My boys and I see pictures in the sky. We see big, bold, ridiculous, pictures sometimes, and we laugh and point. This is beginner imagination building that we have been doing since they were tiny. Now, they can create a story out of thin air. (The picture here looks a little like Olive Oil, from the Popeye cartoons, doesn’t it?) Some of my favorite spottings … Continue reading Imagining Pictures in the Clouds
Yesterday, on the way to music lessons, there was a lively conversation in the car between my six-year old and my nine-year old about whether the word muzzle and snout could be used interchangeably. Ben is a huge reader, and he was saying that a writer will use muzzle instead of snout sometimes, and then other times talk about a snout. At first I … Continue reading Muzzles, Snouts or Beaks
It’s true, and I have no pictures to share, because it was all imaginary, to pass the time. We were there for over an hour. I purposely kept my phone in my purse. Never once pulled it out, because I feel so conscious of the time I’m with Bean, and the moments I steal from him if he’s with me and I’m on my phone. … Continue reading So Bean and I made Apple Pie and Lasagna at the DMV
Tonight it dawned on me what I’m trying to accomplish by doing Science Night with my kids, as well as all the other fun things we do. I am attracted to every shiny object in the world of Science, Art, Math, Dance, Design, Engineering, or Thought. And so I bounce from new idea to new idea, and try to stuff my kids’ heads with wild and … Continue reading Physics and Rollercoasters
We are not staging a revolution. But I read an article by Lisa Russell today on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation blog, Impatient Optimists, which had originally been posted on HuffingtonPost.com, and it struck a chord. We have talked at our dinner table about how the problems of the world will be solved by artists who can combine math, science, creativity, engineering and passion. … Continue reading Young Artists Making Revolution Irresistible
In a radio interview with movie director Robert Zemeckis, I learned about the origin of the movie, Back to the Future. Robert and his writing buddy were talking about their fathers, and their relationships with their fathers, and wondering if they had met their dads when they were kids, if they would have been friends. That was the seed, he said, from which sprouted the idea … Continue reading Would we have been Friends if we’d Met when we were Kids?
My husband likes Heavy Metal, and periodically feels cursed to know more lyrics than he should to the songs from “South Pacific.” Luckily, he understands the importance of diversity in our musical education of the boys, and was mostly on board with listening to Dave Brubeck piano jazz during dinner prep. He would have preferred Reggae or Classic Rock, but jazz was the deal this evening. Today, … Continue reading Dave Brubeck for Dinner, Walt Disney Animation for Dessert, Late-night Snack of Welding.
Last night we watched the family movie, “The Last Airbender.” It is a fantastic tale of a mystic world where people have powers of bending earth, bending water, bending fire, or bending air. Nations form around the four powers. A young boy, perhaps 9 or 10 years old, is the fulfillment of a prophecy. I missed the first part – but I think he was … Continue reading Six-year old Flying Wild Goose
I love the way Benny’s brain works! This morning, we put together a new stroller for the baby, and Ben fell in love with some of the packaging material and brought it to school for show and tell. Basically, what he found looked like two empty rolls of toilet paper – just the cardboard part – only it was thicker, stronger cardboard. He had so … Continue reading This is Your Brain on Make-Believe
