Spontaneous Footloosing

Post-dinner this evening, my daughter and wife danced.

Halfway through the dance party, my daughter disappeared into her room.

She reappeared with a costume and a script. She was a servant. My wife was a queen. There was a rule against dancing in the kingdom.

Nevermind the fact that my wife was dancing the entire time.

Nevermind that this is the plot of Footloose (which I know she hasn’t seen).

“Your majesty!” was uttered several times.

Finally, the queen could no longer deny the power of dance.

The broom was discarded. The maid’s glasses were taken off.

And, just like it was a movie, the pair danced to The Monkees’ “I’m A Believer.”

Let’s Dance!

Snakes and Bats

Today, my daughter got a science lesson at home.

My wife caught a kingsnake trying to eat one of our chicken’s freshly laid eggs (the egg was in its mouth!). Being the fearless amateur naturalist that she is, my wife promptly picked up the non-venomous snake and brought it into the house.

My daughter learned that kingsnakes eat eggs, aren’t venemous, and get one more chance to survive if we catch them trying to eat our eggs (my wife deposited this one in a field about an acre away from the chicken pen).

This evening, the two of them walked outside and saw and talked about bats. My daughter recounted key facts: they’re nocturnal, they’re great mosquito hunters, and they use sound to catch their pray.

One perk of living out in the country? Impromptu nature lessons.

“See The Stars”

My daughter has had a series of good Saturdays.

Last week, she spent time with my parents. The week before, she spent time with my aunt and uncle.

Today, she went on a hayride and went trick-or-treating with her cousins.

The thing that most caught her attention, however, was not the candy or family time, but the sky.

“Look at the stars,” she instructed me as we drove around on the hayride. “Aren’t they beautiful?”

They were, and I told her so.

On the way home, she said, “I wish every day could be like this.”

I told her that the rarity of days like this made us appreciate them more.

“I know,” she said, “but I got to see the stars.”

“The stars are out every night,” I told her.

“I need to look at them more.”

Me too.

Made With Love

Tonight, my daughter helped my wife make “spooky” spaghetti and meatballs.

The spookiness was provided by ghost-shaped pasta.

The meatball were provided with my daughter’s help.

When I commented on their aroma and their delicious taste and said thank you to both her and my wife, she beamed with pride.

“Good job!” I told her.

“They were made with love!” she promptly responded.

Truth.

Hawaiian Day

The teacher has become the student.

Today’s theme day at school was Hawaiian Day. My wife’s plan involved a floral scarf tied around my daughter in the style of a toga. Because she’s gone for her job before my daughter gets up, I was on toga duty.

I was not a quick learner. I practiced unsuccessfully making the wrap three or four times and then had to ask my wife to do it three or four times.

This morning, I was up for the challenge.

I had played the wrap’s moves in my mind all night long. I pulled it off in one try.

When I picked my daughter up from school, the scarf was in her bag. I don’t know when she took it off, but I really didn’t care. I had passed my exam for the day.

I will be saving this example for the next time Cat struggles with something. My effort was good enough for her to wear the skirt to school with pride.

War Stories

Every Tuesday, my daughter has P.E.

Today she played volleyball. As we talked about her experience at dinner, my wife told us a war story of her 9th grade P.E. experience.

It involved a tyrannical gym coach, a ‘C’ on her report card, a visit to the principle by my mother-in-law, and a fixed grade.

My daughter was transfixed.

It occasioned a larger conversation about when and why my wife’s parents protested something going on at school. My wife is an advocate for teachers, but that has a limit. She supported her parents taking up her cause. I know she would do the same for our daughter.

Getting and Making Jokes

A few days ago, my wife put up this sign in our kitchen.

This morning, my daughter noticed it.

“I get it!” she said without prompting. “CREEP it real! Like, KEEP it real!”

Later in the day, she wanted to share a joke of her own.

“What did A say to B?”

“I don’t know.”

“C anything LETTERLY? You know, like SEE anything LATELY? Get it?”

Oh, I got it, girl. I was beaming with pride. And laughing. A lot.

Getting the joke on her own? Pretty special. Making her own joke? Priceless.

Mama Questions

Today, my daughter wanted to make a house and play mama. She inevitably had questions.

They included:

  1. Do mamas take breaks?
  2. Do mamas always sit down?
  3. What do mamas do beside read to their babies?

These are good questions.

I may start giving her the task of playing as a certain vocation, just to see what kinds of questions she’ll ask. We’ll see if she keeps the mama routine up.

Theme Days

Today was the first of several theme days at my daughter’s school. The short list includes:

  • Rocker day
  • 50s-theme day
  • Pajama Day
  • Spirit Day

I see the appeal. You get to do something out of the ordinary, and you get to compare notes with all your friends and classmates who are doing the same thing.

It’s a wonder that I haven’t considered THEME DAYS at home over the summer or an extended break. A short list of my own ideas:

  1. Band day (we write and perform a song)
  2. Sports day (we play at least three different sports and wear appropriate gear)
  3. Book Character Day (we spend the day acting like one of our favorite book characters)
  4. Movie Character Day (we spend the day acting like one of our favorite movie characters)
  5. Outdoors Day (we spend at least two hours outside the house or car)

In any case, there are simple things that my daughter does at school that I could be replicating at home.