Harry Potter Fans Unite

Me:  "Margot, come brush your teeth - we're running late."

Margot:  [silence]

Me:  "Margot?  Are you coming?"

Margot:  [silence]

Me:  "Margot, come on!"

Margot:  "Mommy?  I was just thinking.  We are so lucky that we know the truth."

Me:  "The truth about what?"

Margot:  "The truth about Peter Pettigrew."

Me:  [silence]

Home is Where the Heart Is

A daily entry in the Writer's Notebook is part of Claire's third-grade homework routine.  I love this notebook, because it gives me a glimpse into her thinking that I wouldn't otherwise have.  Here are two of my recent favorites:

What Do I Like About Where I Live?
My climbing tree
My nice neighbors
Our house's 11 best hiding places
The way you can see the sunset from the end of the street
Our downhill-going street
My room

Is Family Important? Why?
Family is important because if you didn't have family, you would be lonely and unhappy. Family is important also because if you don't have family, you won't learn how to take care of yourself. You also won't have anybody to play with, and you won't have anybody to help you meet new friends. You also will not have anybody to kiss you goodnight.

A Candid Assessment

Don and I had friends over for dinner recently - at a time when he and I were both pretty swamped at work.  As I was apologizing for the fact that all of our dinner napkins were in the dirty laundry, Claire leaned over to her friend Suki and said in stage whisper, "Suki, I'm sorry - I must confess that our house is currently in a state of disrepair."

How to Terrify Your Little Sister's Friends

My friend recently informed me that her daughter, Avery (age 4) had asked whether she could have a play date with Jane.  This wasn't an unusual request; our families often hang out together.  Jane and Avery are excellent collaborators when it comes to (a) sweetly caring for their many baby dolls; and (b) viciously excluding Avery's little brother from everything they do.

A family get-together seemed in order - until it became clear that Jane was welcome, but the jury was still out on Claire.  The reason?  According to Avery, "Claire knows how to kill people."

Kitchen Lessons

Because Don is amazing in the kitchen and does virtually all of the chef-related work at our house, my children operate under the not-unreasonable belief that I can't cook.  They were both pleased and supportive this week when I undertook to make several omelets.  Margot perched beside me the entire time, offering helpful comments like, "Okay, good.  That's good, Mommy.  Now take that flipper thing and put it under the omelet so you can turn it over.  Great, Mom - you're doing great."

I served the omelets, and the girls marveled at how great they looked.  Margot offered to call Don and announce my accomplishment, and Claire observed that "Daddy is going to be ectastic when he hears about this!"  They began to eat, and Margot looked up.

Margot:  "Mommy?  I want to talk to you about this omelet."
Me:  "Okay."
Margot:  "Well, it's made of the same ingredients Dad uses.  That's good."
Me:  "Thanks."
Margot:  "It does also smell like Dad's omelets smell."
Me: [waiting]
Margot:  "And, it does look a lot like the omelets Daddy makes.  So . . . that's a good start, okay?"
Me:  "Okay."
Margot:  "But Mommy?  I have to tell you - it doesn't taste as good as Dad's.  It really doesn't."
[pause]
Margot:  "I just thought you should know."