MY BOGGY BLOG: find your way through the murk
Notes from the Homefront -- Theresa Jarosz Alberti, writer and mother... http://sapphire.albatross.org
It appears that winter is melting away, as we've had temps in the 30's and 40's lately, not usually what we get in February. Our massive snow piles are shrinking, and water is everywhere, freezing into thin sheets of ice on the sidewalks, making the cool mornings treacherous to navigate. I fell once this week, even though I saw the icy sidewalk and told myself to be careful... it didn't matter. I fell hard on my knees, with my left knee taking the brunt of the fall. It hurt, it was numb, it was sore, but miraculously it is working fine. It is still a bit tender, but no bruises.
There is a certain sense of Spring in the air, even though there is still many inches of snow left to shrink. The sunshine seems brighte, the days are slowly getting longer, and I've already squished through mud this week.... ah, the Spring-y-ness of mudd. There is warmth to the breezes. And the kids brought home their Plant Sale packets for the school's fundraising.
Of course, March is often the snowiest month, and there could still be plenty of winter left here in Minnesota. But we probably won't get back to the below zero temps. We'll still need boots, mittens and hats, but maybe scarves and long-underwear can be put away.
But you never can tell...
School stuff has been on my mind a lot lately. And I've been in my kids' K-8 school many times this week, too. Unfortunately, there is the pessimistic side of the school system going on for me... all the budget cuts, the lack of money, this lame-o "No Child Left Behind" stuff that in reality is leaving more and more children behind in numerous ways. We had the incident in our middle school recently where my kids' language arts teacher (a really excellent, dedicated teacher) was knocked down by a student in the hallway when she tried to get him to stop running. She was injured in the fall and now has such problems with her leg that she has been on crutches for weeks and will likely have to undergo surgery. The kid had an in-school suspension for two days, but otherwise there were no consequences, and the administration is not really supporting the teacher... and she is feeling so down about this that I'm afraid we could lose her. The middle school is loud and chaotic and there is such a lack of respect by the students for each other and for the teachers. My twins said there was a food fight in the lunch room yesterday, and all students were made to clean up the mess... it seems that the good students who are respectful and don't do all the deviant behavior are just always being penalized by the behavior of the wild kids. Even my third grader has a class that is hard to control... just getting the kids to be quiet and listen to the teacher. What is happening to our schools?
And yet, I went to the middle school yesterday because the kids in that same Language Arts teacher's class are performing biographies this week-- dressing up like the person they wrote their biography on, and speaking as if they were that person. DD did Joan of Arc yesterday, and DS is doing Carl Sagan today. I've been going in to see the performances, and it was wonderful. The kids were really getting into it, using costumes, giving their speeches, then asnwering questions from classmates. I got to see Gerry Garcia, Anne Frank, Thurgood Marshall, an Orphan Train kid, Franklin Roosevelt, and of course, St. Joan. It was such a fun, creative environment, and lots of learning going on, too, in a kids-teaching-kids kind of way. I'm excited to go back today. So this is the stuff that makes me optimistic about the schools, and I sure wish there was more of it! When kids are engaged and interested and challenged, you see how good it can be, how the wildness and swearing and disrespect falls away.
Please, please, let there be more of this for our kids. Teachers, don't give up! You are truly the miracle-workers!
February is just flying along! Has it really been two weeks since I paid attention to my website/blog?
I just sent the kids outside to play. They've been way too much into computers this winter and have gotten away from playing outside. And this year we finally have lots and lots of snow to play in! Today they are home for Prez Day, so I laid down a Mommy Mandate of 30 minutes outside. I would have joined them if I wasn't recovering from a stomach bug. And despite the fact that they whined and complained, I can tell they are having fun. The boys are knocking down icycles right outside my window. I wouldn't be surprised if they stay out longer than the time requirement.
DH and I had the most wonderful Valentines Weekend... he arranged for friends to stay with our kids for two nights in a row, so we got to have time alone together! We've only managed an infrequent overnight in the past 12 years, so this was a real treat. We went to a wonderful B&B in Lanesboro called The Scanlon House (http://www.scanlanhouse.com) about two hours from home. We stayed in the Safari Suite, with two-person jacuzzi, gas fireplace, champagne-fruit-chocolate tray, cable TV, DVD and VHS players, CD player, carmels on the pillow, and a luscious gourmet breakfast. Sigh! On Saturday, we just drove around the countryside, long roads of farm country, looking for Amish people. (I didn't want a tour, just wanted to see for myself that they were really out there, and we did.) We watched "Under the Tuscan Sun," very romantic movie in a gorgeous location. And mostly just had the time to be sweethearts again... very nice!
We had been to this B&B before, but it took some figuring to remember that it was 16 years ago, when we were engaged! That seems like forever... how can we be so old? I think we'll definitely be going back again, though hopefully a lot sooner than 16 years!
On the way home, we stopped in Pine Island to visit a highschool friend of DH and her husband, who have a lovely home they built way out away from everybody. It was the kind of home that is showcased in the "Not So Big House" books... not a big house but very roomy with lots of little details and features added in. Even though we were spur-of-the-moment guests, they fed us shrimp they'd brought back from a recent trip to Florida... a great lunch and wonderful talk. Unfortunately, I started feeling sick during dessert, and kept hinting to DH about leaving. But when I stepped outside, I just couldn't hang on and I ended up barfing all over their front steps! (My first time ever doing something like that... oh, we writers must accrue experiences, must we not? Mortifying or not.) I went inside to barf all over their toilet, and DH kindly cleaned everything up. Of course our hosts were totally compassionate and gracious, but I was still embarrassed. And we needed to get going, so off we went.
Luckily we'd asked for some plastic bags for the car, because I needed to use them several times on the way home. It was a most miserable ride! But once home and laying down, I felt much better and snoozed a bit. And today I'm tired and a bit stomach-sore, but feel a lot better. So was it a stomach bug? It could have been a bit of a hangover from drinking champagne two nights in a row, though I wasn't drunk. It's hard to say. But I'm so glad it happened at the very end of our wonderful weekend!