Other side, please

Kip is just about 2 1/2 years old now and it's showing in how he communicates with me. He's been learning words left and right for a while now, but he's stringing them into sentences lately. Sorry if this is TMI, but hey, this is a record for me as much as anything.

Much of my communication with Kip revolves around breastfeeding (which I'm still doing with him). When he was about six months old I realized I could tell him to switch sides and he would, obligingly, let go and wait for me to give him the other breast. "Side" was one of his first words, "nurse minute" was one of his first phrases, and now he tells me in increasingly complex sentences that he's ready to for me to give him the other side to drink. This morning it was "Mommy, other side, please nurse minute." The grammar isn't quite there, but it's closer and closer.

It's a beautiful thing to see how my child is growing, especially with so many other things in the world to be depressed about. This is likely the last time I'll be so much around a child of this age, certainly the last time I'll breastfeed a child. I don't feel mystical about breastfeeding. Sometimes it's downright annoying when he's trying to get into my shirt, or whining at me for "nurse minute." And yet it's in the way we've learned to communicate together that I can, in many ways, see most clearly how he's developing.

Boomers suck

Warning, there are some swears in here. My optimism is flagging today and I'm pissed.

Pain and fear, but maybe hope

I want to say some very crude, very harsh words right now, but I'll refrain.

Watching Hillary Clinton lose two days ago now was dumbfounding and painful in a way that I don't think any other election has ever been. The polls said she had a high chance of winning. Everyone thought she was going to win, even conservatives. I thought that democrats would turn out in droves to vote against Trump.

And then they didn't.

In moments of bitterness I blame people being misogynist, for hating Hillary Clinton, whose biggest flaw looks to me like ambition. The people who buy the arguments about Benghazi and emails are looking for a reason to disqualify her. There's this visceral hatred of Hillary Clinton that I simply can't explain (though I remember thinking long ago that was a good reason to steer clear of her). I hope that hatred of her doesn't extend to all ambitious women. I'm not sure we'll get another chance to see for many decades, though.

In less bitter moments I can admit that Hillary, for all her experience, didn't offer much of a vision to the American people. She stood for the status quo, and while I thought preserving things like Obamacare and climate change accords would at least inspire people a little bit, it apparently didn't. She didn't actually stand for greater equality for POC (perhaps trying to not alienate the white people who didn't trust her anyway), so while they voted for her, their turnout wasn't as high as it was four years ago for Barak Obama. Republicans take some blame/credit for that as well as they did everything in their power to restrict voting for minorities and young people.

They know how to play to win.

Trump is at least being gracious in his win, which I didn't expect. I hope that he will actually govern the country for everyone in it and not just republicans. I hope the Real Donald Trump is more pragmatic and less bigoted than the one I've listened to for the last year. I hope my nation survives.

Day in the life, April edition

We left late because I insisted on finishing Sylvia's Easter bonnet for sharing time--the project she should have been involved in and yet I accomplished essentially by myself because Sylvia revealed its necessity on the drive home from OHSC and we had a visit from our Home teacher that I wasn't able to cancel before he showed up and after all that Sylvia went to bed rather than stay up and help me with the hat.

Fair enough. I was up until 1 am.

Because I was up so late I got up late and Friday is a morning that Derrick leaves early to go teach. He was nice enough to get the kids more or less ready, except Kip, who decided to poop just at the time we should have been leaving. Oh, and in the process of cleaning up I discovered that my ever so helpful husband had done a load of laundry (necessary since one of the kids wet the bed) and really, you just shouldn't leave laundry sitting all day long. It sours. I can not abide sour laundry.

Got the laundry up and we got out of the door just about the time Sylvia really needed to be at school. About halfway to school Sylvia announces her pants are wet.

Great.











I haven't packed any spares.

I take the boys to child care since I'm already so late for Sylvia and we need to go home anyway to get her some clothes. Paul insists that I finish his leaopard print juggling ball and that takes like two minutes and then we're gone. Finally, something's gone smoothly. Oh, and just before we leave Aman comes back for Bayan's kindy bag, so it's not just me who's having a morning, and while he's there Kip calls him "Baba", which is simply adorable.

I get Sylvia home, get her away from her tablet and changing, and while she's doing that I get some stuff going for dinner (potato pizza--dough and sliced potatoes). I make her watch a video about making friends since that's something she's complained about lately and then gather things together again so we can go.

Sylvia's school sandals are covered in dog pee.

I swear.

The only shoes Sylvia has are sneakers with no shoelaces. I get Sylvia in the car and we drive over to Target and hunt around for shoelaces. None in the kids department, none in the accessories, but I finally find them in the ladies shoe department. We pay and go and get Sylvia to school, only two hours late.

She's just in time for recess.

She's missed sharing.