At what point is it acceptable to swear in public? To/at your children's doctor?
A couple of guys joined us at the back of the
bus last week. Not entirely sober at 10am but friendly. "Look at the little man," the one on the aisle gestured to Ukiah. And they looked at Ukiah, apparently charmed by his "training to be a little man" posture. "Hey, you gonna be a lawyer?" Ukiah shook is head, politely. "No, really. What you gonna be? Cause if you a lawyer you ain't never gonna lose a case. I feel sorry for that district attorney, cause if you just smile, it's all over. You got a good smile, little man. How many cavities you got?"
Aslin pretended to sleep as Ukiah graciously nodded, smiled, met a high-five and turned to me for reassurance. "No cavities."
"See that?" the aisle man asked his window friend. "See, you got somebody who loves you. You know that? I want you to know..." Window man was unsuccessful in getting his friend to
shut up or
leave the nice kid alone. Aisle man continued, "Your mamma take a baseball bat to the back of the head for you." He smiled at me, approval of my parenting. "I'm not trying to be graphic, but she'd move right in at get hit for you... I'm just trying to tell you how much love you got...You guys all right..."
The unlikely family-support workers left the bus a few blocks before us.
More highlights from our recent weeks in the
real world-
- A cross city walk from Belltown to Seattle Center, to Pike Place, to the International District, to a different bus to Ranier, where we walked to collect the truck from the shop.
- Meeting Rasta the rooster
- Cat sitting Suri
- Evaluating diversity in gaming and the Army's presence at PAX
- Pickin berries, apples, flowers and feeding goats
- Suffering through the "worst game of capture the flag ever"
- Turning down a dream job
- Helping Grandma move furniture, boxes and files
- Reserving a dozen manga titles at the library
- Cooking pizza, stuffed peppers and plum sauce
- A bike ride to the dog park
- Mowing the neighbor's yard
- Hosting a veteran of the 1st Gulf War, learning of his recently discovered uranium bone-poisoning
- Inventorying the My Little Pony and Magic card collections
- And a bad encounter with the doctor
This whole resumption of
normal has proven challenging, especially as we opted not to return to our routines. Brad's making bloody ducks and
severed limbs. My
new job comes with Sounders tickets but with out a classroom. We're experiencing a prolonged/delayed broken heart in
Clearwater's move out of town. I miss preschool and we all miss the staff discount on groceries. In two weeks Dawn and Kalin will move next door. And we've already eaten more than half our winter supply of blueberries.
Adding to the challenge and self-doubt of putting our lives back together, "well child" check-ups that included the question, "how long are you going to protect them from the real world?" Height, weight, blood pressure, spine check and "That's not a judgment, I respect home and alternative schooling, but why don't you just put them out there?"
I've been wondering what shape our lil' blog might take as we resume a settled life, not especially anxious to join the masses of family stories already floating around. In part because writing with our names attached, means censoring to
protect the subjects and/or audience. And partly because with out the built-in drama of the
trip of lifetime, what could there possibly be to say? Then I remembered that scenes from the
real, day-to-day lives of ordinary people make some of my favorite stories.
So, I confirmed with the doctor that I did feel judged, not at all supported. I listed a half dozen of the kids' real world engagements and kindly told him, "don't fucking push me on this." My eloquent response would have sounded a little something like "I can talk educational philosophy and developmental psychology for hours, probably weeks and surely the rest of my life. You've only got about 5 minutes, so listen to the kids' lungs, answer their questions and offer me some resources, if you'd like." I think he heard my message even in its abbreviated form.
For the record, Ukiah's 5'3, Aslin 5'1.75. Both appear healthy despite my unwillingness to allow them to participate in the real world. Maybe because I'd take a bat to the head for either of them. I'm not trying to be graphic.
In September, December held promise of down time. Lingering coughs, experiments in employment and a surprise trip to the ocean devoured every possibility of surplus time. So, we're considering sending New Year's or possibly Valentine's cards and wouldn't have it any other way.
Before live model Father Frost, a santa-type- regal in blue, took his pose at the drawing jam, the snow began. The pirates and nudes and musicians held series of short poses, we observed or exited quickly, quietly. We weren't official event photographers, so didn't document Ukiah's charcoal sketched wings or Aslin's print making process. Soap-making filled the multi-media studio with evergreen then chocolate, a combination inspiring to the camera. Snap shots out the window only.
We missed the snowballs but had plenty of time in the slush. Ukiah, Aslin and Brad hiked through the dark to meet me at Samarya's holiday party/fundraiser where sparkling cider ran short but the chocolates lasted all night. I tried to look nonchalant when Aslin pulled first one, then two of my raffle tickets. We haven't been to the Volunteer Park Cafe and will happily add it to our next conservatory visit. 
"Can new people join next quarter?" Aslin asked, no doubt hoping another girl or two will join her drama class. Of course that would mean Queen Aslin would have to share the female roles in the end-of the-season performance showcase. I especially appreciated the inventive use of character props in the kids' adaptation of the picture book, My Lucky Day. 
Snow turned to rain and eventually, a little water in the basement. The kids and I braved the elements again, bussing to the aquarium where the diver in the Washington Waters exhibit assured us she, swimming in 120,000 gallons of water, was drier in her suit than those of us waiting to watch the octopus feeding. The speech for school groups included discussion of the territorial disputes between the wolf eel and the octopus. Behind us, away from the preschool ears, other aquarium folk described the method the octopus uses to stun his prey. I shuttered at the eye removal and joined the kids at the touch tank.
We're considering separating ourselves from a too-small sleeping bag and have taken steps towards letting go of a couple dozen albums. Classics like TSOL's- Revenge, The Ventures'- Walk Don't Run, and No Nuclear War by Peter Tosh. 
We came for the rats. The Rat Pack boys and girls keep separate apartments, a dwarf hamster centered between them. The girls, slightly smaller, nose over one another to reach us. Aslin's in, pinky finger from each hand offered for exploration. I follow with one shy knuckle, Ukiah eventually joins us. The trio of boys, interested initially, move on to climbing the walls before we've fulfilled our visiting need. Ukiah and I watch the little guy, the one with only 3 feet and half a tail while Aslin returns to the girls. Maybe we'll need two cages too. 
went on a little holiday. In past visits with preschoolers, he's backed himself into corners, gotten stuck behind book shelves, narrowly avoided tricycle wheels, peed on the floor and impressed everyone with his climbing and speed. This month, he ventured out with out us and has been complimented as a fantastic guest, which may have something to do with the extra care and attention of his hosts at King St. Thank you!
Before we ordered vegan Mongolian beef, before I dumped a cup of tea, before we noticed that our table cloth had doubled as a napkin for earlier patrons, the women across the room cracked their fortune cookies.
With the homeschool group, they helped NorthWest Harvest package a literal ton of chocolate and learned this bit of Seattle candy trivia-
Aslin
Ukiah
Yesterday, after a morning of soccer with toddlers, an almond latte followed by a sunny afternoon in the dahlia garden and climbing the camels at Volunteer Park, we strained the berries and toasted the birthday Joan Jett and I share. 
Blackberry Liqueur 
Today be Aslin`s birthday. She`s been countin' th' days an' be thrilled t' finally b 11. Yesterday, at Izilla, she spent a bit o' her cat sittin' treasure on a gift fer herself. A new lanky cat. Mashimaro. Marshmellow. "Because three of her paws are white and the rest of it is the color of a toasted marshmellow, and, she's just cute and fluffy."
Home fries at the Crocodile Cafe are fresh cut red potatoes, not too greasy. The cinnamon french toast has the slightest hint of nutmeg. For some, it's hang-over food. For us, it's an almost clean table with a view of the Sunday morning puddles and people of 2nd/Blanchard and second breakfast. Today it includes free samples of Izzy Essque sodas. Mandarin is light on sugar/calories, soft on flavor. 
