I Need a Watchdog

Milo meets the Lethargians (from The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster):

"Well, if you can't laugh or think, what can you do?" asked Milo.

"Anything as long as it's nothing, and everything as long as it isn't anything," explained another. "There's lots to do; we have a very busy schedule-

"At 8 o'clock we get up, and then we spend

"From 8 to 9 daydreaming.

"From 9 to 9:30 we take our early midmorning nap.

"From 9:30 to 10:30 we dawdle and delay.

"From 10:30 to 11:30 we take our late early morning nap.

"From ll:00 to 12:00 we bide our time and then eat lunch.

"From l:00 to 2:00 we linger and loiter.

"From 2:00 to 2:30 we take our early afternoon nap.

"From 2:30 to 3:30 we put off for tomorrow what we could have done today.

"From 3:30 to 4:00 we take our early late afternoon nap.

"From 4:00 to 5:00 we loaf and lounge until dinner.

"From 6:00 to 7:00 we dillydally.

"From 7:00 to 8:00 we take our early evening nap, and then for an hour before we go to bed at 9:00 we waste time.

"As you can see, that leaves almost no time for brooding, lagging, plodding, or procrastinating, and if we stopped to think or laugh, we'd never get nothing done."

"You mean you'd never get anything done," corrected Milo.

"We don't want to get anything done," snapped another angrily; "we want to get nothing done, and we can do that without your help."

"You see," continued another in a more conciliatory tone, "it's really quite strenuous doing nothing all day, so once a week we take a holiday and go nowhere, which was just where we were going when you came along. Would you care to join us?"

"I might as well," thought Milo; "that's where I seem to be going anyway."

But don't worry, Milo escapes the Doldrums with some sound advice from a Watchdog ("KILLING TIME! roared the dog -so furiously that his alarm went off. "It's bad enough wasting time without killing it."). If you missed out on The Phantom Tollbooth as a child, grab a copy and read it now. It's clever and warm and fun, perfect for these chilly, grey doldrum days of late November.

Things I found in my son's bed...

Yesterday was sheet changin' day, and in my son L's bed, I found:

7 webkinz
1 large stuffed frog
several comic books
5 socks
a couple handfuls of LEGO pieces
various pyjama tops and bottoms
and a 2 foot rubber crocodile

It is a single bed. How on earth does he sleep???

PS In about a decade a blog post with this title would have entirely different connotations and concerns. I sure am glad that he's only 8 and a 2 foot rubber crocodile is in fact a 2 foot rubber crocodile, and not a euphemism for anything else...

Art Journal Joy

I don't fancy myself an artist, nor have I ever. I don't have an innate talent or passion for it, and I can't draw, and I can't be bothered to learn to draw (I know, I know you can be an artist without drawing well, but having knowledge about form, proportion, perspective etc. etc, does help). But for the past 6 months or so I've been working in an art journal and loving it, LOVING IT!

I've always been a dilettante, a dabbler, joyfully skipping from one idea or project to the next, never happier than when up to my elbows in some creative pursuit, but I needed an excuse to get me going. Busy moms of twins don't take time for art projects unless it's with their kids. Regular people who are not artists don't waste time messing about with paints and such, unless it's a craft or decoration or gift for some holiday or birthday. It never occurred to me that if I was having a blast spending all day working on a 4ft by 4ft map of an imaginary land with my sons (oh yes, we did!) or enjoying every minute of hand drawing and painting umpteen Harry Potter posters for their b-day (with loads of help and company from my loverly sister), that maybe I should be choosing to do art for myself?

Then some nerdfighter friends (not to worry, the question "WTH is a nerdfighter?" will be addressed at a later date) started posting about art journaling, and you know that feeling you get, that sudden catch in your breath and pull at your hearstrings, that rush of longing and recognition when you encounter something that ought to belong to you? Art journaling? Why aren't I art journaling? But again, I was hesitant. I am not an artist. I don't have time. And as I looked at the fabulous pages and incredible paintings of my artist friends...what's the point? I'll never do anything good. I should be -insert any number of things that I ought to be doing at any given moment- and not wasting my time on this (really all the same excuses I tend to use not to write too). Enter, at Keeley's recommendation, Suzi Blu, the crazy lady with cool ideas...



Her videos were a bit of an acquired taste, but she's a lovely person and the message that you don't have to be an "artist" breathing the rarefied air of your Soho loft studio, and channelling Warhol in order to have the right to make art hit home. I don't need a reason or an excuse, I can just make art...and it can suck, it can be utterly crappy, mundane or downright stupid looking, but it doesn't matter. It'll be mine. All those judgements about whether art is any good are all ego anyway, and this exercise isn't about ego, it's about unfettered creativity and joy.

I could have never predicted how much the process would have brought me. I was literally dying for this creative outlet, and I didn't even realize it, until I felt parts of me wake up, rub their eyes and take a look around for the first time in years. Bolder in art = bolder in life, more celebration, more enthsiasm, more calm and that sense of self emerging more solidly again amidst the buffeting winds of adulthood and motherhood and suburbia and my 30s and 15 extra pounds and too many responsibilities. Of course all of the support, delicious, gorgeous, soul sustaining support from my sons and husband and my gerds (girl nerds) and my sister has been what has made this all exponentially more wonderful. All this from messing about with paints, and words and drawing a few dorky pick-churs...pretty cool.



{The above is my "Me as a Hobbit" page, one of my favs. Please note the hairy feet and legs...it's a crucial detail, for really getting this piece. ;) }

Non-Nano Blues

I wish I was doing Nano! *groan* I'm getting the hilarious and inspirational email pep talks from Chris Baty in my inbox and seeing my friends chat excitedly online about the bold and determined authorial beginnings they've made in the past few days, and I wanna be writing too! So much so, that I thought yesterday, this month can't be so bad time-wise, everyone's busy, that's the whole point, you make time to write no matter what...maybe I can do this! I got out a pen and paper, planning to make a to do list and get myself so organized for the month of November that I could in fact make time for novel writing in the midst of the craziness.

The bad news is that my first instincts were right, I do not have time right now. It's impossible(why oh why sweet nanowrimo, do you have to be in November?). But the good news...by the time I was done compiling my relentless and unwieldy list of tasks and obligations, I'd pretty much made my 1400K for the day...nonfiction, unfortunately.

(perhaps I'll have to make my own lonely Nano in March...absolutely nothing happens in March...)

Halloweenies

It was an excellent Halloween. Pumpkins were carved, monster cupcakes baked, spider webs strewn across windows, plastic skulls and Harry Potter paraphernalia scattered about the house like confetti and costumes ordered from the exotic land of the U.S. of A. E & L had school Halloween parties in the morning, then came home to chill and sugar crash for the afternoon, then waited in painful anticipation, noses pressed against the front window in the gathering dark until the other kids were out (anytime after you see that first other kid is the right time, but not a moment sooner…have no idea how that first kid decides when to go?). And we were off, me and my boys all ready to trick or treat the whole neighbourhood and beyond, as we toiled our way to candy glory one house at a time.

It was a beautiful evening for it…mild and still (it isn’t unheard of for Canadian kids to have to battle their way through snow drifts on All Hallows Eve, so at about 12C it was gorgeous). The streets were alive with excited kiddies, amused parents in tow.And so we began, the boys dutifully taking turns ringing the doorbells (they’re 8 year old twins, each act between them is negotiated with all of the gravity and diplomacy of ambassadors on a highly sensitive foreign mission) and remembering to say “thank you” and “Happy Halloween” like good little citizens…me hovering in the background, camera in hand, trying to direct E (whose Dementor costume had long flowy bits) around the jack o’ lanterns, lest he should catch on fire (long polyester Halloween costume + candles in pumpkins at doorstep = 2 thumbs down from Smoky the Bear).

By the 4^th house we trick or treated, their buckets were so full that we had to go home and empty them out. I kid you not, 4 houses each giving out enormous handfuls of treats, small bags of chips etc. and their pumpkin pails were overflowing. Thrilled and undeterred we switched to bigger bags, and headed out again. We had done less than a dozen houses (total), hadn’t even finished trick or treating the small bay that we live on, and their bags were almost full! We were using those large, fabric, reusable grocery bags! So we headed home again, the boys feeling that they were done with trick or treating and it was time to move on to other things, although we hadn’t even been out for an hour. And who could blame them, they already knew they had way more candy than we’d ever let them eat!

We compromised on a break, while I sorted the “safe” from the “bad” candies (they have anaphylactic allergies to eggs, peanuts and some other foods). This lightened their loads considerably (although I was thrilled to see how many people are giving out peanut free treats!), so they decided to finish off our bay. 4 more houses, another ½ a bag of candy each and we were really done…yet it was still early. We decided to do some “reverse trick or treating”, and the boys and husband took candy to some of their buddies who live on the other side of the neighbourhood (although I’m sure those kids also had way too much). Then we settled in for the night for an old tradition (watching Nightmare Before Christmas together), and a new one (E read us spooky stories with the flashlight on his face -kids’ camp-style, next year will be somebody else’s turn to choose and read).

All in all a most enjoyable Halloween…but it got me thinking about our culture of excess… In an effort to please the kids/ one up the neighbours it’s gone from 1 or 2 candies a house to handfuls, and it’s gone from kids spending a whole evening cavorting in the streets as they had fun and worked to fill up their little pillowcases, to a massive pile of treats after a half an hour and a few houses. It feels like we’re giving so much, that we’re taking away! We’re taking away the thrill of the hunt, and the satisfaction of a job well done…making it all too easy, yet all so much harder to appreciate. And this overwhelming glut at Halloween is just par for the course these days. The expectation is that kids will be given every good thing you can afford as soon as you can give it, from designer clothes to lavish trips to 100s of dollars in electronics for X-mas to being taken to each new movie and bought each new video game the minute it is out (and yes I am talking 8 year olds here!). I think it’s more difficult than ever to walk the line between participating in the culture in which we live (so that your kids don’t feel excluded and can relate to their peers) and utterly spoiling them. If we’re not careful we’ll end up with a whole generation of Dudley Dursleys on our hands!

Anyway I loved our Halloween all the same, and of course we participated in the excess as much as anyone else. Heck, we gave away full-sized Cadbury bars and packs of bubble gum. I may rail against the status quo a little, but we’re not going to be the one asshole house handing out pencils or a single sugar-free lolly! That’s just a good way to get your house egged! And so the escalation of spoiling continues…