This evening, I was playing with the girls as they fiddled with their “laptops” - gifts from my aunt, who knew I was getting an XO for Christmas and didn’t want them to feel left out.
As I stood up to return to the dishes, Ani’s laptop spoke. “Your blog is great!” it told her in a faux-excited voice. I laughed.
UPDATE (5/21/08): It seems that this video, certainly a controversial one, has been pulled from publication. Chris Lehmann wrote a much better post than I did on the subject. If you haven’t already, you should read it, and dig deep into his comments. If you know why the video’s disappearing around the ‘net, I’d love to know what you know.
Thanks to John Creighton for the link to this video. It’s well worth the six and a half minutes of your time if you haven’t already seen it.
I expected that tonight would be a night of constant interruption as Ani explored the boundaries of her new "big girl bed." Boy was I wrong. While she was quite excited by the sight of the green and purple doll house, it was a one-story night, as she was eager to "go to bed (in her big girl bed)." She went right to sleep, and all is peaceful. Funny how often our expectations are challenged, both as parents and as educators, isn’t it?
Sometimes my online life and my offline one seem to blur together a little bit — and I forget to tell one group things that I’ve told the other — and vice versa. This became clear to me yesterday when I was having a chat and mentioned that we were preparing Ani to move to a "big girl bed" in order to free up her crib for her soon to be born sister. The thing is, I hadn’t mentioned that we were expecting. So I’m mentioning it. Ani’s going to be a big sister on or around graduation day in late May of this year. Pretty cool, huh? As I’m writing this, Ani is sleeping for (her mother and I hope) the last time in a crib. Her new bed arrives tomorrow, and we begin the process of sleeping in a bed. Cross your fingers for us, okay? It’s certainly not a big deal, but it’ll add a little stress and excitement to our lives. I hope it goes well. I’m a little sad, though, as my little girl’s already beginning to outgrow pieces of her world. Man, it’s all happening so fast. In fact, soon, she won’t be my little girl anymore. That title, like the crib, will soon pass to her sister.
It’s never too early to get your children helping out around the house. After our twenty or so inches of snowfall — more if you count the massive drifts throughout our neighborhood — we sent Ani, almost two, out with her shovel to get the driveway done. It only took six hours and two diaper changes. (I’m kidding, obviously. But it was quite a day for snow removal here. Here’s a link to our "Holiday Blizzard 2006" photos. Isn’t it great that, thanks to television, every major weather event has a cool-sounding name now?)
As best as I can determine, the first reference on the Internet to my grandfather, a man that I know far too little about, is this one. My given name, Edward, is/was/will always be his, too. (Bud, the nickname that I’ve used for everyone except substitute teachers and bank tellers, is/was/will forever be my father’s father’s name. I was named for both of my grandfathers.) I’ll be offline much of this week, with family in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where I used to play in my Granddaddy’s amazing garden.
I’m going to be offline for much of the week as I’m headed off to spend some time with family. I’m planning on posting lots of convention reflections when I return, as well as some thoughts on ARG’s and their potential in schools, a podcast from my NCTE presentation, and plenty more. I hope all y’all that I met in Nashville are up to good things, or enjoying a well deserved break, and that your travel home was safe. I hope all the rest of you are keeping busy with good and important work and family and life. Happy Thanksgiving to all, whether or not you actually celebrate the holiday. There’s lots to be thankful for, isn’t there?
