Easter Bunny Booty
My Easter Bunny duty is done for another year! I was not super-prepared this year as I had desperately hoped to be out of town. But I am not. So Easter Bunny I must be. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t actually talk about the Easter Bunny with my kids AT ALL. If I’m not going to lie to them about Santa, I am certainly not going to lie to them about a giant magical rabbit bringing them baskets of goodies! Besides, I like to get all the credit for the good stuff that goes on around here. We do Easter Baskets on Saturday because it is always a fun surprise for my kids (they never remember) and it doesn’t interfere with getting ready for Church on Sunday and it’s a good separation from the real, meaningful Easter.
Included:
1–Mentos–an aunt in Kenya introduced my kids to these, and they LOVE them
2–Yan Yams and Koalas
3–Fruit Roll-Ups and pink lemonade Bunny snacks; my kids have declared jelly-beans “disgusting”
4–A punching balloon
5–Fresh sidewalk chalk
6–A new toothbrush–I never miss a holiday!
7–A new water bottle
8–Something sporty: scooter for Amos, soccer gear for PJ, and workout clothes/bike helmet for Lily–we are ALL ready for them to get outside!
9–Star Wars Guess Who–something to play together on a Sunday
10–A sling-shot. This is a special family item and I started to get worried about giving them to my kids until I had a brilliant idea: They each get a pack of ping-pong balls or practice golf balls (basically tiny wiffle balls) to go with them. Since non of their friends have sling-shots, I am hopeful they will feel satisfied to shoot with this light-weight ammunition. I have made each of them a soda-bottle target for practice.
Because it was one of my favorite childhood memories, I created a scavenger hunt to the baskets. I hope this hunt will be long enough and fun enough to let me sleep in a bit. One of the clues is located in the sandbox, which I have newly filled with water gel beads. I am crossing my fingers that will entertain them for a while!
A Day that Dreams Came True
For PJ, at least.
Rant now past its’ prime
So…you may have heard a bunch of chatter this week about Rob Portman deciding that it really would be OK and not catastrophic to the world for gay people to marry each other. This was not a decision reached because he was contemplating the welfare of faceless masses of gay people; he came to this conclusion only after he found out his son is gay. I’m happy for him and his family that he seems to be showing an increase of love and understanding which, pretty universally, is a good thing.
But it really bugs me too.
Jon Stewart tries to get at it here with Marco Rubio
who does not engage.
What bugs is that many conservatives do not seem to feel an issue is legitimate until they have personal experience of it. And as a professional policy-maker, I just think IT IS YOUR JOB to actually think through issues that do not touch you or your immediate family but that do affect your constituents and neighbors. It is unlikely, for example, that your daughter is going to come out as an illegal immigrant. Or that your son would come out as a medically uninsured person. Or that your wife comes out as a poor working parent who has a hard time paying for childcare with the poor salary she can earn. Or that your brother will not receive adequate care as a military veteran, serving in a war you voted for but have not sacrificed for or even paid for. Or that your sister will come out as a black person who suffers from prejudice and discrimination. Or that your father will come out as a student with special needs in a school district which cannot afford to serve him. Or that your mother will have a hard time repaying her student loans. Or that your grandchild will suffer from chronic hunger. Because those are all real issues in the US today, and yet, they don’t touch a ruling class of wealthy people, and let’s face it, politicians are almost always wealthy. So, here and there, they might have a gay person born into their families and decide to make that issue a legitimate one. But what about the rest of us?
Mt. Hope in March
Surprisingly springy weather inspired me to walk the cemetery a little earlier in the season than I normally would. A few notes from Mt Hope, one of America’s premier garden cemeteries.
1) Cobblestone are a bitch–no plowing these streets.
2) If you have to explicitly warn hospital employees NOT to park in this extraordinarily inconvenient and unseemly spot, you seem to have a big parking problem.
3) Poor Henry Ward’s ashes are still stolen, but not that meteorite! Good call on the meteorite, Henry.
4)Delightful names encountered, as always
5) No pictures, but I once again sighted R.O.U.S.s. They’re fun…from a distance.
The Longest 28 Days
February hasn’t actually seemed all that long for me this year because I have been very very busy, but I am still ready to see it go. I just thought I better share with you this video. Sometimes I hear people get all wistful about goats, which make me know that, without a doubt, they have never ever LIVED with goats. Anyone who has feels no LACK of goats, I guarantee you. They are incredibly disturbing animals. Witness:
Plus they eat EVERYTHING. Who needs that?!
Baby goats, I grant you, are adorable. Unless they are jumping on your bed. Then we have a problem. But baby goats jumping on someone else’s bed: hilarious.
Cards Complete
I decided that valentine-making is a perfect Sunday afternoon activity. Well, almost perfect–it did interfere with my nap. But everyone got their cutting, signing, and assembling done in one fell swoop, so that is something. Between three kids, we had 62 valentines to make and I have to admit that while that sounds like a lot, it makes me shudder to think of my mom’s valentines responsibilities. While I fondly recall making cards for every classmate (think construction paper, doilies, and wrapping paper creations), I am sure there were some of her 10 children who were more reluctant participants. Also, my sister was born on February 13th, and now that I realize what that means to a mom–rushing to make is a special day, buy and wrap presents, special dinner, cake midweek, etc.–I really feel sorry for her. Not as sorry as I do on Halloween, but close.
Today’s Agenda
PJ’s morning pronouncement:
Today, I am going to do everything Peter does in The Snowy Day.
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Perfect.
