Time Traveling

I'm once again coaching Cassie's Odyssey of the Mind team team.  This is a competitive activity in which teams come up with creative solutions to given problems.  Our team is creating a drama about a group of school kids who do good deeds.  The kids must write, edit and memorize a script; design and paint scenery and props; and make costumes.  A key component of the Odyssey program is the requirement that the children do everything themselves.  Adults may teach them how to sew, use power tools, paint, etc.  But, the actual work for the competition must be done by the kids.

You're probably thinking I'm crazy for giving up my almost, non-existent free time to be a coach.  Actually, I don't have any free time, unless sleeping counts.  And, the state of my sanity has crossed my own mind multple times.  But, if you read on, you'll come to understand why I'm happy to be a part of Odyssey.

Teamwork is central to success in Odyssey so we begin our sessions by sitting in a circle and socializing.   The kids talk about home and school.  They tell me about arguments they have had with their siblings and about teachers who they think act inappropriately.  The kids have tried to define "fairness" in the context of school.  They have discussed life and death and asked me questions about heaven.  I love these moments, when the kids are sharing their innermost ramblings with me, unhindered by email or texts.  Early in our Odyssey journey, the kids spent a lot of time discussing the feasibility of time travel. It wasn't surprising that time traveling became the basis of their storyline.   


We have only five weeks left before the competition, so we've begun meeting twice a week.  I've started thinking about time traveling, wondering if we could go back in time a little, to give us more time to prepare.  On Thursday, five team members came home with Cassie after school - four boys and one girl.  As the kids wolfed down a snack, we discussed our goals for the afternoon: to continue editing the script, paint primer on the cardboard scenery, and work on costumes.  The girls settled in with the costumes, quietly chatting with soft music in the background. 


I took the boys out to the driveway to paint, where the flattened refrigerator box awaited them.  We removed jackets and tied plastic bags over shoes.  


"Start in the center, " I advised, "so that you don't paint yourselves in."  Yes, I know that I'm not supposed to help them.  But, as the coach, it's my job to keep them safe.


"Whoa!  I've got paint on my shoes!" yelled one child.  I grabbed his shoes and headed for the kitchen sink.

"Hey! Watch out!" yelled another boy as airborne paint went flying.  I  ran faster.


"Look," yelled someone, "He's got paint on his jacket!"


"Now how did that happen?" I queried.  "Never mind.  Give me your jacket."  I leapt out of the way of more flying paint as I made my way back to the kitchen sink.


We decided to let one coat dry and work on the script.  We made progress amidst stories of farts and belches.  I then decided to leave two boys writing and let only two apply the second coat of paint. 


"Well, we're supposed to be genius kids," began one, "So, how would we react at the beginning of Scene Two?"


"Well," said the other child, "We'd either be super excited that our time machine actually worked. Or, we'd be worrying that our parents would be missing us."  


I got outside just in time to hear one boy yell, "Look!  He's painting your neighbor's grass."  As I went to round up the two boys, another came outside yelling, "Mrs. Minihan!  Come quick!!  My friend got his arms stuck in the rungs of the chair!!"  Right about now I started thinking about time traveling again, wondering if this time I could maybe make the clock go a little faster.

The girls took a break from the costumes and squeezed in around the table with the boys to continue working on the script.  "The humor in our dialog is really good," began one girl.  "But, we need to be careful that sarcasm doesn't detract from our storyline.  You know, we're supposed to be kids who care about helping other people."

"Yes.  We really need to clean up the dialog," added the other girl.  "Did anyone notice how many times we've used the word 'well?'"

I left the room to clean up the fabric scraps left behind by the young seamstresses.  When I returned, the kids were going through my recycling bin.  Within minutes, they had used trash to create a "pet" for the homeless hobo who appears in Scene Three.  And, so, we continued until parents began arriving and the children reluctantly left their masterpiece in progress.

"Mrs. Minihan," asked one.  "Do you think we could get together over the summer and create a sequel?"

"We'll see."  I promised.

Now, I'm scrubbing paint off my shoes and surveying my house.  The kitchen table is covered with pencils, erasers, and scripts. The table has been pushed aside to make space for piles of fabric, lace and ribbons.  There is a six-foot tall stack of boxes leaning against the front closet and about three dozen bottles of acryllic paint are sitting nearby.  The beginnings of a time machine are in the living room.  There is glitter embedded in the floor of every room of the house.   As I scrub away, I realize that I've come to believe in time traveling.  The future sits around my table every week, laughing, creating, negotiating and dreaming.   How lucky I am to be a part of it all.

"Ms. Mittens"

Missing You

Last weekend, Mirela and I visited New York City on our own.  Yes, you read correctly - ON OUR OWN.  We left our husbands, children, pets and jobs behind.  This was a spontaneous trip.  I read aloud an ad for the Vogue Knitting Event in New York and Les said, "Why don't you take some friends and go?"  Clearly, a "knitting event" wasn't a "children's event."  So, I asked Les if he was implying that I take a trip without the kids. "You deserve it!" he said. 

I mulled that over on the way to work the next day.  I have a great life.  I enjoy spending time with my kids.  The only thing consistently lacking from my life is more time.   Should I spend a weekend away?  Should I feel guilty for wanting some time off?  When was the last time I did anything without kids?  I actually look forward to dental appointments because I have time to myself while sitting in the chair.  (You know those few moments the dentist leaves you alone while waiting for the novacaine to kick in?)  I came to the realization that  I really don't have any time alone.  When I get home from work, Les and the girls are already home.  The entire evening is homework, violin practice, laundry, dinner, dishes, more homework, a couple of lessons . . .   I'm lucky to be able to use the bathroom alone.  Work is no different.  Although I love my students, I don't really enjoy sharing public bathrooms with them.  When was the last time I routinely did something for myself?  Before Cassie was born, I used to love playing tennis.  I haven't played since I was pregnant.  After she was born, a friend and I thought about playing.  But, when I thought I about setting Cassie's stroller on the tennis court, I had these awful visions of smacking my baby with a tennis ball.  That was 10 years ago! Okay.  I had convinced myself.  I was a little overdue.  Time to myself was justified.

Part 2 of the mental struggle was worrying about what I would owe Les for giving me time off.  Hmmm, I could offer to cook, clean the house, wash dishes, make lunches, help with homework and drive the kids to lessons while letting him relax in front of the TV!  Uhhh. . . how would that be any different than things are usually at home?  Not to criticize my husband's efforts.  But, that's just sort of how things have evolved in our home.  So, there really would be no guilt involved in taking time off.

Part 3 was dealing with Cassie, who was convinced that she wouldn't survive without me for two days.  "I'll miss you!" she kept lamenting.  Lacey was fine because she knew the secret.  "Daddy will probably let us watch TV all weekend!"

I suggested that Les help the girls make a plan for the 45 hours that I would be away.  When I checked in, Les announced that they were going to make beef jerky while I was gone.  Interesting. . . just what part of the beef jerky making process would the girls do?  Would they chop meat with a cleaver, mix seasoning or stand watching the meat dry?  "Well, that sounds like fun," I volunteered.  "I'm not sure what to say about it," Lacey responded.

The day of the trip came.  Cassie began calling me before the bus had even left the city.  Yikes.  But, soon Les was cooking macaroni and cheese and they were selecting a movie for the evening and all was well.  I checked in periodically during the weekend and sent them photos of American Girl Place, the M&M store and the art museum.  And, sure, I missed them.  I missed the way Lacey says, "I DUNNO," to 99 percent of the questions I ask.  I missed the way Cassie can spend five minutes describing how a raindrop looks as it slides down the car window.  But, before I knew it, I was getting off the bus and the smell of garlic met me before the kids did.  At least they had been well fed!

When I got home, the girls showed me how they had cleaned their bedrooms and playroom, and organized the bookshelves.  They proudly told me that they hadn't argued once the entire weekend.  I realized that without me there to listen, there was no point in arguing.  Wow!  A weekend without me had actually been good for them.  And, they had two different batches of beef jerky for me to taste.

Look what can be done with yarn!

A yarn-bombing project. We are starting a knitting club at school.  Can't wait to tell the students about yarn bombing.

Wow.  Look what else can be done with yarn!

Me at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with my favorite painting, "View of Toledo."  Yes, I'm wearing the same clothes because we managed to do the yarn event, Times Square,  and the museum in the same day!

     


tennis
beef jerky

Is New York Open in Summer!

Our Christmas present to the girls was a trip to New York City, with emphasis on the American Girl Place.  Nobody is really sure where the idea to visit New York came from.  I think that it started when the girls asked for little boy dolls.  My instinct was to say "no," because we have so many toys.  But, then it occurred to me that visiting American Girl Place to pick up the dolls in person would be a great gift.  We wouldn't be buying a lot of toys that they didn't really need!   decided we needed to help Lacey prepare for the trip.

Now, Lacey comes from a very large city.  But, she doesn't understand the differences between a city and state, and country.  She will explain that Shanghai is like "a big hotel" where a lot of kids live.  because her knowledge of Shanghai was limited to the orphanage.  To help her learn about New York, Cassie and I read Lacey the Eloise books, about the little girl who lives in the Plaza Hotel.. We also watched family movies that featured New York City.  And, we showed Lacey pictures from our prior trip to NYC.   We are also helping Lacey to use all her senses to observe and appreciate the many things around her.  New York was certainly an opportunity to practice using the senses!


We checked into our hotel, saved Lacey from getting pinched in the massive revolving door, and headed for the sidewalk.  Immediately there was a downpour that continued until long after we had gone to bed that night.  That didn't slow us down a bit.  Here are a few of the things we experienced:


FAO Schwartz - Our first planned destination had been the famous toy store FAO Schwartz.   But, the massive line of people trying to enter sent us in the direction of Central Park instead.  We did return to the store early the next day and it was everything that we had promised Lacey. 

The life-size toy soldier out front was happy to pose for me.

The FAO Schwartz staff cheering and welcoming customers as we entered.



Introducing Lacey to "the piano."

Lifesize Legos

Don't tell the dentist.

A $25,000 foosball table made with Barbies!

Central Park - It is spectacular, friendly, human, inviting and free.  We saw street performers, street people, street vendors, the bridges, the ponds, the skating rink, the playground, the horsedrawn carriages and the zoo.  We were so enchanted that we made two separate visits to the park.

Public Art

The park, the skyline and the rain.



Cassie was captivated by the zoo.




A beautiful bird at the Central Park Zoo



Walking back to the hotel



A clear day in Central Park.

Looking from Central Park toward our hotel

Lacey wanted her picture taken with the Big Elmo.  Cassie kept yelling, "Why's Elmo carrying a purse?"  Elmo was carrying a purse because a snapshot requires a donation!  Much to Lacey's disappointment we later discovered an Elmo on almost every street corner.

Just a gorgeous morning inthe park.

Ellen's Stardust Diner - A recommendation from the concierge encouraged us to wait in the rain for 20 minutes to have dinner at this landmark.  Ellen's is the home to aspiring Broadway stars, who sing as they wait on tables.  Yes, they actually sing while they are serving food.  Members of the staff do make it to Broadway and some have sung on American Idol.  Here's a clip:

American Girl Place:  We had an appointment with "Sharon D," the lovely personal shopper.  She had the adorable dolls waiting for us in her lounge.  So, we were privileged to be sitting while thousands of little girls shoved each other around the store.  Sharon showed the girls products that are unique to the New York Store and gave the girls each a poster of the doll of the year.  Our visit to American Girl Place was the highlight of our trip.

Sharon D presenting the dolls to the girls

Austin and Anthony!

Proof that we were all in NYC together

People:  We met many, many friendly people. We chatted with other tourists everywhere we went.  It's hard not to get to know people when you're standing in the bathroom line together or crammed with them in an overcrowded elevator.  I also got to know several policemen who had been detailed to Times Square. (During these brief encounters, Les was walking iin the opposite direction.)  And, I encouraged the hotel doorman and receptionist to tell me stories about New Year's Eve in the city.  We went everywhere in the city by foot.  And everywhere we went, there were immense crowds of people.  Our experience at Disney World was good preparation for NYC!  We saw a line of people two blocks long waiting to eat at the Carnegie Deli.  We saw about 1,000 people teeming outside the box office in Times Square.  We saw hundreds of people trying to look at the hundreds of people who were watching the skaters at Rockefeller Plaza.  Incredibly, we found our terrific neighbors, who conquered the crowd at Planet Hollywood and got us all dinner reservations.

 

Every once in awhile, Lacey says something that puts me in touch with her reality.  Our first night in the city, she had grown tired of standing in line in the rain.  She said, "I don't like the rain.  Is New York City open in the summer?"


People trying to get near Rockefeller Center



The crowd in Times Square

Christmas Decorations

Meet Reggie

We hope that all our family and friends had a wonderful Christmas and that everyone continues to enjoy the holiday season.  We had dinner on Christmas Eve with close friends.  The girls decided to go to bed around 9:30 p.m., saying that if they went to bed earlier, morning would come more quicly.  We liked that reasoning!  However, I changed my mind when I was awoken at 1:28 a.m. by Lacey saying, "Mommy, Cassie want you to know that it's "Cwismas."   I had probably been asleep less than an hour.  I mumbled something and assumed the girls would go back to sleep.  About 10 minutes later, I really awoke because they were playing Mancala.  This game involves dropping rocks onto a wooden board.  "What are you doing?"  I called.  "Waiting to open gifts," they sang. 
"Go back to bed for a few hours!"  I replied.  And they did. 


We later had a day full of happiness and genuine surprises, including a new addition to the family.  Lacey won for having received the greatest number of surprises.  That would be because she can't keep a secret so she didn't know what anyone was getting!  I won for receiving the biggest surprise, which would be the part about the new addition to the family.  In case you're thinking a dog, it wasn't.  I will admit that the thought of surprising the kids with a dog had flitted across my mind for all of about three seconds. 


No dog.  Les surprised me with a robot vacuum cleaner. I never saw this coming. Les told Cassie, "Get Mommy the big box."




"Hmm, " I thought as I held the box, "A pair of boots?" Then, "Oh my gosh?! You actually bought the iRobot vacuum cleaner??!! What did you pay for this??!!!"


"Not much." said Les.


Well, whatever he paid, this little guy is worth it.  I set the box next to my feet and pulled out the directions.  "Must have initial charge of 16 hours. . . Oh, I'll have to charge it overnight.  We won't be able to see it work until tomorrow."


"Don't call it "it," Mommy,"  Cassie piped in.  "You have to give it a name."


"Well, if it's going to help me with the housework, it's got to have a masculine name!" I said.  We settled on "Reggie" because that sounds appropriately "buttlerish."


I eagerly read through the 35-page owner's manual.  The iRobot uses its built-in intelligence to clean the whole floor, under and around furniture and along walls.  It can vacuum wood, carpet, tile, vinyl and linoleum, automatically adjusting to different floor types.  It can allegedly detect dirt and clean more intensely in that area.  It can naigate around furniture and obstacles and won't fall down stairs.  I was kind of hoping that it could climb stairs and vacuum them too.  At least on paper, I was loving the little guy! 


I continued scanning.  "'Tip:  For best performance from the iRobot, make sure floor is relatively clean of clutter.'  I knew there had to be a catch!"


I plugged in the "docking station" so that Reggie could charge.  He came to life with a chirping sound, sort of an electronic purring, and indicated that he was fully charged!  I turned him loose in the front hallway. The little fellow seemed to be quite clever, navigating around the steps and the shoebench, and climbing on and off the rug.  He headed for a real test in the kitchen.  At first I thought Reggie wasn't doing very well.  Then, I realized that was only because he can't pick up dirt that is stuck to the floor.  Can I use the word "persistent" to describe a robot?


After getting to know Reggie a little better, I decided to give him a trial run under the bird cage.  This was Reggie's chance to earn his place as a permanent member of the household.   Well, not only am I going to let him stay, Reggie might even get his own place at the table!


Who needs a dog?  I'll never be alone again.  As I write, Reggie is snuggling contentedly against my feet.  I bet Reggie and I could walk down the street together leash free!  With some slight modifications, Reggie might even be able to sing to me while he works.  All in all, Les scores big with the robot! 

The girls dressed for church on Christas Eve.  The matching capes were surprise gifts from friends!

Pre-chaos

Opening gifts together - very civilized!

Julio and Gaby

The gang, minus the photographer

The dolls' annual Christmas pageant

Opening gifts with Gaby

Here are some videos of Reggie at work.  The first shows him cleaning the front hallway.  The second shows him meeting the cat and my former vacuum cleaner.