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October 24, 2011

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I love the mayhem that is your life. Well, except for all the chronic infections, obviously.

Oh, and BEHOLD! just kills me. Got to teach that to the smurf.

Perhaps she can be Princess Batgirl Wearing a Pretty Pink Tutu. Sounds spectacular.

BEHOLD!!! Love it!
Good luck with the chronic infections thing, sounds terrible.
And as amusing as your Halloween stories are from the outside, the thought of actually living it makes me terribly glad we don't do Halloween in this country (although the big chain stores are trying to change that).

Behold! I am reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and I think child is reading Darke, the latest installment in the Septimus Heap series. She took it to school with her today, anyway.

I am sorry, I have absolutely no judgement with however you choose to handle it, but my little darling (3) is going to be a rocket and when he changes his mind, I tell him his choice is rocket or stay home. Done. Im the best mom ever. No bend at all. I bet you wish I was your mom.

Oh my god, you've given birth to Nelson from the Simpsons

Sorry, Martin. My husband is horrified that I got that wrong.

Rachelbpg and I are separated at birth. I am the meanest mom ever and I do not apologize for it.

I am, however, transforming 5 yards of tulle into a sparkly pink tutu for my 7 yo to wear for halloween. So maybe I'm not all bad.

Behold! I love it, and may borrow it for my own needs, should they arise.

Behold!

My 8yo and I are reading Fellowship of the Ring. We just read the whole Lothlorien bit, while staying at the cabin in Mendocino which of all places on earth reminds me most of Lothlorien. So that was nice.

I'm so going to stand in front of my latest crafty creation* and say "Behold!". Totally excellent!

*yes I'm crafty but I would have taken about 2 weeks to make the tutu because I'd over-think it and obsess.

My 12 year old son found this ninja backpack thing at Target that he just HAD to have, and my husband, being Overkill Ollie, suggested that he be a ninja zombie.

"Back the truck up!" I said. "You can be a ninja, you can be a zombie but you CANNOT be both. Zombies are slow and stupid and moany and ninjas are fast and stealthy and sneaky. If you were a zombie but have turned into a ninja, wellllll, that just doesn't make any sense and if you WERE a ninja but you are now a zombie then you weren't a very good fucking ninja, now were ya?"

Despite my extensive knowledge of zombies (and I am dead serious about that - LOVE them), they persist.

I was a Rubik cube for Halloween too! My teacher had painted my face. It was the time I wore the most make- up in my life:-)

Behold! Hee hee.

My little guy got pinkeye every time he had an ear infection. Sometimes that's actually how I'd know his ears were going south. Apparently it's not that uncommon: all their little tubes are so little, and close together. When one backs up, the others go down with it.

My Halloween tactic was rather opposite. My precocious daughter just turned three last week. Back in early September we watched the Wizard of Oz for the first time and instead of honing in on Dorothy or Glinda she declared she wanted to be a scary wicked witch. A trip to Joann's later we had procured fabric and pattern. A week later we had a witch costume complete with hat and cape that I'll be damned isn't getting worn. So I left it hanging prominently in her room, talk up how awesome it is frequently, and never take her to any part of any store where she could realize other options exist. So far so good :-) it also helps that the cape isn't exactly " wicked witch-like" per se and has been used a lot to make her into her alter ego of "Super Megan!"

BTW Patrick kills me, and I can totally see him wanting to wear the turtleneck again. He will have spent time making it, and other than being a little kooky it would be perfectly acceptable - why not? The multiple colors would go great with his mismatched socks.

I Just finished Blackout and All Clear, and they are well worth savoring. They are also really one big long book, hacked mercilessly into two tomes by a heartless editor. Do not be fooled. Keep All Clear by your bedside, because the very second you have finished Blackout you will need to start All Clear.

And they are...transcendently marvelous. Intricate. Lovely. Heartbreaking. Inspiring. I wish I could go back and read them again for the first time, but I'm making do by going back and reading my favorite parts over and over.

I think I need to start announcing things by saying, "Behold!" Sounds like a great way to do it.

I've heard of bacteria moving to the eyes, my daughter once had strep throat and apparently the infection migrated and caused pink eye. Weird.

I made a bat costume for my kid using an adult XL black tshirt (no black felt available at the store) for the cape, black ribbon to tie the cape together, black hat and black felt for the ears. Perhaps that may serve as ideas for a quick bat costume. He wants to be spiderman now. So I can relate.

As for books, I just finished reading, "Heaven Is For Real." Not sure what to make of it yet.

Ah the shifting Halloween costume. Drives me nuts. Luckily mine are a bit older and understand the one costume per Halloween rule. The 8-year-old will be a blue Ninja and the 11 (almost 12) -year-old is contemplating whether he is too old to dress up. He thought he might just go as a 13-year-old. I'll leave him to it.

As for reading, Nightwoods by Charles Frazier. Good so far but I'm reluctant to read it at night because it might be scary. Ha. Recently finished After Nightfall or By Nightfall or something by Michael Cunningham which was good. Kiddos are reading Darth Paper (8-year-old) and the last in the Maze Runner series (11-year-old). I think it's called Death Cure.

Good luck clearing the infections.

Oh, Julia. You make me actually want children. BEHOLD! Suddenly butterfly princess ballerina Batmans and crazy tie-dye shirts sound just so delightful.

Loved loved loved Connie Willis To Say Nothing of the Dog (it's almost as good on the second, third and fourth reads) and powered through Blackout and All Clear last summer. You will find them hard to put down!

Behold!

I loved Blackout and All Clear but have not yet found anything by Connie Willis that I didn't love. You should read Bellwether -- more in the slapstick/ screwball comedy vein. Lovely stuff. Have you read E.F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia series? Because you would like them.

I'm currently reading Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. When it is good it is very very good and when it is bad it is horrid. I'm reading Jenny and the Cat Club by Esther Averill to the 4-year-old and the Narnia Chronicles to the 6-year-old.

My oldest was also missing L's and S's when he was 3-turning-4. And R's. He didn't qualify for speech therapy at the time, but he's now 7.5 and still speaking the way he did 4 years ago and we're finally getting him qualified for speech therapy through the school system (he's been going through the HMO since June).

Anyway, don't be like me and assume the not qualifying once means not qualifying forever.

My three boys (the ones that are old enough to trick or treat) were told three weeks ago that whatever their decision re: costuming was, that was IT. No take backs. My youngest chose a Robin costume, the middle child, who is a people pleaser except when he regrets being one, decided to be Batman, and my oldest, who is much like Patrick, decided on Aquaman.

Blink.

There are no Aquaman costumes to be hand. Seriously. If you Google you may find a lame 70's era shirt, but the only costumes are being made by serious geek-fans and cost a million dollars IF they're for sale. So we found greenish pants, an orange-ish shirt, and went out to procure a devil's pitchfork which we have to spray paint gold for a trident. And I have to make a belt with a styiistic gold letter "A" this week. This child always chooses a costume that is not manufactured by the costume people. Sigh.

I always love reading about your kiddie exploits. In the event you are ever faced with the chore of constructing another tutu. hobby lobby sells tulle on a small roll. Takes three for a tutu the best part? Requires no cutting into strips. Tulle is so hard to cut straight! Can,t wait for Halloween photos!

I have just finished reading The Rules of Civility, which I enjoyed with it's snappy 1930s dialogue and Learning to Swim which had an interesting beginning but then I thought got a little lazy toward the end. Still, a decent diversion.

For kids - I did just read that NPR is starting an online book group for kids ages 9-14, and there will be virtual discussions with authors and stuff like that...sounded cool and, even if Patrick doesn't want to do all the group stuff, it might be a good source for new books to read.

Edward sure has found his voice. Go, kid!

I recently memorized Clickety Clack ABCs, a board book. "animals awake beneath blue blankets. Clickety clack!" etc.

I recently read Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson, and it sounds like you if you lived in the 30s and 40s. It's super short--sort of a long meandering essay--and it took under two hours to read. You'll get a kick out of it.

Everyone needs to be a box for Halloween at some point during their childhood. I was a TV one year, and my memory of walking around with my arms sticking through the cardboard box and trying to waddle around are still vivid. I'm sure Patrick will have a great time!
I just finished Ann Napalitano's Good Hard Look, a fictional account of Flannery O'Connors last few years in her hometown in Georgia. Fantastic. And I just started The Immortal Life of Hennrietta Lacks. Good start!

I was frantically sewing a spider costume last weekend because damn if my 3.5yo didn't change his mind each time someone asked. And sometimes even in the middle..."I want to be a pumpkin. No, wait, a bat, no, wait, Harry Potter." And on and on. So I waited until he said spider for several days when asked multiple times, which left me with, well, not very much time to make a costume.

I am sadly not reading anything right now. Sorry I have nothing to recommend.

Why not a Batgirl-Butterfly-Princess-Ballerina? Caroline could pull it off. :)

Right now I'm reading Children of God, sequel to The Sparrow, both (obviously) by Mary Doria Russell. Excellent, excellent, excellent science fiction. Probably the whole world has heard of these books, as they came out in the late 90s, but they were new to me when my friend recommended them a few months ago. In case you haven't heard of them either, they take place in the near future. Although they contain space travel and aliens, etc., they don't read like sci-fi. The author is an anthropologist by trade, and her characters and societies and moral dilemmas and are SO engaging. And sometimes soul-wrenching. Can't recommend them highly enough.

Love 'Behold!'

My kids have both been pretty good about costumes and only choosing once, but both of them had to grab something out of their closet when they were one (their second Halloween) because they FREAKED OUT about wearing a pre-made one. My son wanted to be a Monkey, so we picked it out and brought it home and when it was too small, he flat out refused to try on any more. He went as a baseball player that year thanks to the Cubs jersey his Aunt gave him. My son thought my daughter would make a very cute pink bunny, so we found the costume and when I showed it to her she screamed and ran away, terrified. Back it went, too, and she was a cheerleader thanks to the outfit Grandma had given her.

Behold! My spreadsheet detaileth when MBAs of the first year persuasion last uploadeth their resumes for inclusion in the Holy Book of Internships. Verily it is awesome! Behold it and be amazed oh coworkers!

I love your kids and your writing even more. I wonder, would I be more enchanted with my own kiddos if you were writing about them?

A five year old friend of mine turned away from her already completed princess outfit so that she could be Batgirl (Caroline is not alone -) but she explained it's because she wants to match with her best friend - he is going as a bat.

I am finishing the last (thus far) in the Game of Thrones (er... Song of Fire and Ice) series. It has been up and down for me - the first one I raved to everyone, the middle few I wondered at his editor's abilities - this last one was much better.

I also just started Chris Bohjalian's Buffalo Soldier, and I love his work, so this should be good.

Best reads this summer?

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
You Know When the Men are Gone by Siobhan Fallon
So Much for That by Lionel Shriver
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler
The Ha-Ha by Dave King
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Still Alice by Lisa Genova

If I had to pick one, I would pick the Siobhan Fallon book. Very good, and amazing first work.

If you're a reader & on Goodreads, you should friend me (link is on my name). :)

I still have an unopened cheetah costume 3 sizes too big (since they don't sell cheetah costumes for 4 year olds...) in my closet. It's gonna stay there until there is no chance of anyone ever wearing it anymore. But I stopped buying costumes without the kids being present. Once they see/have their costume they know that they have to wait a year to change their mind.

Oy, Halloween costume changes... I don't remember how old my girls were, but I got so sick of fighting over changes in "vision" that I made a rule that you could be anything you wanted and change your mind as many times as you liked, provided you put your costume together all by yourself from the dress-up box. Yes, you were allowed to request one accessory such as wings, a hat, or a wand, to be purchased or made.

In my defense, we did have a rather large collection of dress-up bits and pieces.

My youngest used at least 3 different costumes one year -- one for school, another for trick-or-treating, and a third for a Halloween party of some kind.

BEHOLD! That is so awesome I can hardly stand it.
I work for Target, so I love hearing that we solve all your problems!

I am reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Historical fiction about Thomas Cromwell. So far so good - but I've got a long way to go. Just finished Ali & Nino by Kurban Said. Loved, Loved, Loved. Recommending to all and sundry (it is a bit hard to come by - but totally worth it).

My daughter who is within weeks of your twinkles went around telling everyone she was going to be "A vampire! With blood on my teeth!" and then we got to Target and she chose Elmo. Huh......ok. Last year I had to make her costume because she kept telling everyone she was going to be a chicken nugget. Like Aquaman (above) there are some costumes that are just NOT commercially available (see also: Word Girl and Captain Huggyface). My son is going to be a goblin (we had a lot of discussions about not choosing a costume with a hard plastic mask which he would wear for 14.9 seconds and then hate) and my oldest girl is going to be a Vampiress. The hubby is a chef, and I got one of the cool MardiGras masks, which I will wear with my black velvet cape (last year I had a witches hat - my costume has to be easy because I am busy helping everybody else with theirs - but I like to dress up too - and I am not interested in being a "Sassy Sailor Girl" or [INSERT OVERLY REVEALING FEMALE COSTUME HERE].

Happy Halloween!!

Huge second for both Bellwether and The Sparrow!

So glad I didn't read this post while drinking coffee, or would have ruined my mother's macbook.
BEHOLD! I am still cracking up.

I'm reading While I was Gone by Sue Miller. The prose is very good and the story is engaging. A visit occurs from someone from the protagonist's 20's. I haven't finished it quite yet.....

This is the first year my daughter (5) came up with a Halloween plan and stuck to it. Last year I made her this gorgeous velour cape as part of her planned princess costume. She wore it to her preschool party, and decided it was uncomfortable. So we threw togther some sort of ballerina fairy thing for the big party we go to. But for trick or treating, she decided she didn't like any of that and pulled the plush bug costume she wore when she was ONE out of the dress-up heap and squeezed into it. At least she was warm.

My husband thinks this is hilarious and eggs her on. He'll suggest crazy complicated costumes, and then remind her that "mama can make it!" Uh, no. This year I successfully steered her in the direction of this (http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=70734&vid=1&pid=858517&scid=858517002) and she loves it. She's been wearing it for a portion of every day this week. I made her pinky swear that she will wear it for the party, school, and trick or treating.

*I* and going to be chlorophyll. I'm so excited about this that I have to tell everyone. In fact, I need to go make my sunshine hat right now...

This is why we have a hard and fast rule in our house: You must decide on your costume by October 1, and you are not allowed to change your mind. This is so that Mommy has enough time to make it.

This year, my almost-5-year-old girl is going as Baby Bowser from Mario Bros., and my almost-8-year-old boy is a Doom Shroom from Plants Vs. Zombies. Nope, they don't make these costumes in stores. Yep, it's time consuming to make them. But super fun, and the kids "help".

Behold!

My mom helped me make a Batman costume for O one year - he still wears the sweatshirt: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sturm/4113500637/

His favorite bit was the cloak, which he sometimes wears to bed with his skivvies, pretending to be Captain Underpants.

Bel is also going to be a princess fairy - I'm lazy, I just bought her a tulle skirt. She wears it every week to watch Dancing with the Stars, though, so we're getting our money's worth.

Thank you, I don't know when I have laughed so hard. Behold was great, but the great announcement of the costume changes was the best! T laughted out loud and am really glad I didn't have any coffee in my mouth! I love your kids, they are great!!

Behold!
I think all comments ought to start with this from now on. Mine certainly will.

I think you asked for help with Patrick's chronic infections in your last post(?), but I didn't think of this until today... Perhaps he is allergic to dairy. I know, I know, everyone thinks that their child is allergic to dairy, but let me tell you this rather long story and perhaps it will convince you. My youngest daughter had horrible, chronic ear infections from 6 months to 1 year. At a year, the ENT finally put tubes in and miraculously, the ear infections went away. Sadly, instead of ear infections, she'd then get a sinus infection every single damn time she got a cold. A few months ago a new babysitter suggested that perhaps my daughter was allergic to dairy and I politely agreed while I turned around and rolled my eyes. But then, we went to the allergist, b/c her pediatrician thought it might be worth it, with the sinus infections and all. And low and BEHOLD, she has a pretty bad dairy allergy. We switched her to rice milk (something that I don't understand...how can milk be made of rice?) and she has now sailed through a number of colds without an infection of any kind. Maybe that babysitter was on to something. Good luck!

I had horrible ear infections for years as a child. Finally started avoiding milk and they went away.
Bellweather and Sparrow are both great.

I'm so glad you psoted! Your writing brightens my day.

You know, I'm sure Caroline get a lot of use out of the costume even if she doesn't wear it on Halloween. The kid likes to dress up, more power to her!

Halloween is the bane of my existence.

Meant to respond to your music while running question a couple weeks ago but forgot. If you like Mumford & Sons and the Decemberists you might like Florence & the Machine. Try Cosmic Love, Dog Days are Over, Blinding, You've Got the Love - they're not traditional running songs but they work very well for me.

Behold! Edward is so great.

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