It's all about financial independence

We are at Barnes & Noble and my up-and-coming second grader (aka Za Boo) is looking at journals and notebooks when she says to me: "Because I am going to be living on my own at some point, I am going to need a cookbook. But I don't want to spend money on a cookbook. I have a great idea; I am going to buy a notebook, and then we can make a cookbook of all the recipes I want."

I kid you not.

Clearly we need have no concerns as parents that she will still be living with us at the age of twenty-five, or, apparently, eight. Although I do have to wonder if we have hyper-achieved that goal.

Regardless, the kid is independent and determined. The "industrious beaver" was revealed to be her 'animal spirit guide' on the Brother Bear Challenge Trail at California Adventure when we went on vacation at the beginning of summer, and I have to give more credit to Disney than I would previously have thought. That could be her in a word: industrious. Although I don't feel it does her justice; a single word can in no way convey the many diverse aspects of her personality. But I digress...

She is a hard-worker, a bargain shopper, and better at saving money than many well-established adults.

When asked by well-intentioned relatives what she does with her allowance, she answers very seriously "Mainly, I count it." She then matter-of-factly answers the inevitable follow-up question regarding how much she has with: "About $300.00." (I am thinking it's probably a relevant fact at this point that her allowance is $5.00 every two weeks.)

After the shock has passed and the relatives in question have closed their mouths and made the requisite self-depreciating jokes about how they don't even have three hundred dollars(!), my suegra will always go on to point out that Za Boo regularly makes change for her when my suegra needs to break a twenty, or a fifty. It is a bit of a none-too-subtle brag, but she's entitled, as she raised the man who fathered the seven-year-old financial prodigy apparent. (Would it be a none-too-subtle brag on my part to say that in fact she actually often answers not just with the exact amount she has at that time, but also goes on to indicate the numbers of each denomination of bill and coin she has which comprise said total?)

We went on to shop around and compare all the notebooks in the store and ultimately found one on clearance that was 40% off, which came to $4.84 including tax, but after the B&N Membership discount. A good deal, as J.D. Jr. herself will tell you, having worked it out on the calculator she had brought along in her black and red dragon purse for the purpose.

By the way, the first recipe she requisitioned for inclusion in the book (which she promptly copied in upon arrival at home) was a recipe for Snickerdoodles. ;)

Weapons vs The Bible

We have been very careful about our children's education. When Ender started Kindergarten eight years ago, we signed-away four hours a week "parent volunteer time" in his classroom and understood that that was only the 'official' commitment. The nature of the school is a Parent Co-op, and the 'unofficial' hours we were giving -up were significantly more. We were happy to be a part of his education in a hands-on way, and knew when we signed-up that we would also eventually be giving up an additional four 'official' hours a week in Monkey Boy's classroom. Ultimately, we knew, there would come a time when Za Boo's place in the school would require the same hourly commitment, and we even recognized that as the 'official' hours increased via simple multiplication from one-times-four to three-times- four, the 'unofficial' hours would multiply exponentially.

And we were, and really still are, okay with that commitment. We are so involved in their education, in fact, that we have given up the last three years of our personal life in order to help bring the school back from the brink of closure, rather than consider placing them in a school that would not allow us the opportunity to be involved.

Parents who are, perhaps, inordinately dedicated to their children's education, no?

We have worked our asses off to be accurate and thorough in all that we teach them. We have made Herculean efforts be sure they are well rounded. We have covered subjects from archeology to paleontology to taxonomy and crypto-zoology. We have discussed the circle of life, quantum-physics, world history, art, theatre, science, music, books, manga, anime, role-playing, movies and movie making, the various lore of a variety of mythological creatures and how it varies around the world, gender stereotypes and the dichotomy created by the perpetual use of them, NASA, the military, the debatable worth of organized religion, prejudice and bias and why they exist, how they exist and what we need to do to overcome them in our world, and ever so much more. We have encouraged independent thinking and analytical analysis, logic and a hands-on approach.

Whatever they have wanted to learn, their wish has been our command, and if we didn't know it, and they wanted to understand, we learned it and then taught it to them. We still do, on a daily basis.

But, apparently, we have missed a thing or two. Apparently there are holes in their education, and despite all our best efforts at raising well-rounded, independent thinking, intellectually balanced children, we missed at least one thing.

It came to my attention today when Raven, Ender, and Monkey Boy were watching 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure,' all of them seeing it for the first time. Although Monkey Boy and Ender were naming every Medieval weapon that showed up on screen accurately, and, in fact, correcting a misnomer within the script about one of the weapons used in the movie, Monkey Boy didn't get the joke when Ted answered the question "Who is Joan of Arc?' by saying "Noah's wife?"

Hmm, I guess basic Bible stories are going to be next on the agenda.

Introductions. Seriously tricky things, no? You never get a second chance to make a first impression and all that. Hmmm, all about me...

What to say?

Well, my household currently includes (yes, it's subject to change): myself, my three kids, my husband, my Suegra, until just recently my Abuela-in-law, four dogs (a very motley herd to be honest), and a Beta fish named Tiburon*.

We are a Mexican-Irish-French-German-English-Mayan-Cherokee-Scotch-Danish Clan.

We are wacky. We love a great discussion, and many of us love nothing better than a hearty debate. We are actors and storytellers. We are passionate about what we love.

At home and abroad I am surrounded by a host of characters that would make an intriguing Dramedy on HBO (it would have to be on HBO, there is no way network television would be allowed to air many of the best plots).

I haven't been able to fully articulate why I feel compelled to create a blog at this point in my life. I am not a writer by trade, and I honestly don't enjoy writing. I am good at it, I understand. I had the best english teacher around when I was in high school and the result is that I am apparently a very effective and technically proficient writer. I am irrevocably dedicated to fighting the degradation of the written word that is being wrought upon us by the advent of text-ing and IM-ing by continuing to capitalize and punctuate my written work accurately even as the next generation of the work force spells " Oh really," "orly," and only uses capitals to "yell." However, in spite of all that, or more accurately BECAUSE of all that, I agonize over anything I write for hours before I am satisfied, and have known for a long time that a blog was a road I should venture down tentatively at best. Because, honestly, I just don't have the hours to spend on editing whatever I may chose to post. Yet, here I am, creating a blog.

The reason for a sudden desire to write at this point in my life is clear: I have recognized a need, since the death of Grandma (Abuela-in-law), to record the adventures of my world. Grandma slowly lost nearly all her memories, and hence, her stories. Many of them will be passed down through the family in an oral tradition not unlike that of many ancient cultures. But how many are gone now for good?

There are too many amazing, astounding, inriguing, interesting, funny, fascinating, and thought-provoking incidents around here to risk forgetting them.

So I decided to record them.

But, the reason to record them in a blog?

Well, the best reason I have been able to come up with is that, like the infamous Gordon Way (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams), I work best by talking ideas out, and I am hoping that a blog will serve as the written equivalent of an answering machine.

We shall see...

*The editing on this blog does not appear to support punctuation of Spanish, and therefore the accent is missing from the 'o' in Tiburon. As I anticipate the problem of accurately accenting Spanish words I may use will not go away, I assure anyone who reads Spanish that I am relatively literate, but I appear to be at the mercy of the English-centic nature of this application. I apologize.