May 10th

I spend my days with my youngest child, pretty much all day everyday. This afternoon when in the bathroom he scribbled a drawing than announced ‘It’s a cat’, in toddler’s talk and repeated it a couple of times. I missed his first drawing! I wonder if I should be gutted or it may be shouldn’t bother and it’s just one of those stereotypical stay at home parenting things. Don’t know, don’t really know what a stereotypical stay at home parent would look like actually.

Irony is that when I arrived to wonder in amusement of his drawing, some 31 seconds later, pointing at it and asking ‘is this a cat?’ in excitement he just looked at me as if i lost it. ‘what cat? It’s just scribble.’ although he appreciated my excitement.

We had to have a talk with Liliom this afternoon: In school they were experimenting with the primary colours mixing them a bit. As everything in her school it came with a nice story that was pleasant to listen to when she retold it. However it was once again painful to realise that she thinks this school of hers has no connection to her other life, that the attempt to build a well functioning community of learners with her was so successful that she forgets to check it against other aspects of her life. She told me ‘she never mixed these colours before’ and I actually answered ‘bullshit!’
When it comes to painting session Jen and I are at times painstakingly fixated on these three most basic of colours as a starting point. And we eagerly share our views with Lili, needless to say.

But she received some payback later in the afternoon. At ballet they are learning some dance for the big end of term show ad her regular partner was off today. This wasn’t the pay back but as I found out at home, her partner for the session. Apparently they couldn’t work together and Lili spent the way home complaining and ranting about her. In some twisted sense it was entertaining, and cute. Of course at some pint I had to start being the good and sensible parent and try to help her resolve her inner rage in a constructive and creative manner.

The last ever episode of SGU has aired last night. After we’ve seen it Jen couldn’t stop swearing it was so rubbish. I was gonna say I bet she still going on about that in her had but she just told me ‘sizzle frazzle frizzle’. Late night studies do things to you

March 8th

It's international women's day today. Jen gives it a different name but I am too modest to type it. Apparently I should have been blogging in Victorian times. It's funny though that there are such things as this day. I think so long as there is an international day for women we don't even have to wonder 'are we equal'. The answer is given.

I may have forgotten to mention about the flash mob some weeks ago. It was the first ever flashmob i have ever been to. And so far the last one but that is not the fm's fault. Simply there hasn't been another one since. So I am converted, yet, it was a pretty rubbish one, still I had been a lot more cheerful after it was finished, on a particularly moody day. The whole point of the fm actually is the cats who live on the ceiling.

As part of the activity we were prompted to point at the sky as if there was something amazing up there and be totally amused by it for a while. That was the part that Ernest really got into. Ever since he engages in the occasional pointing up and being amused here and there. When he did it at home the first time, pointing at the ceiling, being amused he made the connection. It's an Ernest thing, anything amusing goes 'meow'. So there are cats who live on the ceiling.

Today I invited one of them to come down for a wee while and she did. They are some small breed of cats so a comfortable fit in my palm and she purred away happily when I pat her back. We went over to Ernest and he had a go stroking the cat, it even went over into his palm. So i guess it was a particularly small breed of cats but hey, they live on ceilings. We were most amused. Every body joined in and taking turns we all enjoyed playing with the little creature until about some 37 seconds later Ernest realised that at this age this is how far his brain is willing to go on this. Never the less, I am happy, I was missing our friends (imaginary) of late and since Lili became all so not into imagining imaginary tings it's a lot harder to keep their company. Maybe for another few years she can be dragged back to it and I is going to be just that much better now; the four of us imagining things together.

One more thing on looking up in amusement. At our local food store above the vegetable aisle there is a rather large air-conditioning vent. Liliom is most amused by it. I discovered that whenever she remembers to look up when we are there she just cannot take her eyes of it, completely tranced.

She has been giving me some hugs this evening and at first I couldn’t imagine what is the sudden urge for the display of affection and love. Than I realised that just minutes before I have been recounting to Jen the conversations at parents' evening in school. I guess she must have overheard (ha-ha! Listening intently to) the part where I was bragging about how clever my daughter is.

Apparently her teachers find it amusing that now whenever, wherever she meets the English teacher, she automatically converses in English.

February 26th

Jen may be right,

I have been doing some thinking about what has happened at the start of the month actually at that school board meeting with 'that' look.(1st paragraph) ‘That’ look which I thought shunned me for loving books and indoctrinating my children with them.

And here perhaps I need say the kind of thinking that happened to me; Jen put me right and told me I was probably wrong.

This whole issue came about and became particularly articulated in our home on Friday morning after I came home from dropping of Liliom at school. It has been snowing the night before and neither the janitor nor the other person trusted with shovelling snow off the paths could make it to school. They both live some 10 or 15 kms from the school and snow, especially quite some snow just makes it impossible to travel distance. The school bus for instance was more than an hour late.

Anyways, I grabbed a snowploughingshovel, whatever they might be called, probably shovel and started clearing off the stairs and front of the school. I remained alone in my work although some other parents stood around smoking cigarettes on the street corner (they couldn’t even have the excuse of having to rush off to work).

So Jen’s theory is that the look I was given on that school board meeting was a ‘you know what I’m talking about, you’re with me’ look. The exact opposite of what I have been theorising earlier.

Grabbing something to do in and around the school when it is there to do is very much in line with the Steiner philosophy and I have been trying to take an active part in the life of the school. Let’s hope that my reading of ‘looks’ is just lousy, and lets hope I am not as paranoid as I think I am (a rather paranoid wish).

A funny addition to the book issue. Yesterday in the Library while Jen was cruising the snowy street of Szeged frantically searching for her passport - which she also moved to the location of the home – with the children I had some pretty ok time at the library. Ernest was fascinated by all the children and their fascination with either the books or him while Lili somehow managed to find the very book her teacher reads stories from. That was a good catch amongst the possible tens of thousands of books just in the children’s library but it was also a welcome revelation realising that although in first grade at the stiener school they may not be too encouraging about books, they don’t burn them.

I forgot all about the things that happaned to me yesterday. should have written them down yesterday...
I remember hanging out in and around town all morning with Ernest. watching tons of Caprica in the evening. Should I say the ending was predictible? hm, I guess it was pretty pre-determined.

biggest thing: we finally, after 6 months caugth up with washing only to discover that we don't have enough wardrobe space. there is sweet irony here.

Ernest's new hobby is climbing on the table. Our new nigthmare is Ernests' new hobby with Lili adding her horrific, forced, loud laughter which she now started doing again. It perhaps has something to do with school. she wasnt doing it during the holidays. There is stuff that she learns there. the significant ones from other kids. I think so far she has managed to avoid learning too much from the teacher for she doesn't ask 'what?' or something like that when she doesn't get something. At least children teach each other stuff.

In the afternoon we started working on a cut out fold in a thousand ways then glue and hold for an hour paper model (ok, I was exaguarating). managed to finish. Lili kind of got bored for the glue is just not quick enough but she perceviered. perhaps better than I have. Ernest wanted to help and for a good few minutes he managed to sit or better say riggle on my lap and pay attention to what we were doing.

We also went to the doctor to get the next set of vacination. It was a bit weired but nothing impossible to handle. If you remember, the last openly bitching blog entry... of course I am in a bit better shape now. The doctor was a bit more relaxed too actually.

so this is it. I find ways to procrastinate from needed academic readings...

Politically... same same as usual, kind of bored of it now.
Jen said that nick cleg is increasingly looking, talking, moving (and probably thining) like the big mand cameron himself. hm