What is it you need to figure out?
JULIA: I just need to figure out what YEAR Lilly and two of her FRIENDS needed to be born because they're 14 now!!
Sheesh. She coulda just led with that. It would have made this whole confusing conversation go much more smoothly.
After the clarification, we figured out that Lilly was born in 2002 and her friends friends with January birthdays were born in 2003. Phew. Glad we got that one solved.
ME: Like, if you're fourteen right now?
JULIA: Yeah.
ME: Well, if you were already fourteen right now, you'd have been born in 2003.
JULIA: But what if it turned in January?
ME: What if what turned in January? You mean, like you turn fourteen when it's January 2018?
JULIA: No, like...(seeming at a loss for words to explain what she means)
ME: So if you were born in 2004, you'd be 13.
JULIA: But *could* you be 14?
ME: What month?
JULIA: What?
ME: What month do you turn 14?
JULIA: (suddenly evasive) I dunno...
Then it dawned on me.
ME: All right. Which Mintz is 14?
JULIA: (a self-conscious smile spreading across her face) LILLY Mintz!
Lucky for me, I know Lilly Mintz's birthday! (This is a bit sad. I actively can recall the birthday of an imaginary person from an imaginary family that my daughter made up and still imagines about. I might need to get more of a life.)
ME: Okay. So September 1, if Lilly was born in 2004: on September 1, 2014, she would be 10. On September 1, 2015, she would be 11. On September 1, 2016, she would be 12. And on September 1, 2017, she would be 13.
JULIA: But what about someone born in January?
ME: They would still be 13.
JULIA: But-
ME: What is it you need to figure out?
JULIA: I just need to figure out what YEAR Lilly and two of her FRIENDS needed to be born because they're 14 now!!
Sheesh. She coulda just led with that. It would have made this whole confusing conversation go much more smoothly.
After the clarification, we figured out that Lilly was born in 2002 and her friends friends with January birthdays were born in 2003. Phew. Glad we got that one solved.
Monday, June 19, 2017
Um, Madeleine Drew This Stuff at School
Today, Madeleine brought home all of her writing work from school, including three composition books. One was a writing journal, one a poetry journal, and the other one was mostly filled with drawings that...umm... probably creeped the heck out of her teachers.
Some of the most disturbing include:
Whatever demonic nightmare this is supposed to be.
Flattened corpse head, angry ogre, and mentally unstable cat-eared girl (who is also growing a mummy out of her head)
Um, these terrifying faces.
Some of the most disturbing include:
The soul-searching spirit of malevolence about to devour an innocent girl.
Just a friendly, helper boy pushing an injured girl in a wheelchair up to the castle of doom. At least the other girl can walk, so I guess that's why she's going in first.
Oh, fun. A torture chamber.
And finally:
OMG. No.
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