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A Quick Note Before My Eyes Close
Jul. 31st, 2019 02:34 pm I need a nap.
My teen class at the Loft has turned a corner, likely due to the addition of a student who is much, much younger than the others. He's at that sweet spot, the one where they know how to write all the words into a coherent thing, but also SO FEARLESS (or maybe not yet jaded) that writing a story about a unicorn stampede sounds like a GREAT IDEA and, here, LET ME READ IT TO YOU. I love this kid. I hope he never changes, because he also injected a certain amount of fearlessness into my older students. Sort of along the lines of, "Well, if this guy can read his stuff out loud, i can read mine, too!"
So thank the goddess for that.
Meanwhile, I've been spending a huge amount of my down time trying to prep for my last adult class (tomorrow night), trying to come up with new and nutritious ways to serve Shawn food that is in the restrictions of "soft/low-fiber" diets. I mean, Shawn has never been huge on fiber. She doesn't like whole wheat anything, isn't a giant veggie fan, but her stomach is still so sensitive that white rice still seems like a big step up. So, I've been trying to make really tasty egg dishes, introducing her to the wonders of instant oatmeal (I mean, yuck? But, she tried her first bite and was like WHAT IS THIS AMAZING NEW TEXTURE AND TASTE. I had to admit, "maple syrup," because that goo can be pretty tasteless without it.)
I am slowly integrating the good stuff, and I'm finding ways to purėe the hell out of some fruits and vegetables so that she won't die of lack of vitamins while recovering from nearly dying of a blood clot!
But, like this is kind of its own second, full-time job? How did I do this when Mason was a baby? I mean, certainly part of it was that Mason could legitimately eat out of a baby food jar AND DON'T THINK I DIDN'T CONSIDER THOSE FOR SHAWN, especially the fancy, organic stuff you can get at the snooty coops and such.
Hopefully, I can get her back to a regular diet soon. I mean, we graduated to chicken salad today for lunch and that seemed to go well.
At some point, maybe tomorrow, if I have more time, I do want to post some of the other silly stories I ended up writing during class. I can't say that I'm proud of them or that I would finish them for publication or anything like that, but it's nice to be reminded that spontaneous writing can be good for the soul, if nothing else.
Right, to nap!
Oh, and I should say that i only have the luxury to nap because our friend John Jackson came from Michigan to be an extra hand. Today, he ran Shawn's HR forms to the Minnesota Historical Society for me, he's going to pick up bread for dinner, and he's shuttling Mason to and from work for me. Yesterday, I sent him off to get kitty food and kitty liter, and OH MY GOD, WHAT A GIFT. I can actually breathe in between trying to cook two separate meals (I can not make Mason eat gruel), keep up with the dishes, laundry, errands, and teaching two classes. Wha.... how do other grown ups do this without massive amounts of help????
My teen class at the Loft has turned a corner, likely due to the addition of a student who is much, much younger than the others. He's at that sweet spot, the one where they know how to write all the words into a coherent thing, but also SO FEARLESS (or maybe not yet jaded) that writing a story about a unicorn stampede sounds like a GREAT IDEA and, here, LET ME READ IT TO YOU. I love this kid. I hope he never changes, because he also injected a certain amount of fearlessness into my older students. Sort of along the lines of, "Well, if this guy can read his stuff out loud, i can read mine, too!"
So thank the goddess for that.
Meanwhile, I've been spending a huge amount of my down time trying to prep for my last adult class (tomorrow night), trying to come up with new and nutritious ways to serve Shawn food that is in the restrictions of "soft/low-fiber" diets. I mean, Shawn has never been huge on fiber. She doesn't like whole wheat anything, isn't a giant veggie fan, but her stomach is still so sensitive that white rice still seems like a big step up. So, I've been trying to make really tasty egg dishes, introducing her to the wonders of instant oatmeal (I mean, yuck? But, she tried her first bite and was like WHAT IS THIS AMAZING NEW TEXTURE AND TASTE. I had to admit, "maple syrup," because that goo can be pretty tasteless without it.)
I am slowly integrating the good stuff, and I'm finding ways to purėe the hell out of some fruits and vegetables so that she won't die of lack of vitamins while recovering from nearly dying of a blood clot!
But, like this is kind of its own second, full-time job? How did I do this when Mason was a baby? I mean, certainly part of it was that Mason could legitimately eat out of a baby food jar AND DON'T THINK I DIDN'T CONSIDER THOSE FOR SHAWN, especially the fancy, organic stuff you can get at the snooty coops and such.
Hopefully, I can get her back to a regular diet soon. I mean, we graduated to chicken salad today for lunch and that seemed to go well.
At some point, maybe tomorrow, if I have more time, I do want to post some of the other silly stories I ended up writing during class. I can't say that I'm proud of them or that I would finish them for publication or anything like that, but it's nice to be reminded that spontaneous writing can be good for the soul, if nothing else.
Right, to nap!
Oh, and I should say that i only have the luxury to nap because our friend John Jackson came from Michigan to be an extra hand. Today, he ran Shawn's HR forms to the Minnesota Historical Society for me, he's going to pick up bread for dinner, and he's shuttling Mason to and from work for me. Yesterday, I sent him off to get kitty food and kitty liter, and OH MY GOD, WHAT A GIFT. I can actually breathe in between trying to cook two separate meals (I can not make Mason eat gruel), keep up with the dishes, laundry, errands, and teaching two classes. Wha.... how do other grown ups do this without massive amounts of help????