13

In two days my son will be 13 years old. We were given a gift when this four month old bundle of dark hair and eyes that totally disappeared when he smiled was carried off that plane from Seoul, Korea. He has taken us down paths we never thought we would travel....and some that we would rather NOT travel. He is bright and funny, a gifted soccer player with a player's determination that belies his off field personality. He has no interest in the girls around him....yet. He thinks chores around the house are a total waste of his time. Reading bores him. He plays the trumpet in the school band only because it got him out of the required chorus or Music class. He is becoming interested in the world around him and asks the kinds of questions that I think are making him a responsible citizen of the world. Questions about why things are the way they are, how they came to be and what could change. He loves a good joke....and an occasional bad one. He is a rock and roll lover wannabe who suffers in a family that prefers country music and show tunes. He dabbles in writing....but not enough to make a statement....yet. He has the kind of quiet leadership qualities that cause people to look up to him more than he knows. He has always been shy....a kid who stops at the precipice of a new challenge to survey the 'lay of the land' before jumping into the fray. His sister makes him absolutely crazy but I really feel that if she needed it, he would be a protective force in her life. A school psychologist (who is a friend) told me she sees him in the halls at the middle school, happy and silly and surrounded by friends.....a nice kid. I am SO glad she was able to give me that visual picture to carry in my head. I refer to it often when we struggle with the preteen angst at home. And there is LOTS of preteen angst.

So he will be 13 in just two more days. I am proud of him. I am proud of the child he was and the teenager he is about to become. I am proud of my son. Happy Birthday.......

This ER Thing

Thirteen years ago my sister - who lives several states away - was begging me to watch this 'new' television show she was loving. She wanted someone to talk to about it every week. I gave it a watch but didn't like it much. It was too fast paced. The dialog was quick and filled with medical terminology that was difficult to follow. At least for me. I am hearing impaired and am somewhat reliant on lip reading to follow a show. She was very disappointed when I told her that I wasn't interested. VERY disappointed.


The following summer I began watching the reruns. We are both teachers. The pace of our lives changes during the summer months. We began our Fridays with leisurely telephone conversations and she would explain what had been happening in the show the night before. Slowly and surely I was hooked. I enjoyed the characters that drove the show. Mark Greene. Carol. Carter. Doug Ross. Jeanie Boulet. Susan Lewis. David Morenstern. ER became a Thursday night 'habit' that has continued for twelve more years. My sister's interests moved on.


The faces on the show have changed. Sherry Stringfield left, taking 'Susan Lewis' with her. I loved Kellie Martin and her characterization of 'Lucy Knight'. I began to follow her story lines. I was instantly drawn in to Luka Kovac...from his very first appearance. What a hunk. What an accent! I was horrified when I'd read that Maura Tierney had been signed to join the show. She was my favorite character from the comedy "News Radio'. How was she going to fit in to this drama driven ensemble? Ha. Should of known. 'Lucy' was killed off.....knifed by a psych patient during a Valentine's Day episode. A horribly surprising event. I still miss her character. However, Tierney's 'Abby Lockhart' rapidly took her place in my interests.


I discovered that my classroom aide had a similar Thursday night 'addiction'. We would spend the first 15 minutes of our Friday school day - while taking attendance and lunch count and distributing morning work to first graders - quickly rehashing our thoughts from the previous night. Abby and Luka became more than friends and we sighed. We cheered the appearance of a stunningly heart rending Sally Field as 'Abby's' mother. James Cromwell as a dying Bishop blew us away by being the catalyst for several Luka revelations. Abby and Luka broke up and we were both miserable. And life marched on. There have been several job changes and I no longer work with anyone that follows the show.


There have been some stunning performances. Sally Field returned. Susan Lewis returned. Mark Greene died on a beach in Hawaii. Luka went to the Congo. Carter followed him. Guest stars filled the ER. Sherry Stringfield left again . A couple of seasons of not so good story lines. Sometimes I snoozed in front of the television. And then, last year, along came an episode called 'The Human Shield'. Luka and Abby were back together after five freaking years. WHAT could possibly be better? Back together again and having a baby. Back together again and the most incredible television hours ever in '21 Guns' and 'Bloodline'....interrupted by a long summer hiatus. And then Forrest Whitaker as a frightenly creepy ex-patient and an episode called 'Murmurs of the Heart'. It just gets better and better. But for whom? My sister will no longer watch. Says she doesn't know the characters. Friends no longer like the bloodiness of the show. My children are too young. Sigh.


I don't really know why ER still appeals to me. I have gotten older too. I no longer reflect the preferred advertising target. Sniff. I miss Lucy...and Mark....and Romano...and definitely Susan. I am so loving the reemergence of the 'Luby' relationship. And now there is talk of contracts ending and other characters leaving. I think I would be ready to break my 'addiction' if that happens. Who could possibly sustain my interest more than Maura Tierney and Goran Visnjic? Searching the current cast....probably no one. But 'ER' has surprised me before.

Kids

I have decided that my children are the most courageous people that I have ever known. Every morning I set them off into their world as true minorities at their schools. Both of my children are Asian....one was born in Seoul, Korea and the other in Kyzyl, Tuva. They look enough alike for people to ask if they are 'real' brother and sister. I used to go into the 'two parts of the world' litany. Now I just reply that 'now they are!' Of course they are real brother and sister. They fight with one another constantly. My daughter has a more generous nature than her brother and we have to constantly watch that it's not taken advantage of. They play games together. They share funny things they have found on the computer with one another. But they also have a tremendous amount of courage.
We have tried to raise them with nationality in mind. One is very, very proud of her Russian heritage and loves to hear about it. The other has shown very little interest in anything Korean. He is more interested in China and Israel......and Russia. He doesn't like to be different.....and yet maneuvers in a world where he is very different just by being there. I wish there were more Asians for him to interact with. One summer I took them for skating lessons at a rink closer to a bigger city. It dawned on me, as I sat in the bleachers watching them on the ice, that for the first time in their lives they were actually in the majority. Of the maybe 100 kids on the ice, only 10 of them were non-Asians. The funny thing is, they never even noticed.

Our federal government has decreed that all public school classrooms must do something to acknowledge Martin Luther King's birthday. I think the biggest testament to Dr. King is that it is the adults the worry about this. In my classroom, with 1 Arabic student, 1 Hispanic student and 15 white students of various shades....no one had a clue to what I was trying to say about discrimination. In order to celebrate the abolishment of racial discrimination....we have to TEACH racial discrimination. Go figure.

Fathers and Sons

I told them months ago that this would be 'their project'. I have been involved in book reports and country projects and regions projects and Science Olympiad projects and Scout projects since the dawn of my parenthood. This 'energy transference' thing for 7th grade Science class was ALL theirs. What a hoot. I keep getting called in for advice. I have dug through sewing stuff for embroidery floss. I donated a part from my sewing machine. I have run interference to maintain calm and order. I have cooled hot tempers. In the end I know it will be worth it. In the meantime, I fear for the white tile that covers my dining table. Wonder how many will be cracked this time?

The Planets are Alligned

I just want to bottle it. All of her enthusiasm. All of her joy. Everything is so very RIGHT with her world right now. She was chosen Kindergarten Safety helper of the month. She wore a skirt to school for the first time since picture day in first grade and no one laughed. The curlers she sleeps on leave these gorgeous black ringlets cascading down her back. Jamie brought hockey sticks to play with in the morning while they wait for school to start. She has gotten TWO 100% on Spelling tests in the last month. She has a part in the drama club play with THREE WHOLE LINES! Her soccer team is headed for the National Indoor finals in another month. Fractions are killing us but that's okay...as long as she tries her hardest. And best of all, a friend 'complemented' her in the lunch room by telling her that she was popular....and not like the mean popular girls in the movies..."because she is nice and friendly to EVERYone ALL of the time." Like I said before, I would love to bottle this time so I can pour it out on those angsty days that lie ahead of us. All that enthusiasm. All that sheer joy. These are beautiful days for my beautiful daughter.

The Year Begins

There are many thoughts on my mind as the year 2007 begins. It's January 2nd. 9:33 am. My children are still sleeping in various positions on the couch and in the Lazy Boy. Report cards and mid year Kindergarten testing are looming. Saddam Hussein is dead. The war lingers on....and that bothers me tremendously. 'Super Nanny' was good last night. So glad I don't have twins. The Red Wings are winning. Hope my sister and her family make it home safely from their Disney World vacation. Wish we could have gone with them. Will they be able to get me some more Mr. Potato Head stuff from Down Town Disney. Time to take the dog out. Wonder where Maura Tierney spent the holidays. Is there any money in my checking account. What cereal shall we have for......lunch. Will I be able to get my new DVD recorder working at last. Has anyone reviewed my posted fanfictions today. How many loads of laundry will I have to do. Back to school tomorrow. Sigh. Petty and important stuff from my world to yours. Happy New Year.