Alternatively: Not Very Spiritual and Very Self-Involved
Hickory Dickory Dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down!
Hickory Dickory Dock.
Hickory Dickory Dock,
The bird looked at the clock,
The clock struck two 2,
Away she flew,
Hickory Dickory Dock........
Three blind mice, three blind mice,See how they run, see how they run,They all ran after the farmer's wife,Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,Did you ever see such a thing in your life,As three blind mice?
The mice are back and they were running, not up the clock, but up in the wall behind my bed in the wee hours of this morning. Ugh.
Gross.Yuck. Have I mentioned before that I do not like mice?? I take personal offense that they would enter my home, uninvited and unwelcome, stay and multiply.
Ugh. Gross. Yuck.
Sleep was elusive with the pitter patter of little feet scurrying and sharp teeth chewing. When I did sleep I was bombarded with nightmares that we filled with—you guessed it—
mice.
Actually the worst dream started with mice sized mice and developed into guinea pig sized mice (or maybe they were guinea pigs) and morphed into capybaras!! The holes they were coming from got increasingly larger and larger.
I’m sure the fact that The Nutcracker has the King Mouse and the army of mice/rats who fight the nutcracker and surround Clara hasn’t helped because the soundtrack for my dream was Tchaikovsky’s score.
On another, more paranoid, note, I am allowing myself to be stressed out by people who surely have no ulterior motives or sinister meanings to their questions—but it seems everyone is asking the boys how much school they have, or how’s school going, or lots of homework right now??? And then they look at us as if we are slackers when they find out we are in very low gear at home.
What? No overloaded school schedule to top off Nutcracker nuttiness?? How dare we? Yeah…I’m pretty sure I’m overreacting. But the looks when told we did school in July and August (Boo was even doing school in June) so we are able to relax a little in December border on disbelief.
As we’ve entered the fourth year of the
Sugar Plump Fairy drives to dance I’ve found some truths I hold evident:
(cue the world’s smallest violins playing “My Heart Bleeds for You.”)First, driving seven days a week for near two months to the same place looses its shine by about week three (or sooner).
Second, while I’m very appreciative for the socialization aspect (mine as much as the boys) sometimes I really would just love to curl up and not talk to anyone. There’s been little time to read, craft or do any of the activities I thought I might be able to. But I don’t want to go sit in the car and be anti-social, either. A couple people I only get to see this time of year.
Third, when I hit overload I can only take so much.
(Insert proper whining tone here.) I’ve found the week after dress rehearsals is when I collapse. I try very hard to keep the boys from getting overwhelmed and strive to make sure sleep and eating well and smart are priorities for them, but sometimes forget myself. Or eat stupid and the hormones are in control of my sleep so there either not enough or too much—a vicious cycle, indeed.
So, here I sit stewing. I am sure no one is trying to upset me, but I wonder about the socialization of adults who don’t know how to talk to children about anything more than, “Are you getting all of your homework done?” My children aren’t allowed to roll their eyes at anyone (I’m sure they have behind my back—I’m not
that naïve) but I’m about ready to start rolling my eyes!! No wonder we hear kids think grownups are clueless.
I actually find that the grownups most worried about my child’s schooling situation have no children of their own. What is up with that? I’m sure they are well intentioned—they just haven’t been socialized for actual real conversations with children. (And obviously aren’t aware of some of the perks and benefits of homeschooling!)
Asking kids about homework is akin to asking, “How are you?” Does the asker really want to know? Are they going to get panicked if we really tell them how we are?
What would I propose as good alternative questions? Since I’m complaining I should have thought out a solution. Well as a matter of fact I can think of several:
“Are you reading a good book right now?”“Have you learned a new Christmas song?”
“Do you have any recitals to perform in?”“Are you getting enough rest? How are you feeling?”
“How ‘bout them Chiefs?” (Never mind...they’re still losing.)If one must ask about school the question could be, “Do you have a favorite subject?”
Children can be just as fun, sometimes more so, to connect with than adults. I’ve really enjoyed the students that I’ve come in contact with this year and have learned some really neat things, founds some interesting book ideas, or heard about all the family traditions they share with their family. Sometimes they have to be drawn out just a little bit.
Whew…that was a bit spewy…I’m sure it applies to no one who reads this. Just overflowing today.
