Because I don't use Facebook, I put these things here.

Skipper, sitting alone in the dining room, eating a bowl of hummus* with a spoon,** looked over at me and said "Mom, I'm yumming my hummus."

Also, in desultory conversation with the counter staffperson today at the neighborhood bakery, I mentioned that Skipper had just asked me what we were going to do today, and the counter staff person (who sees me and one or both kids every few weeks or so) did a double take. "Wait, SHE said that?" she said, pointing at Skipper, who was mashing her pastry sample into her maw, "I didn't know she could talk!" I shrugged, and Skipper gave her the patented Skipper Smirk, which probably only convinced her that I'm deluded and the kid really can't talk at all.

But, oh, she can.

*I've been making a lot of hummus lately, having finally found a recipe that gets me somewhere close to what I want hummus to be. Why didn't somebody tip me off to Melissa Clark years ago?
**Carrots are for losers.

Problem solved.

Cook's decided that all we need to do to make sure our kids get a decent education is to have them do something quirky and adorable, get noticed by a gregarious independent film-maker, and become a viral internet sensation.*

So now I feel better.

*Not to say that that kid doesn't totally deserve an awesome college fund, because he is exceptionally charming. And the movie makes me feel good about people, which I really appreciate, since I'm very much on the misanthropic side of things lately.

I can't bear it, either.

Dutch cried most of the way home from school today. Her music teacher (an energetic, generous, joyful woman who is, I suspect, the heart of the school) made the official announcement to the kids at an assembly today that she* will be leaving the school this summer. Dutch said her music teacher cried and her classroom teacher cried, and Dutch cried too. Dutch being Dutch,** she said "Mom, I can't bear it! I can't BEAR that she's leaving!" and I found myself fighting back tears, too. I'm sure Dutch would be just as sad if her beloved teacher was retiring, or voluntarily leaving for another job, but I wouldn't be, and I'm guessing nobody else in the school community over the age of 10 would be. But I think that a lot of other parents and school staff are shedding tears over this loss.

Obviously, we CAN bear it, and it will still be better than many schools in the world, and better than no school.*** But it feels really sad, and weighted with more meaning, like Everything Good is Going Away.


* and therefore not only music classes, but also the 5th-grade band, the 4th-grade drum group, the holiday community sing-a-long event, and probably more other stuff I don't know about...
**Sentimental and extremely fond of drama in any form.
*** I guess. Though I think we may be reaching the point where I really could provide a better education through homeschooling. Actually, I fear that keeping Dutch at home for a carefully-planned curriculum of playing complicated pretend games with Skipper, arguing with me, coloring, and lying around reading books about horses would provide a better education than what she's going to get at school next year.

Easter

This is a crappy way to grow citizens.

We got the news today that Dutch's school will be cutting its PE teacher and music teacher for next year. The remaining cuts are not yet confirmed, but are likely to be reductions to the school counselor, librarian, and reading specialist positions, for a total reduction of 1.3 FTE between them.

I don't know what that means to you, but I think it's staggering. These cuts bring the school down to almost bare bones, and there's every reason to expect that the following year the bones will be cleaned down to classroom teachers, admin staff, janitorial staff, and cafeteria staff. That's all. No art, no music, no physical activity, no extra support for kids who need it. I can't see how they'll cover teachers' planning time; I have to assume it'll involve students watching a lot of movies. I don't even see how they'll supervise recess, honestly. Maybe they'll cut that, too.

I also assume that every family at Dutch's school that has the money to send their kids to private school will at least seriously consider doing so. Those kids will leave, and what remains will be a community without deep pockets from which to fund-raise to cover any extras, and a population of kids who really need the resources they can no longer have.

What kind of society is this? I guess this is what anti-tax people want. I don't understand why, though. I just don't get it at all. When people say they want to shrink government, what kind of a future do they see? One in which stuff like sewer/road/water/parks/etc infrastructure is built and maintained only in rich communities? One in which only rich people's kids get anything good? Is that really what they want? Have they thought this through AT ALL?

 Lately Skipper has been putting herself to sleep pretty often. Today she kicked me out of the room after her pre-nap book, and I heard her yakking away to herself for a few minutes, pretty loudly. She sings to herself, loudly, extensively deploying what a friend of mine calls (in describing her own peculiar child's singing) a "strange toddler vibrato." Anyway, when she stops making noise, she almost immediately falls asleep. I went in to check on her about 90 seconds after the last note faded away, and this is what I found.

And these are two pictures from this evening. This is Dutch, reacting to my explanation that the amount of  money we are going to start regularly putting away for her college education is enough to pay for 1% of her expected costs to attend community college while living at home

This is Skipper, playing with the all-time favorite toy in this household.

The Force is strong in this one.

Tonight Dutch said to me, "Mom, can I make a spreadsheet?"

Oh, yes. Yes, you can, my child.

Nothing new.

We're still slogging along with the same old, same old. I just felt that I should post something to reassure anybody who might be lying awake at night worrying that something terrible has happened to us. Here for your enjoyment: miscellany.

Spring is reluctantly easing here, with occasional lovely days and a whole lot of rain. Tonight is balmy and beautiful; Cook went to a meeting of map dorks, after which he glided and swooped home on his bike in the dark, and came home exhilarated.*

My job is in transition, possibly to a different setup at a different organization, and possibly to no job at all. I'll find out in May. (This makes it a little challenging to plan summer childcare.)

I got new tires on my bike. Cook bought them for me, and he went into the shop and said "My wife needs tires. She doesn't like to fall down, she doesn't like to go fast, and she hates getting flats. What should I get her?" So now I have these fabulous fat tires on my bike.

Dutch has been watching some women's basketball, including a game featuring a player who is 6'8". I don't think Dutch will reach those lofty heights, but you never know. I've never met a taller 7-year-old.

Skipper** is eagerly anticipating her upcoming third birthday, which she has already decided will feature cheese pizza and chocolate cupcakes. Otherwise, she continues to be rashy and reckless, with a charming love of wordplay*** and an off-putting love of whining and shrieking.

And that's about it. Further bulletins as events warrant.


*In equal parts from the ride and the map dorkery.
** aka "The One Who Isn't Tall"
*** We credit/blame the Grandparents Cook for this.

No jetpacks.

Portland is getting a bike-sharing system, and while I have issues with it, I'm getting pretty excited about the potential short-term future of urban transportation systems. I imagine Dutch in 10 years,* preparing to go out with friends - she'll pick up her Mobile Device Of Some Kind** and tell it where she wants to go, and it will tell her the best way to get there. But it won't give her driving directions. It'll tell her where the nearest available bike or car can be found (maybe a commercial car or bike share vehicle, or maybe a peer-to-peer share vehicle, parked in somebody's driveway,  available for instant rental by MDSK), the location and arrival time of the next bus, the location of the nearest available cab or jitney or whatever.... Maybe she'll grab a bikeshare bike and ride it to the light rail station, where she'll dock it and hop on the train.

It's going to be great, you guys. Of course, there's going to be a lot of stuff about it that's going to piss me off, and I'll be sure to be grumbling about how much goddamn time Dutch and Skipper spend hunched over their MDSKs,*** but we're going to get so much closer to having really flexible transportation options. If the Republicans don't screw it all up.


* This scenario assumes that society doesn't collapse, and that Dutch has a safe home and a reasonably healthy social life...
**which will be able to do a billion things that I can't even imagine...
*** and of course if we've moved toward massive 20-lane highways filled with driverless cars, I'm going to be REALLY pissed.

Spinny thing