Why hello. I’ve been slacktastic when it comes to posting, mostly because I’ve been busy. First, hunting down every. single. parent. in the 5th grade to extort a baby picture of their child for the baby pictures section of their graduating-from-elementary-school yearbook (which may be moot if the local middle school closes and they’re stuck in elementary school another year, but at least we’ll at least have the job done a year early)! Also, gathering up roughly a ga-jillion brochures, coupons, and giveaways for the Hannaford Kidz Expo tomorrow. Which, by the way, meant that I was on Newschannel 13’s Live at Noon show today, and I meant to tell you ahead of time so that you could tune in (actually, I did, but only on the KidsOutAndAbout Facebook page). But I didn’t mention it here, so sorry. Sadly, they don’t have the clip posted on their site. But I was on with Deb, so I mostly just smiled a lot and said things like “yes” and “it’s free!” Did I mention that I never did watch that clip from the time that I talked about the Great American Backyard Campout? Yep. I just didn’t.
Anyway, tonight we went to see Cats at Niskayuna High School. We had a couple of friends in the cast and they did an excellent job. J was thrilled to see them. Every time I see one of these high school plays, I think, “Damn, they take this stuff seriously.” Because, you know, when I was in high school, there were kids singing slightly off-key, possibly one talent-show-level dance sequence and, like, a phone on a table as props. Or, you know, they’d switch out the phone and add a tablecloth for one of the seasons. These kids had serious costumes and serious singing and serious dance moves and a serious set. I have no idea how these kids manage to get it all done, but of course all this seriousness is entertaining to watch.
I said that J was thrilled with the show, but M is missing it because she’s off to a weekend soccer tournament. She was so excited to go. It’s funny because most of her close friends who are going will be with a parent or even their entire family, but not M. I sometimes think that our friends are appalled that we just allow her to gallivanting off without us, but the best part of a trip like this, for her, is the independence. She is pretty self-sufficient for a ten-year-old, and I love that. Especially since for the first two years of her life she preferred to be as close to me as possible pretty much all the time. I remember hunkering over the toilet with a stomach bug while she cried because I wasn’t holding her. Or carrying her through parking lots while I was 9 months pregnant with J because she was so afraid that cars were actively aiming for her. So I’ll rejoice in the independence and if I accidentally start to imagine her in a car accident or breaking her leg on the soccer field or something. . . well, I won’t do that. I’ll just think that it’s a pity that I’ll miss some of her awesome goals. And I’ll hope someone is videotaping.
