Max got in trouble last week for writing "You are a dumbo," on a classmate's math sheet. The sheet belonged to Max's friend and Max was trying to be funny and make his friend laugh. On our way out of school, Max's teacher confronted him about it in the hallway. Claire and I watched Max's face turn crimson. He almost never gets in trouble. Once in first grade for crawling under his desk during Music. This time, I wished his teacher had pulled him aside and talked to him privately rather than shooting questions at him where anyone could hear.
***
Some kids at school are making fun of Claire and I can't quite figure out why. It has to do with a game and the others telling her she's not good at it so she shouldn't play. I want to go up to each of these children and flick them on their small heads. I won't, of course, but the meanness...it starts in first grade. Damn.
***
J. is working like crazy again. He hates it. I hate it. It negatively affects the family dynamic in a major way.
Every time his work consumes him like a licking, snapping house fire, I fear that everything we've built will disintegrate into a pile of fluffy ashes.
***
Claire was home sick two days last week. We had a decent time together. She stood with me, shivering and feverish in her thick winter coat while I strung lights on the two tiny shrubs in front of our house. I made her french toast, which we can never have when Max is home because of his egg allergy.
At the end of the second day Claire felt good enough to pluck tags from her school's giving tree and go with me to Target to buy the presents. We went a little crazy. Because when I saw slips of paper that said One pair of boy's black socks, size large and Sleeper for an 18-month-old and A pair of girl's leggings, size M, and Hygiene products for a 22-year-old woman, I couldn't not take them.
I had to stop reading the tags. I shoved them into my purse and dragged Claire out before I swiped them all.
***
More rejections on Spectacle. I feel like a massive loser. Still, that doesn't stop me from pathetically starting a new project while I continue to seek representation for my finished manuscripts. I need to be stopped before I start slapping them all up into Amazon's e-books site while frothing at the mouth and gulping chablis like water.
***
Max wrote a school report on Ireland. This was his chapter on Food and Drink:
There are many foods and drinks that Ireland likes. Some foods Ireland likes are potatoes. Some drinks Ireland likes are beer. That is all the stuff Ireland likes.
And this, despite our shitty, shitty mornings, is why I like being a mom to these two goofballs.
I love, love, LOVE these little pictures. Thank you for sharing them.
Posted by: Jennifer Jo | December 14, 2011 at 02:27 AM
I would start teaching Claire now how to say really sarcastically mean things back when she is teased. Totally serious.
What goes on in the mornings? G's therapist recommended a sticker chart for her morning issues and it has actually helped some.
That makes me so mad about the Spectacle rejections! Stupid thinking stuff won't sell unless it's about sparkly vampires! I need to see what kind of query letter we can come up with to play up an angle they'll like. Hm...
Posted by: Kristy | December 14, 2011 at 10:20 AM
I refuse to purchase --or even read-- vampire-type stories. Keep submitting!
Girls are capable of being the cruelest beings on the planet.
The note from your boy cracks me up and sounds like something one of mine would have said at that age. Too bad the teacher didn't have the context.
Those giving tree requests get me every time, too. *sigh*
Posted by: Karen (formerly kcinnova) | December 14, 2011 at 01:34 PM
The good and bad, loving and hating of being a mom! Life....
Posted by: M | December 16, 2011 at 03:01 PM