Rounding Up the Thoughts of a Mom Teacher Writer
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Fantasizing About Organization
Monday, December 30, 2013
It's Only Small Talk: Tips for Success
I’m a world-class small talker. I honed my craft in college on the streets of Charlottesville, VA, with its friendly-to-foot-traffic environment and slow-paced summers, which allowed ample opportunity for small talk. However, the foundation was laid where I grew up, in small-town King George County, VA, where you have to be able to talk to anyone no matter how different they seem from you. You can’t escape each other in a county with only 7 stoplights, so you have to know how to talk to people when you run into them at the Food Lion or the gas station.
Small talk skills are life skills. As you grow up and move elsewhere, small talk is a way to connect with your new community and learn more about your world. Plus, with small talk, even the most boring day can become interesting. My small talk skills are how I made friends with the security guards and policemen on a movie set in town, which eventually got me onto the set to watch DeNiro film a scene. I’m a master of just hangin’ around, and you need small talk to be comfortable doing that.
Here are my tips, whether you’re just boppin’ around town or navigating a holiday dinner with tedious relatives.
Small talk tip #1: Talk about what’s right in front of you.
I know this tip is obvious, because that’s why everyone talks about the WEATHER. It’s right in front of us, and we have it in common… but it’s so BORING. I want to help you move beyond “weather small talk” and be a more versatile small talker. This tip saved me this summer when I (uncharacteristically) got stuck without any ideas for small talk.
I was getting corn for dinner. I put some in a bag, then saw a man shucking an ear with great purpose. Me: “Do people always shuck corn before they buy it, or do some of them just put it in a bag and shuck it at home, like I do?”
“Well, I think most people just do it at home,” he said humorlessly.
I decided to shuck the corn, more for the camaraderie of it. I wanted to be shucking corn with a stranger in the grocery store. But for the life of me, I could not think of any way to make small talk. I thought about mentioning something about the quality of the corn, but I didn’t think “I got some organic local corn that looked way better than this,” would be socially appropriate. I didn’t have any interesting stories about why I was making corn that night, nor did the man offer any information about himself and his corn usage. We were just vigorously shucking corn together.
That man left, and another man came along. I was still shucking because I’d had to stop to text my sister to see if we needed more broccoli. Suddenly, I realized my hands were sticky. Eureka! “My hands are all sticky!” I exclaimed, holding my hands up toward the new stranger.
Small talk skills are life skills. As you grow up and move elsewhere, small talk is a way to connect with your new community and learn more about your world. Plus, with small talk, even the most boring day can become interesting. My small talk skills are how I made friends with the security guards and policemen on a movie set in town, which eventually got me onto the set to watch DeNiro film a scene. I’m a master of just hangin’ around, and you need small talk to be comfortable doing that.
Here are my tips, whether you’re just boppin’ around town or navigating a holiday dinner with tedious relatives.
Small talk tip #1: Talk about what’s right in front of you.
I know this tip is obvious, because that’s why everyone talks about the WEATHER. It’s right in front of us, and we have it in common… but it’s so BORING. I want to help you move beyond “weather small talk” and be a more versatile small talker. This tip saved me this summer when I (uncharacteristically) got stuck without any ideas for small talk.
I was getting corn for dinner. I put some in a bag, then saw a man shucking an ear with great purpose. Me: “Do people always shuck corn before they buy it, or do some of them just put it in a bag and shuck it at home, like I do?”
“Well, I think most people just do it at home,” he said humorlessly.
I decided to shuck the corn, more for the camaraderie of it. I wanted to be shucking corn with a stranger in the grocery store. But for the life of me, I could not think of any way to make small talk. I thought about mentioning something about the quality of the corn, but I didn’t think “I got some organic local corn that looked way better than this,” would be socially appropriate. I didn’t have any interesting stories about why I was making corn that night, nor did the man offer any information about himself and his corn usage. We were just vigorously shucking corn together.
That man left, and another man came along. I was still shucking because I’d had to stop to text my sister to see if we needed more broccoli. Suddenly, I realized my hands were sticky. Eureka! “My hands are all sticky!” I exclaimed, holding my hands up toward the new stranger.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Combining Triathlon and Small Kids: Gear Edition
Granted, I have yet to do a triathlon. But I'm TRAINING for one, so I'm learning how to get stuff done. First, the jogging stroller. It's harder to run with a stroller, but if it's the only (or easiest) way to get a run in, I have both a single BOB and a double BOB. I bring snacks and save juices for when they get really restless. I got this stroller almost 5 years ago and I'm still madly in love with it. Today was so cold, but I bundled up the girl and myself and despite 30 degree temps with lots of wind, she was protected by the weather shield and so cozy that she fell asleep! Peace! I ran two miles or so (1 lap of the track jogging, then 1/4 lap walking, for 20 minutes, with a 5 minute warm up and cool down). Easing in slowly here.
I got the Burley bike trailer just two weeks ago. I want to be able to ride my bike even if I am with both kids. Granted, riding in a park is not the same as road riding, but I'm pedaling a bike, and that's more than I was doing 6 months ago, so I call that progress in the right direction.
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| I love you, Burley. |
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| Helmet only off for a little bit! Safety first! |
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Comic Humor and Joy of Conversation
I had a wonderful time observing my students give each other feedback on their comics last week. Note: This piece is from last spring.
For their magazine project, we do NUMEROUS writing pieces: features, opinion piece, book review, creative writings... and a comic. My students always ask if they can use Comic Life or some other computer program to draw their comics, because they say their drawings stink. I always say, "NO. How many times are you going to be asked to draw COMICS in this life? You are LUCKY. This is the probably the last truly fun thing you'll ever be asked to do in school. And why on earth would we want to see comics that all look alike? I don't care if you draw stick figures. They're cute."
They have a hard time accepting this; they are perfectionists. I consider it my role to break them of the need to have everything perfect and instead I praise their progress. "Wow!!!" I say, actually meaning it. "This is so much better than your first draft!"
You never know what kids can do until you push them to do it. Your fourth time drawing the comic? Guess what: I bet your attention to detail has REALLY IMPROVED. I am often incredibly impressed with their inventiveness as their drafts progress. After they finally GET that they WILL get a failing score on the comic if we can't read their teeny, messy writing, or if all the speech bubbles are in the wrong order, they buckle down and start to get serious about their comic as a piece of art and logic.
Last week's feedback session made me giddy. To hear the types of intellectual discussions the kids were forced to have, in explaining WHY they did not find some of their groupmates' comics funny or how their classmates could improve... it was a type of discussion I feel like kids rarely have. They were analysts, they were critics, they were creators, they were collaborators. They laughed, they shouted, they insulted each other in the best-natured of ways. I could see how we'd built an environment of trust and teamwork over the past 6 months. I'd never be able to do comics in October or November. We have to do comics after we know each other, after we can tell each other, "I'm sorry, that's just not funny," and not worry that the person's self-image is going to be ruined. We can be pretty brutal with each other. Some of my challenge is helping a couple kids be less brutal, but that is totally the lesson they need in life, trust me.
Last week's session was so awesome because I reorganized the feedback groups. I got some inspiration from Project Runway and put kids in pairs based on an "unlikely duo" theme. It worked so well because the kids got a fresh pair of eyes on their comic, which was in its second draft, already having been critiqued (read: ripped apart) by a group of kids they were used to working with. Our new duos spawned some hilarious discussions. In the morning class, I wished I'd had my video camera. They were saying the funniest things in complete seriousness, discussing how it simply was not clear that Superman had death-rayed the basketball player, or that it wasn't funny at all that a terrorist had blown up the airport, because that's actually real, and do you just not understand what a comic is?
In the afternoon class, we had some moments that warmed my heart because I felt like my students were stretching as people in their efforts to communicate with people they don't usually talk to.
"I don't know how to end my comic," my cool girl says. She's used to being fed the answers; she's also afraid to take risks. Comics are all about risks and strangeness.
"Oooh!" says my slightly awkward girl. "How about she parachutes down into an island full of dead people?"
My face lights up. "That's brilliant!"
"And there's like, skeletons and bones sticking out of the sand."
"Yes, yes!" I scream.
My cool girl is smiling because she finally knows how to end her comic. This new groupmate has helped her in a way her friends couldn't, because they don't dare be weird enough, and I have started the seed of a potential new partnership. These two girls now have a relationship and a history based on ideas, and they know they can help each other.
For their magazine project, we do NUMEROUS writing pieces: features, opinion piece, book review, creative writings... and a comic. My students always ask if they can use Comic Life or some other computer program to draw their comics, because they say their drawings stink. I always say, "NO. How many times are you going to be asked to draw COMICS in this life? You are LUCKY. This is the probably the last truly fun thing you'll ever be asked to do in school. And why on earth would we want to see comics that all look alike? I don't care if you draw stick figures. They're cute."
They have a hard time accepting this; they are perfectionists. I consider it my role to break them of the need to have everything perfect and instead I praise their progress. "Wow!!!" I say, actually meaning it. "This is so much better than your first draft!"
You never know what kids can do until you push them to do it. Your fourth time drawing the comic? Guess what: I bet your attention to detail has REALLY IMPROVED. I am often incredibly impressed with their inventiveness as their drafts progress. After they finally GET that they WILL get a failing score on the comic if we can't read their teeny, messy writing, or if all the speech bubbles are in the wrong order, they buckle down and start to get serious about their comic as a piece of art and logic.
Last week's feedback session made me giddy. To hear the types of intellectual discussions the kids were forced to have, in explaining WHY they did not find some of their groupmates' comics funny or how their classmates could improve... it was a type of discussion I feel like kids rarely have. They were analysts, they were critics, they were creators, they were collaborators. They laughed, they shouted, they insulted each other in the best-natured of ways. I could see how we'd built an environment of trust and teamwork over the past 6 months. I'd never be able to do comics in October or November. We have to do comics after we know each other, after we can tell each other, "I'm sorry, that's just not funny," and not worry that the person's self-image is going to be ruined. We can be pretty brutal with each other. Some of my challenge is helping a couple kids be less brutal, but that is totally the lesson they need in life, trust me.
Last week's session was so awesome because I reorganized the feedback groups. I got some inspiration from Project Runway and put kids in pairs based on an "unlikely duo" theme. It worked so well because the kids got a fresh pair of eyes on their comic, which was in its second draft, already having been critiqued (read: ripped apart) by a group of kids they were used to working with. Our new duos spawned some hilarious discussions. In the morning class, I wished I'd had my video camera. They were saying the funniest things in complete seriousness, discussing how it simply was not clear that Superman had death-rayed the basketball player, or that it wasn't funny at all that a terrorist had blown up the airport, because that's actually real, and do you just not understand what a comic is?
In the afternoon class, we had some moments that warmed my heart because I felt like my students were stretching as people in their efforts to communicate with people they don't usually talk to.
"I don't know how to end my comic," my cool girl says. She's used to being fed the answers; she's also afraid to take risks. Comics are all about risks and strangeness.
"Oooh!" says my slightly awkward girl. "How about she parachutes down into an island full of dead people?"
My face lights up. "That's brilliant!"
"And there's like, skeletons and bones sticking out of the sand."
"Yes, yes!" I scream.
My cool girl is smiling because she finally knows how to end her comic. This new groupmate has helped her in a way her friends couldn't, because they don't dare be weird enough, and I have started the seed of a potential new partnership. These two girls now have a relationship and a history based on ideas, and they know they can help each other.
Samurai Sister
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| Batmen |
It's fun to see this little person taking shape, and see how she's influenced by the people around her.
I can only compare it to how my sisters and I were raised... with sisters. We played dolls, played house, and built elaborate block constructions. We played Annie, not ninjas. There's a different dynamic when you are all one gender. All girls. I can't imagine what it's like to be all boys... although yes I probably can. It must be lots of moving around!
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Getting Into Triathlons: Exercises in Embarrassment
I've been meaning to post for a while about how getting into triathlon has been a series of embarrassing events/purchases/conversations. A stronger person might not survive it. It takes a lot to embarrass me. Still, I admit this tested me.
First incident: buying bike shorts, and having to ask the guy at the store "Do these fit right." Bike shorts have this crazy pad in the butt.
Second incident: buying a wetsuit, and having to model it in front of the store's owner, who organizes one of the local triathlons, and asking, "Is this too tight."
Him, eyeing me with what appeared to be horror, disdain, or possibly total lack of interest or care: "It's supposed to be tight." (That was size large, by the way, that I had to grunt and contort myself to get into. I seem to be size large in all triathlon clothing, which makes me feel, well, LARGE.)
Oh, and I had to have another (male, of course) store employee zip me in AND out of the suit.
I won't bore you with all of my other clothing purchases and conversations about what type of sports bra is best (with a male employee of the triathlon store).
Let's instead go onto events.
So, I bought clipless pedals for my road bike, because those are supposed to be better on your body and make your pedaling much more efficient. With clipless pedals, you buy special shoes that lock into your special pedals. Fine, did that. I learned how to take my feet off the pedals by twisting my ankle out to undo the locking mechanism. Good, good job KO. Then, on one ride, coming to a stop sign, I tried to unclip myself and MY FOOT WOULDN'T COME OUT. I kept trying to rip my ankle out, and it wouldn't budge, and I HAD to stop since I was coming up to a busy road. Just as I was starting to fall over, I managed to WRENCH my other foot out and catch myself. I got myself home and went online to youtube to figure out how to adjust clipless pedals, because I remembered when the guy put them on that he had adjusted something. I tried to adjust the little turny thing to a spot that matched the pedal that I HAD been able to get myself out of, but it was still almost impossible to get my foot out. I called the bike store and explained the problem.
"There's a spot to turn to adjust it," the guy said.
"Oh, I did that. It still doesn't work."
"Huh. That's really the only thing it can be. Well, bring it in, we'll take a look."
So, I had to wait until the next weekend to bring the bike in since my work weeks are busy. I brought the bike in and explained the problem to yet another bike person. He took a look at it. "Yeah, you have it adjusted to the tightest setting." He took an Allen key, turned it a few times, and said, "That should work." Yup.
First incident: buying bike shorts, and having to ask the guy at the store "Do these fit right." Bike shorts have this crazy pad in the butt.
Second incident: buying a wetsuit, and having to model it in front of the store's owner, who organizes one of the local triathlons, and asking, "Is this too tight."
Him, eyeing me with what appeared to be horror, disdain, or possibly total lack of interest or care: "It's supposed to be tight." (That was size large, by the way, that I had to grunt and contort myself to get into. I seem to be size large in all triathlon clothing, which makes me feel, well, LARGE.)
Oh, and I had to have another (male, of course) store employee zip me in AND out of the suit.
I won't bore you with all of my other clothing purchases and conversations about what type of sports bra is best (with a male employee of the triathlon store).
Let's instead go onto events.
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| Step 32: learn to ride w/ kid (husband's bike with normal pedals ) |
"There's a spot to turn to adjust it," the guy said.
"Oh, I did that. It still doesn't work."
"Huh. That's really the only thing it can be. Well, bring it in, we'll take a look."
So, I had to wait until the next weekend to bring the bike in since my work weeks are busy. I brought the bike in and explained the problem to yet another bike person. He took a look at it. "Yeah, you have it adjusted to the tightest setting." He took an Allen key, turned it a few times, and said, "That should work." Yup.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
My Spelling/Vocab List
Words that are hard for me to spell:
noticeable
vacuum
protector (page protecter?)
Words that I don't know what they mean:
fey
palimpset (it's a color, right?)
jejune
Words I have had to learn:
sartorial
synechdoche (although I forget it now)
metonymy (forgot it, need to review it)
Note, 11/3/13: My God, I was just reading my blog over and found 2 homophone errors: reign for rein (as in "rein in") and hoards for hordes (as in "hordes" of people). Humbling.
noticeable
vacuum
protector (page protecter?)
Words that I don't know what they mean:
fey
palimpset (it's a color, right?)
jejune
Words I have had to learn:
sartorial
synechdoche (although I forget it now)
metonymy (forgot it, need to review it)
Note, 11/3/13: My God, I was just reading my blog over and found 2 homophone errors: reign for rein (as in "rein in") and hoards for hordes (as in "hordes" of people). Humbling.
Thing I Don't Like: 2011
At the start of every school year I have my students brainstorm writing topics. One of our brainstorm lists is a list of things we like/dislike. I found my list from 2011 and found my Dislike List pretty funny.
Dislikes
Dislikes
- judgmental people
- people w/ no opinions
- broken window shades
- untidy spaces
- being too busy
- life being short
- being tired
- Amy living in Nebraska
- heartburn
- returning items by mail
- dog poop
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Ninja Creep: Middle School Edition
Two days ago I had to demonstrate the ninja creep to my middle school students. At the end of every day, we stack chairs so the custodian can sweep the floors. My students have started stacking chairs so loudly, slamming the plastic and metal contraptions down really hard. It's crazy-making, really, to end my day that way. I've tried various threats and explanations to no avail.
On Monday I stopped their stair-chacking cacophony and said, "Guys! GUYS! You are so loud! Wait- watch this. Let me show you how I ninja creep out of my baby's room after I get her to sleep. This is how quietly you should be able to move."
And then I painstakingly showed them- "So I start heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere-" slowly picking up my foot while extending my arms out to the side for balance- creeeeeeeeeep- "then I take a step"- creeeeeeeeeeeeeeep -
They think I'm done, and they try to start stacking chairs again. "No, no!" I scream, 'cause now I'm really into my ninja creep. "I'm not done!!!" Their bodies sag as they realize I intend to show them the WHOLE process.
"So, I have to slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwly move my body"- creeeeeeeeeeeeep- "and then, there's a GATE at her door, so I have to cliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimb that" - one foot lifted high, creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep, shift body weight, other foot lifting high over imaginary gate, creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep- "and THEN, after I'm over the gate, I have to CLOSE the door--"
"Noooooooooo!!!!" they all shout.
"Oh yes!" I scream back, remaining in ninja creep position. "We are not done here!" I pause a moment and wait for silence. "So, after I'm over the gate, I have to slowwwwwwwwwly turn my body, making sure my ring doesn't scrape the door"- creeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Then I take pity on them and end my demonstration. "My point is, if I can do that, SURELY you can stack one little chair almost silently. Pretend my baby is sleeping."
Of course they exploded in excited chatter about babies, and chairs, and their baby brothers, but the chairs themselves were pleasantly quiet. They stacked the chairs like ninjas two days in a row. It was impressive.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
May: The Time of Year When I Adopt My Students' Idiosyncracies
Anyone with half a brain knows that teaching is a crazy, crazy job. At what other job would you encounter a male skipping gleefully down the hallway in front of dozens of people? (Today, 13 year old boy.)
By May, the teaching-student boundary can sometimes get a little blurry. You have to remind them that you're not their mother, and they may not argue with you about whether or not they need to follow your directions. You give the class a direction- "OK, stay in your seats until I say it's time to go."- and they totally ignore you. Of course, you rein them in, because that's your job.
Almost every year, I notice in May that I've begun to adopt the behaviors of my most idiosyncratic students. Maybe I find myself using a word they use, or laughing in that high-pitched way that they laugh.
Just this week, I noticed that I do this thing that one of my funniest, most creative students does. He'll come up to me and start telling me a story. I'm interested for like 2 seconds, then my attention span goes. As he sees my face start to glaze over in boredom, he makes his eyes pop wide and continues to tell the story, using his eyes popping every few seconds as a way to try to keep me interested in the story by making the story seem eye-poppingly interesting. His stories aren't boring, but he gets to his point sort of slowly.
Anyway, in the past day or two I've found myself popping my eyes at people as I begin to tell a story and then realize my story is TOTALLY! BORING! (Eye pop! Eye pop!)
And I think, oh no, here it goes again- I've adopted my students' behaviors.
By May, the teaching-student boundary can sometimes get a little blurry. You have to remind them that you're not their mother, and they may not argue with you about whether or not they need to follow your directions. You give the class a direction- "OK, stay in your seats until I say it's time to go."- and they totally ignore you. Of course, you rein them in, because that's your job.
Almost every year, I notice in May that I've begun to adopt the behaviors of my most idiosyncratic students. Maybe I find myself using a word they use, or laughing in that high-pitched way that they laugh.
Just this week, I noticed that I do this thing that one of my funniest, most creative students does. He'll come up to me and start telling me a story. I'm interested for like 2 seconds, then my attention span goes. As he sees my face start to glaze over in boredom, he makes his eyes pop wide and continues to tell the story, using his eyes popping every few seconds as a way to try to keep me interested in the story by making the story seem eye-poppingly interesting. His stories aren't boring, but he gets to his point sort of slowly.
Anyway, in the past day or two I've found myself popping my eyes at people as I begin to tell a story and then realize my story is TOTALLY! BORING! (Eye pop! Eye pop!)
And I think, oh no, here it goes again- I've adopted my students' behaviors.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Emergency Preparedness: Cosleeping, Cheezits, Chocolate
Welcome to the May 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Emergency Preparedness
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared their plans to keep their families safe. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
***
We live in Stamford Connecticut, a city on Long Island Sound. Hurricanes are usually tropical storms by the time they get to us- more of an annoyance with power outages- but in October 2012 we could tell Hurricane Sandy would be serious. We knew it would strike Monday, October 29th, so on Saturday I sent my husband out to look for a generator. I had a freezer full of breastmilk and I was going to protect it all costs!
All of the hardware stores were out, so he swung by the Honda Motorsports store... just as a truckload of small generators was about to be unloaded. He was second in line, and we knew we were very fortunate to locate a generator with only a couple hours of effort. The line was 30 deep before he left.
I’m a teacher. School was cancelled on Monday in anticipation of the storm, so we had plenty of time to get last minute snacks. That’s usually the extent of our storm prep: Cheezits and chocolate. And batteries and flashlights, of course.
We were optimistic that we wouldn’t get hit too bad; we’re over 4 miles from the Sound so I wasn’t worried about flooding. We often don’t even lose power during bad storms, unlike the areas north of us that have more trees and consequently lose power for longer periods of time when storms knock down power lines. Still, I knew we’d probably lose power during this one.
On Monday the weather was fine around noon; I actually did a call in interview with my friend Christopher Gabriel, a host of radio station WDAY in Fargo North Dakota. (He was my neighbor when I lived in Rye NY 15 years ago and one of the funniest, smartest people I know.) “It’s not too windy out, actually,” I told him. We wrapped up our interview around 1, and almost immediately, the wind got scary. By 3pm the trees were roaring, and by 5pm the power went ZAP. Gone.
This article "Residents abandon homes, shore up against Sandy" from a local paper shows photos of Monday rapidly going downhill. The park I jog in was already under 2 feet of water before the Hurricane even made landfall.
We got the generator going to power the fridge (my breastmilk!) and the TV (my husband’s pride and joy). We had one lamp on and spent the afternoon and evening watching news coverage of the rising waters in NYC. It felt very strange to be able to watch other people lose power and get flooded while we websurfed and watched TV. It was surreal... especially when we saw images of the NYC tunnels and subways flooding.
As night fell, we dragged the queen-sized mattress into the living room so the baby and I could cosleep in comfort, and we set up a cot for the 3 year old. I wanted to sleep with the kids in the living room, the part of the house furthest from the tall trees in our backyard. My husband was quite happy to stay in the king-sized bed in the back bedroom... right under the giant tree. The man loves his creature comforts.
Cosleeping comes in handy in emergencies- if you and your kids need to sleep somewhere different (as we have other times when we’ve lost power or heat), your cosleeping child can adjust quite easily since YOU are their familiar sleep environment! My favorite picture from the storm is of me nursing the baby (10 months) on the mattress. The wind thankfully calmed down during the night so I was able to sleep without fear of a tree crashing down on us. Falling trees did kill several people in the region and that’s always my biggest fear during any storm.
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared their plans to keep their families safe. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
***
We live in Stamford Connecticut, a city on Long Island Sound. Hurricanes are usually tropical storms by the time they get to us- more of an annoyance with power outages- but in October 2012 we could tell Hurricane Sandy would be serious. We knew it would strike Monday, October 29th, so on Saturday I sent my husband out to look for a generator. I had a freezer full of breastmilk and I was going to protect it all costs!
All of the hardware stores were out, so he swung by the Honda Motorsports store... just as a truckload of small generators was about to be unloaded. He was second in line, and we knew we were very fortunate to locate a generator with only a couple hours of effort. The line was 30 deep before he left.
I’m a teacher. School was cancelled on Monday in anticipation of the storm, so we had plenty of time to get last minute snacks. That’s usually the extent of our storm prep: Cheezits and chocolate. And batteries and flashlights, of course.
We were optimistic that we wouldn’t get hit too bad; we’re over 4 miles from the Sound so I wasn’t worried about flooding. We often don’t even lose power during bad storms, unlike the areas north of us that have more trees and consequently lose power for longer periods of time when storms knock down power lines. Still, I knew we’d probably lose power during this one.
On Monday the weather was fine around noon; I actually did a call in interview with my friend Christopher Gabriel, a host of radio station WDAY in Fargo North Dakota. (He was my neighbor when I lived in Rye NY 15 years ago and one of the funniest, smartest people I know.) “It’s not too windy out, actually,” I told him. We wrapped up our interview around 1, and almost immediately, the wind got scary. By 3pm the trees were roaring, and by 5pm the power went ZAP. Gone.
 |
| Husband has some backup power for computer/TV, so we had an hour of TV after power was out. |
 |
| Setting up the generator |
We got the generator going to power the fridge (my breastmilk!) and the TV (my husband’s pride and joy). We had one lamp on and spent the afternoon and evening watching news coverage of the rising waters in NYC. It felt very strange to be able to watch other people lose power and get flooded while we websurfed and watched TV. It was surreal... especially when we saw images of the NYC tunnels and subways flooding.
Cosleeping comes in handy in emergencies- if you and your kids need to sleep somewhere different (as we have other times when we’ve lost power or heat), your cosleeping child can adjust quite easily since YOU are their familiar sleep environment! My favorite picture from the storm is of me nursing the baby (10 months) on the mattress. The wind thankfully calmed down during the night so I was able to sleep without fear of a tree crashing down on us. Falling trees did kill several people in the region and that’s always my biggest fear during any storm.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Redding Road Race Review 2013
Today I ran the Redding Road Race, my first race ever. There was a half-marathon and a 7 mile race. I ran the 7 mile and a friend ran the half-marathon, which started first.
Race tips and highlights:
1. The course is hilly but not too bad. I ran the 7 miler despite only having ever run 2.5 miles before that. I chugged along and did the whole thing, slow and steady. By slow, I mean I may have only finished ahead of 5 or 6 other people. You don't get much slower than me.
2. My favorite thing about the race was that when I was about halfway done-- jogging on quiet roads, with a couple people behind me and a few waaaaay up ahead that I could see faaaaaar up in the distance-- a bossy man on a bike rode by and said, "Stay to the left please. Half-marathon leaders are coming through. About 300 yards back." I perked up. I was gonna have company! Sure enough, a fleet-footed guy blew past a minute later.
"Good job!" I said.
"Thanks- you too," he huffed back.
Soon I was surrounded by HORDES of people- fast people! Running near me... for the rest of the race! The last few miles were so much fun. Not only did a bunch of the half-marathonners lap me (trailing glory in their wake that rubbed off on me), at another point, the course doubled back on itself, so people from both distance races were running in the other direction! I went from being alone to being surrounded by the energy of hundreds of other runners. I was so thankful to the race planners for doing that. I can't even tell you how encouraging it was to not be left all alone in the back even though I was clearly one of the slowest people out there. I still got to run with everyone else! That's crazy... crazy awesome!
Before I started the race, I wasn't sure I would be able to finish. Not only had I never run anywhere near 7 miles, two days ago my arch started aching while I was running. I told myself I'd alternate walking and running if my arch really hurt. Fortunately it only ached a bit, and I just took it slow. I didn't take a single walk break, even on the hills. Once I hit mile 5, I knew I was gonna have no trouble running the whole thing. I listened to my body and it said, "Girl, you got this! Take your time and keep going."
I achieved my two goals: finish the race, and finish before my friend who did the half-marathon so I could cheer her at the finish. I may be slow, but I'm proud of the progress I've made in my running since I started last Thanksgiving. Running doesn't come easily for me. I'm not light or slim-hipped and I have terrible feet. In January I injured my Achilles heel (how many ways can I find to injure myself?) near the end of my first Couch to 5K program and had to take 2 months off. That sucked, but I joined a local Fit4Mom 5K program a couple months ago and carefully got back into running. Getting back up to 2.5 miles with that group made me able to run this 7 mile race today. Slow and steady...
 |
| The half starts with a loop of the farm. This is the end of the loop. My friend is in the blue tank! |
1. The course is hilly but not too bad. I ran the 7 miler despite only having ever run 2.5 miles before that. I chugged along and did the whole thing, slow and steady. By slow, I mean I may have only finished ahead of 5 or 6 other people. You don't get much slower than me.
 |
| My view: sorta lonely. A strong self-image comes in handy. |
"Good job!" I said.
"Thanks- you too," he huffed back.
Soon I was surrounded by HORDES of people- fast people! Running near me... for the rest of the race! The last few miles were so much fun. Not only did a bunch of the half-marathonners lap me (trailing glory in their wake that rubbed off on me), at another point, the course doubled back on itself, so people from both distance races were running in the other direction! I went from being alone to being surrounded by the energy of hundreds of other runners. I was so thankful to the race planners for doing that. I can't even tell you how encouraging it was to not be left all alone in the back even though I was clearly one of the slowest people out there. I still got to run with everyone else! That's crazy... crazy awesome!
Before I started the race, I wasn't sure I would be able to finish. Not only had I never run anywhere near 7 miles, two days ago my arch started aching while I was running. I told myself I'd alternate walking and running if my arch really hurt. Fortunately it only ached a bit, and I just took it slow. I didn't take a single walk break, even on the hills. Once I hit mile 5, I knew I was gonna have no trouble running the whole thing. I listened to my body and it said, "Girl, you got this! Take your time and keep going."
 |
| My finish, to cheering crowds! Thanks Jon S. for the pic! |
Sunday, April 21, 2013
The Day I Got Called Justin Bieber
It's very common for (and terribly charming when) students accidentally call their teachers "Mom," but even I was surprised when one of my students called me "Justin Bieber" last week.
My students are writing features, and this student is writing about paparazzi. She said, "Now, Mrs. R., I'm NOT going to write about Justin Bieber"-- (I'd forbidden them, even though they begged me, to write features on Justin Bieber)-- "but recently he's had some run-ins with the paparazzi, so is it OK if I just MENTION him."
Me: "Oh yeah, sure, sure."
Then, I hauled out my fancy new iPad-blue tooth keyboard set up, and the kids got all excited, saying, "What IS that? Is that a tiny laptop?"
And the student writing the paparazzi article craned her neck to get a good look at my iPad setup and said in an jokingly exasperated voice to me, "--Justin Bieber!" and then shook her head in confusion.
Me: "--Did you just call me Justin Bieber?"
Student: "I meant to say Mrs. R.! I was-- never mind!"
So that's the story of how I got called "Justin Bieber." I doubt many people- especially women- can brag about the same! I must admit I found it very flattering.
My students are writing features, and this student is writing about paparazzi. She said, "Now, Mrs. R., I'm NOT going to write about Justin Bieber"-- (I'd forbidden them, even though they begged me, to write features on Justin Bieber)-- "but recently he's had some run-ins with the paparazzi, so is it OK if I just MENTION him."
Me: "Oh yeah, sure, sure."
Then, I hauled out my fancy new iPad-blue tooth keyboard set up, and the kids got all excited, saying, "What IS that? Is that a tiny laptop?"
And the student writing the paparazzi article craned her neck to get a good look at my iPad setup and said in an jokingly exasperated voice to me, "--Justin Bieber!" and then shook her head in confusion.
Me: "--Did you just call me Justin Bieber?"
Student: "I meant to say Mrs. R.! I was-- never mind!"
So that's the story of how I got called "Justin Bieber." I doubt many people- especially women- can brag about the same! I must admit I found it very flattering.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Work-Life-Writing Balance
This fascinating NYTimes opinion piece, "Why Gender Equality Stalled," goes into (among other things) how American families have very little help in balancing work with the demands of family life.
Even in my more-family-friendly-than-most-jobs job as a teacher, I find it very challenging to meet the demands of my work with doing everything I need to do for my family. Having young children is very intense; not only do they need you physically, you are also their emotional center. It's pretty much a given that if they are awake, they are on you! After being separated from them all day, I like that... but this is a very demanding time in life, I feel.
I am thankful that I went into teaching; I like having more frequent vacations than the average job so I can be with my children. Something that's true, and that I think about quite often, is that I went into teaching because I felt it would be the best job to have when I had kids. And even if I didn't meet a good husband, I was going to have kids as a single mom. That's how much I wanted kids. I chose this job, along with other reasons, like it's fun and rewarding, because I knew it was a job that I'd be better able to balance with kids if I needed to be a single mom.
Even in my more-family-friendly-than-most-jobs job as a teacher, I find it very challenging to meet the demands of my work with doing everything I need to do for my family. Having young children is very intense; not only do they need you physically, you are also their emotional center. It's pretty much a given that if they are awake, they are on you! After being separated from them all day, I like that... but this is a very demanding time in life, I feel.
I am thankful that I went into teaching; I like having more frequent vacations than the average job so I can be with my children. Something that's true, and that I think about quite often, is that I went into teaching because I felt it would be the best job to have when I had kids. And even if I didn't meet a good husband, I was going to have kids as a single mom. That's how much I wanted kids. I chose this job, along with other reasons, like it's fun and rewarding, because I knew it was a job that I'd be better able to balance with kids if I needed to be a single mom.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Greedy Breastfeeding Mothers Featured on NPR
I whipped up this letter in response to a really terrible NPR piece on breast pumps.
Dear Mr. Siegel and Ms. Chace,
I'm amazed that this piece was deemed good enough to air on NPR. You portray breastfeeding mothers as greedy people trying to get a luxury good for free. Your economist's opinions were promoted over actual information by breastfeeding and health experts.
"CHACE: But our economist, Katherine Baicker, isn't so sure that eliminating the cost of the breast pumps really induces much extra breastfeeding. Rather, she thinks most of the money spent will go towards people who would have been breastfeeding anyway."
What is the evidence she has for this?
"BAICKER: So the question is whether the value that those people get from the breast pumps is worth the cost in terms of increased health spending and increased premiums."
Actually, that's not the question. The question is, is a breastpump, which allows a mother to give her baby the healthiest food possible, full of antibodies and cancer-fighting cells, as important as other aspects of the baby’s medical care? Of course it is.
Dear Mr. Siegel and Ms. Chace,
I'm amazed that this piece was deemed good enough to air on NPR. You portray breastfeeding mothers as greedy people trying to get a luxury good for free. Your economist's opinions were promoted over actual information by breastfeeding and health experts.
"CHACE: But our economist, Katherine Baicker, isn't so sure that eliminating the cost of the breast pumps really induces much extra breastfeeding. Rather, she thinks most of the money spent will go towards people who would have been breastfeeding anyway."
What is the evidence she has for this?
"BAICKER: So the question is whether the value that those people get from the breast pumps is worth the cost in terms of increased health spending and increased premiums."
Actually, that's not the question. The question is, is a breastpump, which allows a mother to give her baby the healthiest food possible, full of antibodies and cancer-fighting cells, as important as other aspects of the baby’s medical care? Of course it is.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Studying Early Man's Cave Art AKA Cured Meat
My students thought this was the famous "red disc" 40,000 year old cave art.
I said, "Uh, guys, that's SALAMI."
Them: "What? Oh. I thought it looked a little weird."
Then I told them to add the slide to their Powerpoint presentation to the class and see if the class figured it out. Of course, the class missed it, because that's just how sixth graders work. In the fall, they are still very literal. If you show them a slice of salami photoshopped on a wall and tell them it's cave art, they will believe you. They will also believe way weirder stuff than that. That's why teaching sixth grade is so fun.
I said, "Uh, guys, that's SALAMI."
Them: "What? Oh. I thought it looked a little weird."
Then I told them to add the slide to their Powerpoint presentation to the class and see if the class figured it out. Of course, the class missed it, because that's just how sixth graders work. In the fall, they are still very literal. If you show them a slice of salami photoshopped on a wall and tell them it's cave art, they will believe you. They will also believe way weirder stuff than that. That's why teaching sixth grade is so fun.
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