Kidbits

In the last few weeks . . . .

The effects of reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:  We just finished our first foray into the Narnia series (albeit with the second book in the series chronologically) in a hours-long final read through the last several chapters, which encompass Aslan's sacrifice and death, plus his return and triumph, as well as the crowning of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy.  The death scene--with the muzzling and shaving and mocking--is pretty brutal, which is why we opted for a daytime read as they cuddled up with Mama.  Almost immediately upon finishing, Sis was searching the house for entrances into Narnia, while Bud set to constructing it in Legos.  Later still, on the day Mama went into NYC, we watched the Disney movie.  Their favorite part?  The beavers!  Especially when Mr. Beaver wears armor at the end.  Of course, they had no clue about the Christian imagery of death and resurrection; no need to burden their fairy tales with adult baggage right now.  

80's dance party:  I'm not really sure how it got started, but Mama and I had an 80s thing a week or so ago, on one of those days when Bud felt almost like himself before Sis came down with her own flu.  Anyway, once we were perusing our 80's collection on the iPod, we couldn't stop.  "Mickey," "Eye of the Tiger," "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," "Hungry Like a Wolf," "Karma Chameleon," "West End Girls," Heart of Rock and Roll," "We Got the Beat," "Hold On," "Hold Me Now," "American Hero Theme Song," Of all the songs, the kids were fascinated by "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and requested it numerous times a day for the rest of the week, all the while asking for the whole meaning of that song.

Bud and Sis's magic show:  Bud received a magic kit for Christmas from Beloved Babysitter about which he has been so excited.  He's got a hat to pull things out of, a variety of gadgets to do ball/card/rope tricks, and even a few rabbits!  He's working on sleight of hand, slowly, but doesn't quite have the audience participation part under control.  He had Sis be his assistant and did all the tricks to her, instead of to me the audience; neither understood why it didn't look magical to have her "guess" the color or number he had chosen.  Cute, though, with them in capes, waving wands, and coming out on "stage" through the red curtains in the living room.

Inauguration Party:  Even with the flu (and Bud's 103F temperature), we watched the most important bits of the Inauguration, from the two oaths to the Inaugural poet, from Kelly Clarkson to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir to James Taylor to Beyonce.  The kids were pretty much done after the oaths, but we stayed for the whole speech. Seneca Falls.  Selma.  Stonewall.  Brought tears to my eyes to hear about gay marriage.  And Newtown.  And even the environment.  Our cookies were good, too.

Sis's baking pride:  Twice recently I have served as Sis's sous chef, allowing her to be in charge of the recipe and tell me what to do, with my taking control only of the oven activity.  The first recipe was a simple coffee-cake box mix, though we usually work from scratch, but it had a special crumb mixture you had to fold in and sprinkle on top.  She was very pleased with the effort and the results.  We baked a second time, though I forget now what,  this time from scratch, and she didn't even need me in the kitchen much.  Yum!  Homemade on your own tastes the best.