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Monday, December 24, 2007The Merriest of Christmases....to you and yours, from me and mine.  Thursday, December 20, 2007Amazed By My Own SonAnd no, I'm not taking any credit. His "engineering mind" -- or whatever the heck it is -- is well beyond my comprehension. He's completely self-taught, too, so I can't even claim any kudos from a homeschooling standpoint. Watch the video and you'll see what I mean. The kid's got the makings of a successful entrepreneur at the ripe ol' age of fifteen! And his balloons are pretty cool, too. Wednesday, December 12, 2007Jane Austen: Another Heart CapturedThere's a hard-and-fast rule in this household: You can't watch the movie until you've read the novel. There's one exception to this rule: Eric. It is sometimes painfully true that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. And while I'm certainly grateful for my husband's passionate enjoyment of various period movies, there is a part of me that views him as -- well, almost blasphemous. How can one continue, in good conscience, to enjoy film adaptations of novels by Austen and Dickens and Forster and such, and still refuse to read the books? However, I digress. For in whatever way Eric may be falling short of literary bliss, my daughter Maggie is certainly stepping to bat. It's true. My thirteen-year-old daughter has fallen in love with Jane Austen. Admittedly, the love affair had a rocky start. At my encouragement, Maggie began reading Emma several months ago. "Then you can watch both versions with us," I said, "and let me know which one you think is truer to the book." She got a few chapters in and stopped dead. I don't know what killed it for her, but something certainly did. I was brokenhearted, but I knew that nagging would not produce an Austenite, so I let it be. Strangely enough, the book that supplanted Emma was Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell -- a tome three times as long and wordier than Dickens. Maggie read it from cover to cover in record time. Okay, slight confession here. We all watched Wives and Daughters prior to having read the novel. But I've got a simple explanation. I didn't know it was a novel. I mean, have you ever heard of Elizabeth Gaskell? Anyway, it took me seven months to wade my way through Wives and Daughters, and after being blown out of the water by my speedreading daughter, I casually pointed out that Jane Austen would seem like a much easier read now that she'd tackled Gaskell's masterpiece. Wonder of wonders -- Maggie picked up the spurned Emma and read it. And loved it. So we watched Gwyneth's version, and we watched Kate's version, and I watched my daughter fall in love with some of the best actors and actresses to ever grace the screen. She has some fairly strong opinions about the different versions, too. And she won't mince her words if you ask her about it. Just like her mama. So now she's reading Pride and Prejudice. Oh, the joy of asking her, "So, where did you stop reading? What just happened?" and hearing her respond, "Well, Charlotte just said she'd marry Mr. Collins!" And then joining together in shrieks of disgust and horror at the thought. Ah! I've hatched an Austenite! My life is just that much more complete. Daddy (the inveterate non-reader of Jane Austen) is excited to watch A&E's magnificent Pride and Prejudice with our newly Austenized daughter over the Christmas holiday. Will she swoon over Mr. Darcy? Clench her lips indignantly at Lady Catherine de Burgh? Fall in love with the breathtaking views of northern England? Long for the days of silken gowns and proper courtship? I'm confident that she will. Will Eric ever actually read the book? I doubt it. But at least he was smart enough to buy me a red leather Easton Press copy of it a few years ago. And if you count his enjoyment of my reading the book out loud to him in my best British accent, I suppose you can safely say that he does, after all, appreciate the genius of Jane Austen's writing. I love being a book snob. Really, I do! Friday, December 07, 2007Baby Einstein -- The Marketing CoupSomeone out there is brilliant. For the past few years, I've only been vaguely aware of the Baby Einstein products out there. You know -- stuff for your baby that will make him a genius. Videos and games and toys and whatnot. I didn't pay it much mind; just sort of rolled my eyes and went on to think about something else. I've reentered the world of Baby Gizmos, though, and I've paid more attention to the Stuff that's out there. And a lot of it is...well, beyond ridiculous. They said "Mozart makes you smart." So ZING! Out comes the snappiest, Mozart-playing baby videos and baby toys that you've ever seen. And, well, nobody wants HIS baby to lag behind the little smarties who are listening to Mozart whilst watching brainless images float by on their parents' plasma screen, so ZIP! Out Mommy runs to the nearest toy store and stocks up on Baby Einstein for her own budding prodigy. And another Toy Empire is born. You know what? I'm a musician. My children have been exposed to Mozart -- and Beethoven and Brahms and Handel and Debussy -- since birth. Not in the form of digitally recorded, primary-colored, developmentally-gauged baby toys. Nope. Just plain ol' CD's in my CD player. Fancy that. These days, it's even easier to find classical music, thanks to online music meccas like iTunes. So if you hear someone say, "Hey! Your baby needs some Mozart!" you can choose a few symphonies or chamber pieces, burn them to a CD, and voila! Instant genius. It's hard for the masses to resist the slick packaging of the Baby Einstein products, though. I should know. I just bought a Baby Einstein toy for my daughter. You know me well enough to know that my choice had nothing to do with the Baby Einstein craze, or even with an insatiable need to raise a genius. It's a lot more straightforward for me: I hate idiotic "baby tunes" and electronic blippity-bleeps. So when I discovered the blue octopus who plays one Baroque and two Classical pieces and recites eight colors in three languages, I was sold. Not only will my baby be able to distinguish between Telemann and Beethoven, but she'll be speaking French and Spanish by the time she's two. No, seriously. Okay, not really. I did buy the octopus because of the music and language choices. But I mostly bought it because of the price: $8.99 at Walmart. That was within my budget. And I've been searching for some sort of interesting toy for Molly's pack-n-play, which gets kind of boring for the poor little girl with nothing but a rattle in it. And, hey, it's Christmas. It gave me an excuse to put something under the tree for my baby-who-is-too-tiny-to-really-care-yet. Right. I'm not kidding anyone. The Baby Einstein octopus is for me. I pressed its little face, it started to play a piece by Telemann, and I was hooked. I may share it with Molly from time to time. I might even tell people that it's hers. But make no mistake: Mommy is reliving her childhood, which was completely devoid of brainful toys that played highbrow music and taught her how to say "brown" in French. How did any of us survive with IQ's above 100? Ah, well. Now you know. I still think the Baby Einstein videos are a waste of money. You won't find me spending time looking in the baby aisle for classical music choices. Molly's going to have her own CD player with a collection of good music to listen to, just like her sisters. And I'm not totally without heart for these products. I mean, it could be worse. They could be promoting toys that play John Denver or Boy George or songs from Oklahoma! I'm utterly thankful that I could buy a toy that plays lovely melodies from some of the masters. So while I continue to roll my eyes and cluck my tongue at the Baby Einstein goofiness, I also whisper a "thank you" for my beautiful, blue octopus. Ur...Molly's beautiful, blue octopus. Saturday, December 01, 2007My Bohemian Princess
 She's three months old today. We can't remember what life was like before she arrived. Would that I could will time to slow down, if only to savor each moment more thoroughly, to drink in the precious sweetness one drop at a time. And in less eloquent terms: Ain't she adorable? Labels: baby |
About Me
I am: Mother to five stunningly individualistic children... Writer of young adult fantasy... Passionate advocate for Women At Home... Madly in love with my husband... In need of Organic Gourmet Chocolate on a regular basis. I've got a Paypal account if you'd like to contribute to the cause....
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