LIFE PART 2: February 2007

STEREO HEARING

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

"Mom?"

"Mamma?"

"I'm REALLLLY looking forward to video editing tomorrow..."

"I know about surgery. That's when a doctor takes needles..."

"...because I'm almost done with my video project, and it's *SO COOL*. I am using some of my pictures of Oakley..."

"...and opens up your baaahdy. And then they take out your heart and then you can't have love..."

"... and we get to put MUSIC into the video! So Emily and I, we figured out these two songs that are like totally Oakley's theme song..."

"... and then they fix your heart so you can have some love again, and they put it in and you get all better!"

"... and if I'm lucky, it will get done tomorrow and they might put it on the school Website!"

Believe it or not, I can actually hear two dinnertime conversations equally. My brain has rewired itself to actually fully listen to two chatterboxy kids at the same time.

SICKEE

Monday, February 26, 2007

Sarah's feeling rotten and has a 100 degree temperature. She stayed home today. Poor little sweetie.

HARD TO SAY, EVEN IF YOU'RE CLEAR AS A BELL

Saturday, February 24, 2007

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the jubjub bird, and shun the frumious bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand: long time the manxome foe he sought --so rested he by the tumtum tree, and stood awhile in thought. And, as in uffish thought he stood, the Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, came whiffling through the tulgey wood, and burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through the vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head he went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy. `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe; all mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe.

Lewis Carroll

FORESHADOWING

I have not blogged in awhile! For shame on me. In my defense, I have had house guests most of the month (all of the kids' grandparents) and have faced a work tsunami. So you'll get a bunch of posts in the coming days.

For now I want to talk about the grade school Variety Show that Sarah participated in last week.

In general, you have to hand it to these kids for getting up in front of all their peers and a packed auditorium of other viewers and displaying their talents. There were some kids with voices cracking, but no no-shows, stage fright, or puking! Quite impressive!

Sarah did great. She played her piece on the piano beautifully. She didn't really do the bowing part a great service, but the talent part was very sweet and enjoyable. And takes a lot of guts in my book.

I have to say, sitting in the audience, you do get an idea of what will happen in the future for these kids.

The kids who get up and lip sync to Brittney Spears songs, are peaking in 6th grade, to steal a phrase from my friend Allison. They're the popular girls, the cheerleaders, then the sorority girls, who become Consumers. They will follow the crowd and do what is obviously vetted as "cool," their whole lives. Apple loves them.

The kids who made up their own jumproping hip hop routines, will set those trends. They are the early adopters, the risk-takers. Next stop: graffiti art.

The kindergartner who stole the show with a breakdancing routine: future broadcaster. The only kid with a magnetism that I still recall, days later. That's a rare gift.

And the kid who delivered a recitation of the Jabberwocky even though he had a slight speech impediment? That guy's going into advertising. He's going to have to come to terms with being different, and that he has tastes his peers don't understand. It will make him pensive and visionary. In fact, I think I have an internship opening for him.

And what about kids like Sarah, who play instruments or take dance lessons or gymnastics class? You know what? I think we're a bit on the conformist side. We measure our progress against classical norms. I'm not meaning to take anything away from them. But as parents, I think what we're teaching them is that their talents come down to a series of expected judgments. Did you hit all the notes? get the timing right? play expressively? then you did it and you get our approval! This is what they get all day long in school, too. So are we sentencing these kids to live conformist lives, and quelling their creativity?

It's the girl that sat down and played a piece she wrote herself, that made me really think. And remind myself that we must also foster free thinking if we want our kids to realize their potential.