Happy Halloween

Far Side Rules

NO TALKING ALLOWED IN THE KITCHEN WHILE WE'RE AT DINNER. Jason commented that this sign looked like one of those signs from the Far Side, when farm animals are trying to write. He also freaked out that our seven year old can't spell yet, but I assured him that invented spelling is a positive step. I hope.
As for the rule, well, evidently, Maxine is serious about it. This is the second sign like this she's put up, the first we took down last year. Now its back. I still can't figure out why she wants us to eat dinner in silence, and of course we just ignore it.

Sweet kids, and thoughts about Xiney.

I plopped sleeping baby down on Maxine's lap abruptly while I ran to do something, two minutes later I came back to see him still sleeping peacefully while she watched a movie. Woohoo! half an hour later, the kitchen is clean, Ivan is still sleeping in Xiney's lap, and I love my children!


He woke up shortly after that, and they read a comic book together for a minute. Did I mention I love my children?


Ivan's reached an easy stage, just in time, too, allowing me to focus on Maxine who desperately needs my attention lately. She's going through a transitional time at school, with the new year and figuring out her relationships. She's doing that thing unique to girls, I remember it well from my childhood: "So-and-so's taking you away from me!" This morning she had a little melt-down because her old best friends have other new best friends. Meanwhile at home, there's the obvious, her mother dealing with the baby all the time, and demanding she be on auto-pilot, which she can do for a little while before she needs me, NOW! And she's figured out she can get negative attention by contradicting *everything* I say in a sassy, bratty tone. Yikes! She had me flipping frantically through my "Raising a Daughter" book the other night, trying to figure out where I went wrong. But now with this little insight into her social world, which I know is number one in importance to Maxine, I think I can understand her a little better.

On the Neon Side of Town

This post is for all you B-52's lovers out there...

"WHAT'S THAT ON YOUR HEAD?"


A WIG!
"WHAT'S THAT ON YOUR HEAD?"


A WIG!
"I SAID, WHAT'S THAT ON YOUR HEAD?"


A WIG!
WIG! WIG! WIG! WIG! WIG! WIG! WIG! WIG!


(I hope somebody else remembers that song.) As for this last picture, what's funnier, a baby in a wig, or a baby in a wig with his onesie soaked in drool? Zen masters have been asking this question for centuries.

These next two I will call "my homespun Cindy Sherman tribute."


Maxine watching Cinderella.