Mr. Whipple

At work today I got an application for a student with the last name of Whipple. I mentioned to a student who was in my office at the time that this student was from her old school. She asked who it was and I told her, adding, "Did he get teased all the time for his name? Was he always asked if he squeezed the Charmin?" She looked at me in complete confusion. So I asked a nearby teacher's assistant if he remembered the Mr. Whipple commercials. More blank looks. I then asked a teacher, albeit a young one. No recognition. Dang. Feeling old. Those commercials seem like they were on just yesterday.

Getting out in it

So on Christmas Eve I was estatic at the thought of the incoming snow storm and how it coincided with time off of work. The prospect of skiing often in fresh snow (possibly two feet of it they were predicting) had me peeking out the window and sighing as the big flakes fell from the sky. But then the snow turned to rain, then the rain froze and coated everything with ice. yuck. By the day after Christmas our back yard was rock hard and skiing seemed like it might be done for awhile. The reports on skinnyski showed that some people were still getting out and trying to be positive. Then we got the dumb cold- not just cold temps outside- those did come too, but I'm talking about the coughing, wheezing, snotting, sore throat type of cold. We spent the week after Christmas in the cave of our house, rarely getting out for more than to grab the paper from the step. It seemed cold and icy and unfriendly out there. This lasted into the new year. Sunday the third dawned sunny, but frigid and I had a horrible attitude about bringing the kids over for their x-c ski lessons at Theodore Wirth park. Jon, uncharacteristically, shared this view. But we felt obligated, and so brought them, and brought our own skies as well. Packed them right into our car along with our pessimism. We got to the park, bundled our kids off to their respective lessons and remarked to ourselves how astonished we were that they didn't complain about the cold at all. And then we stood there outside in the bright sunshine and noted, yes, it was cold, but it wasn't awful cold. And so we skied. On the lovely Judy and Hap trails, named after my very own peeps. And loved it. Even started to think kindly toward Minnesota again. Sure, there never was two feet of snow- it did turn to rain, and then ice- but the trails were fine. Even good. It proved to me once again that a Minnesota winter looks much worse from inside, peering out the frost encrusted windows, than it does from when you are right out in it. Of course it's Wednesday night and I haven't gotten back out there, but I will. And I will love it.

You apparently don't really know me then.....

Tonight before bed Theo said, "I am sooooo excited for tomorrow." I asked what was going on tomorrow. He looked at me with a hint of frustration. "Really," I asked again, "what's going on tomorrow?" I was quickly scanning my brain to see what I had forgotten about Thursday... He gave me a look tinged with sorrow and said, "Well, apparently you don't really know me then." And then a pout. Man, talk about heartbreak. He knows how to do it. Desperately I took a stab in the dark, "Recess?" I saw genuine relief cross his face, his mom maybe did know him after all, maybe just a little. But then he threw down the guantlet: "Yes. But which one? First or second recess??" You do have to love a teacher who gives second graders two recesses, by the way. These teachers dedicated to recess are few and far between in this age of test early, test often. But because of his teacher's liberal recess policies I was stuck here without an answer with my reputation as a caring, understanding mother hanging in the balance. Confidently I answered, "Second," although I had no idea why one recess would be better than the other. The frown returned. Second was clearly the wrong answer and he was back to thinking that after all these years, all this time, he was living with a stranger who did not understand him at all. "Wait, first! First recess!" "No Mom. Both recesses." And then the cheshire grin. He had been fooling all along, trying to trap me. Playing with my heart. Dangerous game, little man, dangerous game.

Snow!

Whoo-ee!

I just don't get them, Mom!

Last week at school Theo was in the 'music' rotation for resource class. Normally this is not his favorite. Science tops his list with gym a close second. But last week in music the topic was folk dancing. You might think this would give a second grade boy the heebie-jeebies. Not Theo. On Tuesday he came home from school, sat down for a snack and gave me this speech:

Mom, I just do NOT get the boys in my class. I mean they do NOT like to be paired with a girl during folk dancing in music. They won't do it- they kind of freak out. Me? When it comes time to pair up for the dance I make CERTAIN that I am between two girls so that I will end up with one for sure! Today it was Caroline. She is the greatest. We laughed so hard....

Throughout the week he continued to come home shaking his head at the stupidity of his fellow male classmates. They just did not get it. He on the other hand had manuevered his way into dancing with Lucy, then Caroline again, over to Maddie, back to Lucy- each partner carefully and skillfully pre-identified and then the teacher's choosing methodology slyly and quietly manipulated to land him in the arms of the girl of the moment.

Second grade. Oh boy.

Skiing!

It has been delicious to be able to get out on skies on a regular basis before Christmas. Admittedly the snow is not deep, but it is enough and is a welcome break from the dreadmill and the stinky unventilated cardio room at the Y. Last weekend the sun was out, the wind was not, and the temp was in the 20's. I convinced Eli to head over to the local golf course with me to check out the skiing. We found a little skier-groomed classic track circuit and did a quick loop. Eli is efficient and strides out beautifully on the flats. Hills make him nervous. After one loop his hands were frozen so we went back to the house. I will find his warmer mittens for the future. He was done, but I was not, so I loaded Theo into the car and returned to the course. Theo is a different animal than his brother on skies. He is not efficient nor particularly 'beautiful' as he strides out. But his attitude is fabulous. He falls about every 20 feet, but he is never on the ground for more than 3.5 seconds. One thing he has mastered is the quick recovery. And the wipeouts don't seem to mar his mood at all. And hills. They do not make him nervous. They make me nervous when I am with him. He points downhill and tucks. And lets out some whoops and hollers. Then falls, jumps up, tucks, hollers, falls.... We did the one hill out at the golf course at least 20 times. Then Theo headed off into the distance - veering out of the tracks and off into the deeper snow. He stopped every now and then to scratch a 'T.L.' in the snow as he went along. For 'Theo's Loop'. His aunt and uncle had trails named after them over at Theodore Wirth this fall, and Theo is not to be outdone. So if you are down at Highland skiing around and happen on to a path marked with his initials and dotted with little nest-like indentions every 20 feet from his wipeouts, you are on the soon to be famous "Theo's Loop". But you might want to keep that to yourself. Theo is thinking about asking for a fee from all users. Right now his price is set at 1 cent per loop, so it is still affordable. But I sense a rate hike in the near future.

Clearly, I do not understand

Last night as I walked by the boys' room I saw Eli's little sparkly eyes peeping out over the railing of his top bunk. It was nearing 10 and I fully expected him to be asleep. He called me in. Then he explained to me how he had JUST realized that the answer to one of the problems on his continental math test (these very challenging logic/math tests he takes every few months at school) was 5. He had put 8! But now that he is thinking about it, the answer is obviously 5! He then explained his reasoning- which I did not come near understanding, but listened to patiently. When he finally summed up, I said, "Looks like you have it figured out, now close your eyes and get some sleep." From Eli: "Mom. Clearly, you do not understand the mental anguish I am in." Clearly, I don't.