Image: The Wicked Witch of the East

Image: Wax Beans

'side!

Florida and the beautiful spring weather seem to have broken Harrison of his TV addiction. Now instead of whimpering "Ernie....", hurling himself at the television, and blindly pushing every button on the DVD player, he gets out his shoes, plasters himself to the screen door glass like a pup, and demands, "Side!" [outside]. And regardless of the state of dinner preparation, I am usually more than happy to oblige because the alternative is boredom, and you should know that boredom transforms Harrison from a darling into a tantrum-ridden monster with fangs and stompy feet, and results in me wanting to check myself into a mental institution.

His usual outdoor itinerary:

• roll trike and wagon to top of porch stairs
• say "Mama! Bike!" to demand that Mama set them on pavement
• put sidewalk chalk container in wagon
• push wagon to end of driveway
• kick wagon down incline at end of driveway
• giggle
• point at wagon and yell "Mama!" to demand that Mama bring wagon back up incline
• repeat
• retrieve trike from backyard
• wheel trike to end of driveway
• kick trike down incline at end of driveway
• giggle
• point at trike and yell "Mama!" to demand that Mama bring wagon back up incline
• repeat
• sit on walk
• pat walk and yell "Mama sit!"
• scribble with sidewalk chalk
• hand Mama chalk, point at ground, and yell "Mama!" to demand that Mama draw for amusement
• scour sky for "erbines" [airplanes] and cry "erbine! erbine!" if successful
• scour sky for moon and shout "moon! moon!" if successful
• stomp around front porch, terrorizing resident brooding morning dove
• make move to pick Mama's flowers
• say to self under breath "No. Flow-woos. No!"
• back away
• succumb to Dark Side
• pick flowers
• get threatened with time out if more flowers are picked

There are also many, many trips to the neighborhood playground, much playing with the next-door neighbor kids, and much running away from another neighbor's two-year old girl, who always seems to be either trying to kiss him, steal his milk, or eat his chalk.

Hooray for spring!

One year and three hundred sixty one

Harrison turns one year and three hundred sixty one days old today. I will save you from all the trite and cliqued nostaligic musings and leave it at this:

I can't believe that he will be two on Friday.

I can't believe that I am the mother of a two year old.

Holy fucking shit.

CHS Shout Out!

My beloved alma mater, City Honors School, was just named the fourth best public high school in the country. In the country! I am beyond impressed, not suprised, and forever grateful.

I have written about CHS before, while ranting about the sad state of public education in Rochester and dreaming about the perfect public school for my boy.

The latest school that we fantasize about (yes, this is what we fantasize about these days. this and $1600 swingsets. pathetic.) is the Genesee Community Charter School at the Rochester Science Museum.

How amazing does it sound? "As an Expeditionary Learning school, our students spend most of each day embarking on purposeful, rigorous learning expeditions that involve intellectual, service, and kinesthetic dimensions."

Hell, I want to go there, and I don't even know what "kinesthetic dimensions" means.