Blues Traveler

I'm probably not helping with Sam's separation issues by leaving for Boston tomorrow. Or maybe that is helping? Either way, I had to comfort Sam a great deal at bedtime tonight. And just when I thought he was finally asleep, he whispered, "If I can't see you, I will think about you."

So, obviously, I burst into tears and left the room. 

The Darndest

Last night during our picnic at a local park Dave told Sam all about the winter carnival, how they hide a medallion in a city park, and how he used to follow the clues and search for it every year.

"You're old enough now that we can search for the medallion together," Dave told Sam.

"What happens if you find it?" Sam asked. 

"You get a year's supply of groceries and plane tickets," Dave answered. 

"And medical supplies?" Sam followed. 

"Huh?" Dave asked.

"Do you get any medical supplies?" Sam asked again. 

"No," Dave replied. "Just groceries and tickets."

"Oh," Sam said. "Maybe we can search this year anyway."

It's Good for Him

Sam has this thing about ALWAYS wanting me to put him to bed. "Is it a Mama night?" he asks hopefully each evening. When it is a Mama night, he looks at his dad and says, "Dad, it's a Mama night. You can go and relax now." When it's a Dada night, he looks at me and says, "Well, maybe you and Dad should team up." Sometimes we do team up, but most of the time we just remind Sam of the routine. On those occasions he likes to say to me, a little whimper in his voice, "Well, it's just that I love you more than I love my dad." Oh, please.

Last night was not a Mama night. It was, in fact, a book club night. Which is like the best night of the month for this mom. Sam seemed fine with this fact when I left. He hugged me, cheerfully said goodbye, and told me to kiss him on his sleeping head when I returned. Easy peasy. 

But when I got home Dave shared that Sam had had a difficult night. At one point, Dave found Sam with the lights on sobbing while hugging a picture of the two of us that he keeps on his desk.

And all I did was go to book club, folks. Book club!

You don't even want to know how he reacted the time I scheduled an evening haircut. 

Child of Mine

I'm listening to this fascinating book right now called Far From the Tree (plus some subtitle about identity) by Andrew Solomon. My book club read it a while back, and while I'm sure I have some great excuse for it, the fact is I never read it. So, OF COURSE, at every book club since someone makes some connection to the book. And I totally get it now. 

It's basically about what it's like to be the parent of a child whose horizontal identity marks them as different. I've been astounded by a myriad of details during my listening. Today I learned that some children have actually filed "wrongful life" suits against their parents for, well, giving them life despite knowing about a condition that might make life a struggle. Parents have also sued genetic testers when they've been given misinformation or no information about a genetic condition. What these children and parents must argue in order to win these suits is that they would have preferred that they or their child had never been born. And while that idea makes my heart hurt, the book is so good that it reminds me that I'm not one of those children or parents, and I can't really know what I would feel or do. So, I keep listening and learning. 

If you're interested, you should totally check out this book. Don't be alarmed by the fact that it's like a million pages long. You can choose which chapters you'd like to read. I'm listening to it for the long haul, though. Just 38 more hours to go. 

Mama's Girl

I'm leaving for a conference tomorrow, and I swear Eloise can sense it. She refuses to let me put her down for a nap today--just c l i n g s to my arm and buries her head into my shoulder. Secretly, I love it, but I'm not looking forward to being away for five days. Five days! Eloise does appear to have growing affection for her father, though, so that's good. She swings her arms a little less frantically to ward him off when he comes near her lately. Progress.

Get Away, Get Better

A trip to the cabin is just what the doctor ordered to get this family over our three-weeks-of-illness blues.

I let Sam play with the camera on my phone to capture the fun we were having in the beautiful evening light. Here's what he got:

And one of the adorable photographer himself:

Jessie and Julia

I tried to truss a bird today. Here's how it turned out.

The Learning

I took a couple of online PD courses this weekend. I'm working to meet some state requirements so I can renew my teaching license. For one course, offered through my former district, I had to watch a video, write a response to a few questions, and reflect. I shared what I learned and moved on.

For the other course, I needed to pay $30 to read some materials and answer multiple choice questions. It wasn't hard, but it did require some close reading. Not of the information in the text, per se, but of the answer options themselves. Here's a sample: 

RTI stands for:

a. Route to Intervention

b. React to Interruption

c. Response to Intervention

d. Response to Interaction

The answer: This is the dumbest test I've ever taken. 

It had no relationship with my actual knowledge of intervention strategies in the classroom or my ability to draw upon them in effective and meaningful ways. 

But I passed. So I guess I'm qualified to teach children in this fine state?