Some of you know about this from Facebook, but this is the fuller tale:

I will take no credit for SC and JR's artistic abilities--aside perhaps for their color sense, especially JR's Yes, I am creative, but I cannot draw a straight line without a ruler. But both the girls really draw well.

It's from the Man. He is a talented artist and has won two design contests in the county where he works. The logo for his department and for another major department are his work.

So I can kvell about this unashamedly.

Last Friday I got out of work to pick up JR from school and turned on my cell phone. I don't keep it on generally when I'm at work.

And there was a text message from SC: "Guess what--I just won a mosaic contest and get $1000."

SC is not allowed to text during school hours. If it wasn't for the fact that it was her phone #, I'd have thought this to be some sort of junk mail.

Called the Man--he knew nothing about a contest. Got back to work, went Googling and found there had been a contest to design a mosaic for a new "green" building in our town. Open to all students in the city.First prize--$1000 to the student, $1000 to the school's art department and the chance to create the mural.

She won!

SC is a talented kid, but in schools where there are tons of rich pushy parents and where her own parents are NEITHER, she has never had the chance to shine.

Now she has won something big.
Not a school award given by fatuous teachers, but an award judged by outsiders purely on her work.

Like I said, the talent comes from her father.
But she's my girl too. And I am so,so, SO proud of her!

I am a nosher. I love to nibble between meals. Trapped at home by the winter weather, stressed by things at work and home, I nibbled my way into gaining about 5 pounds. That's coming off thanks to Weight Watchers, but my love of noshing will always be with me.

In fact, right now, I am having a noshing sort of breakfast--blueberries and Cheerios, eaten with my fingers.

The Yiddish word nosh comes from the German word nachen. Which according to Leo Rosten translates as "to eat on the sly".

This once may have been appropriate. Long ago, it was considered rude to eat in public. Hey, even not that long ago-- back in the bad old days before there was a Starbucks on every corner --you didn't see people wandering around constantly with a coffee cup in hand. Or a snack.

People stopped, ate a snack or had a cup of coffee, and then moved on with their day. They didn't need to be constantly fed and watered. 

Nor did their kids. Somehow, before the days of cars with cup holders and snack trays, before super strollers with mom & child cup holders, our kids did not have to constantly nosh on the go.  A snack on a long trip? Sure. A walk to the library? Nope, nope, nope.

The need to constantly feed kids has gotten so prevalent that the NY Times recently had this article about kids and snacking. Catch this:

Although daily snack calories have increased by 168, overall daily eating during the study period increased by only 113 calories. This suggests that snacking has eroded meal time and that children are taking in slightly fewer calories during breakfast, lunch and dinner, when more healthful foods are typically served, because of their intense snacking habits. Overall, snacking now accounts for about 27 percent of an average child’s total daily calories.

I bring this up because after reminding my nannies/parents  that food is NOT allowed in the library--at all-- once again this morning I found crushed cheerios/crackers/whatever on the carpets. And I'm damned tired of it.

Sigh......

Until next time--abei gezunt--stay healthy. 
And save those noshes for AFTER you leave the library!

People are using this term today in the NY Times in an article about tax breaks people with kids can take. Their whine is "why do those breeders get a break--I have to pay for their schools and I don't have kids!"

I have memories of an ad campaign in the past decade featuring adorable kids and a slogan to the tune of "This is Jane. In 20 years, she will be your heart surgeon". Think about that one for a minute.

We "breeders" are raising, as the Malvina Reynolds song goes "doctors, and lawyers, and business executives".  And teachers. And scientists. And musicians. And inventors. And gardeners. And every other profession and calling that exists.

Probably even a few librarians.

Our kids are the future of us all. We "breeders" do the work and the rest of you reap the benefits in the long run. When you pay taxes that go for schools, you are helping to pay for a better future.

And those tax breaks? Those incredible tax breaks we "breeders" get?

Mine amounts to about $400 bucks this year. And for the first time in my life, we are going to OWE taxes.Yup, being a "breeder" really gives us a big financial advantage!

It doesn't matter though. Because for all the ups and downs of raising kids, the gift of having my daughters in my life is more valuable than anything I could buy with a tax refund, no matter how large.

My father came home from rehab in a nursing home yesterday. He had pneumonia in January and needed physical therapy to reverse the damage weeks in bed had done.

My father is 88 (89 in April) and has a host of medical problems ranging from COPD to congenital heart failure. He has a defibrillator in his chest. His medicines give him side effects including skin rashes and other such fun.

But he is here with us, clear minded as ever and still possessing that wonderful, sarcastic Jewish sense of humor he's passed on to me and to my daughters.

Dad had his first heart attack back in the 1970s. He was a self employed optometrist working in a Jersey town whose prosperity was fading rapidly as local factories closed. My mother had been a teacher but had been a SAHM for some years, as most middle class moms of the time were. We had health insurance through an HMO and I assume that's what covered the bills.

Now he has Medicaid and supplementary insurance because Mom went back to teaching once we were older. His many medications are covered through government and Mom's union plans. Their medical bills are covered.

But I can't help thinking  what if Dad was that 55 year old independent eye doctor right now and had a serious medical condition? Our family would be in dire straits.

Every time I hear the phrase "Health Care INDUSTRY" I want to SCREAM!

It is NOT an industry and it's time we stopped calling it that.

We need a public option. We need single payer insurance.We need to drive the health care "industry" out of business and get back to health care professionals working with patients to make decisions not based on profit but on what's right for the patient.

It's my father's life. And your father's. And everyone's father. And everyone's mother and children and spouses and brothers and sisters.

It's the right thing to do for us all.

I wish this was my work, but I'm delighted someone else was thinking my way....

 

Want to be a public figure with a private life?

It CAN be done. There are Hollywood, political and sport couples who keep their private lives private.

They don't live in Hollywood or other spots besieged by reporters.

They don't sell their children's photos to People or other magazines, even if they DO give the money to charity.

They don't do commercials, with or without their families.

They stay out of the limelight. They don't give a lot of interviews. They keep their private lives private and separate from what they do in the movies, or on the playing field.

They go out and do their jobs. And then they go home.

Tiger Woods quivers with rage over people poking their nose into his private life, into "stalking" his family.
Sarah Palin bristles first at David Letterman telling a joke she ASSUMED was about her younger daughter, and now at "Family Guy" for a character with Downs Syndrome saying "my mother was the governor of Alaska".

Tiger Woods lost the right to privacy the day he started marketing himself as a clean cut family man instead of merely as a golfer. His ads for various brands pushed that image right along with his golf game.

As for Sarah Palin, rather than my saying anything,let me quote someone far more eloquent. Andrea Fay Friedman is the voice of "Ellen" on Family Guy (and for the record, I personally HATE that show). She is 39 years old and has Downs Syndrome:

"In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life. My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes."

If Tiger Woods wants to play golf for the rest of his life, he can go for it. I didn't want to hear about his private life then and I don't now.
I just don't want to see him on TV, selling ANYTHING. Except perhaps condoms.

As for Sarah Palin, she ought to call Andrea Fay Friedman's parents and ask them to advise her how to bring up poor little Trig to be as fine a human being as their daughter.

But don't hold your breath waiting for that.......................

The kids went back to school this AM. There was a 2 hour delay and the Man went in to work late so that I could get to work on time.

I am glad, glad, GLAD that the girls are back in school because cabin fever had long set in. SC missed her friends and found that even her computer, ITunes and artwork were losing their charms. JR dawdled over a potentially fun assignment that had been due last Monday, only finishing it last night. Except for the cover--that she saved for before school this AM.   And because I didn't stand over her and cajole her to practice for ballet, she did not do so all week--and I had to hear from Lynne about how the other girls had called her, telling her all about their practicing.  Frankly the other girls need it more than JR does--the little brat is naturally good. But it exasperates me that JR doesn't seem to get WHY practicing is so important, and I really don't want to hear about those other girls! 

Aside from baking and cooking, I didn't do much either last week. Ten days of my life were mainly devoted to sleeping, eating, watching the forecasts on the computer and TV and not much more. Perhaps my brain and body needed that, but there were all those closets to clean, all those photos to organize, all those things I COULD have done.
(On the other hand, the Man did even less, aside from go to work for several days......)

The girls were originally scheduled to go back on Tuesday, but sidewalks and roads are still so bad that the city decided to wait one more day. It really is bad--especially in the picturesque tourist section of town where I work. Parking is next to impossible--cleared spaces are far and few and you end up parking against the snowbanks thrown up by the plows. Walking is even more difficult--though the law says homeowners and businesses need to clear their sidewalks, there are snowbanks at corners and the paths have iced over in places.

But the city had us reopen yesterday. Our first day back after 11 days closed and they didn't even allow us a few hours to get things back in shape. Grr..
We spent 3 hours clearing all the books returned in the drop during the storm. There were at least 8 3-tier book trucks loaded with books, DVDs, etc. Staff worked with a will, but we are still awaiting shipments of our books returned at the other branches, which will not be a lot of fun.

Despite writing on my calendar "no programs this week" as a PLANNED break, noting on same calendar that if the schools are closed/delayed for weather programs are canceled and regularly TELLING patrons at programs all that info, we've had calls and walk-ins a plenty for programs. Why do I bother?

Oh, well, we're back. Things are getting back to normal.
Sort of.............

After my spending the day being bummed out, the Man redeemed himself.

At bedtime he gave me a typical Man Valentine's card--a sweet "I love you" sort of card. "Defaced"--his term, not mine--with a raunchy personal joke drawing on the underside. Very much our sort of thing.

Plus Valentine's candy--chocolate truffles--that came in a pretty foil bag. He gets points for that--he's not much for gift wrapping either, so, though I'd been perfectly happy (TOO HAPPY) with a bag of Hershey's Kisses or some such, it's nice to get something in a nice package.

Meanwhile we are having some minor snow--again. And after promising schools would be open tomorrow w/just a two hour delay, the city has decided that the sidewalks and bus stops in many neighborhoods are still too blocked w/snow. This is embarrassing, because most of the other local jurisdictions are still planning just 2 hour delays for tomorrow. We'll see what happens in the AM.

With that and with work. We have been home now since February 5!

 I appreciate my spouse's support and caring about 360 days a year.

But (with a few rare exceptions) on my birthday,Christmas,our wedding anniversary,Valentine's Day and Mother's Day he either totally ignores the occasion or makes a half hearted effort that is even less appealing than ignoring it would be.

I am going to get to sit back and watch SC's boyfriend, and one day in the future JR's shower them w/flowers,gifts and other whatnot and will just have to deal with it.

Just as I've had to endure multiple Christmases @ my in-laws where my brother in law showers my sister-in-law with stuff--a process made more unendurable by the fact that she innocently wants to videotape us opening gifts one by one. And I generally get--zip. The one thing I hate about the holiday.

Truthfully, my hope is that the men in their lives will treat them right the other 360 days a year, which I know full well matters most of all.

But it rankles. And it always will.

 

  How the heck did THIS happen?
How did that baby I had 15 years ago turn into this tall girl, as tall as I am?

With a boyfriend. A boyfriend, I might add, who brought her FLOWERS for her birthday yesterday.
Something my own dear spouse has never done in his life.

As a favorite cousin says, SHEESH!........