Siri: my surprisingly aloof new friend

I got a completely unexpected early holiday present today; an iphone 5 was waiting for me at work.   I was caught unprepared.  Since I had no reason to believe such a luxury item would be part of my future, I didn't pay close attention to the commercials and I keep asking Siri to do things she doesn't do.  I don't think she likes me very much.  I can tell she is rolling her eyes at me when she politely but firmly informs me that whatever I am asking her for is out of the question, but she did deign to write some emails I dictated to her. Hopefully, I will learn more about her real functions later.  Unfortunately, a USB cable was not waiting with the new phone, so Siri will be resting over Thanksgiving weekend.

Why you should finish diapering before filming

Moments in Parenting

Pre-Haircut Photo

I made my first attempt ever at cutting my boys' hair at home. Results were mixed.  On the bright side,  I didn't think either of them came out looking too bad and my toddler, especially, seemed to enjoy the experience.  Unfortunately, he had so much fun that about a week later, he decided to try it again, this time cutting his own hair all by himself.  And so I cut it again, even shorter, in an attempt to blend in his handiwork.  If we continue this cycle, by a week or two from now, he could be bald.

My four-year-old is going through a bit of a phase.  Well, two phases.  He has become obsessed with all things electronic and he has suddenly become unruly at preschool.  I have attempted to nip both problems in the bud by blocking all electronic devices with passwords.  Now, he has to earn screentime as a reward for good behavior at preschool.  His teachers report a miraculous improvement in his behavior.  Yesterday, he said to me as he unsuccessfully lobbied for extra, unearned screentime, "Mommy, you are the stupidest mommy I have ever had."  (To his credit, he felt guilty for saying such a horrible thing.)

Some sort of record-keeping blunder at my seven-year-old daughter's school resulted in her being placed at "H" reading level, when she actually tested at "L." I had wondered how they expected her to do 20 minutes of nightly reading in texts that she always completed within a few minutes, but it never occurred to me to question it.  We are supposed to spend some of the time discussing the book, but both of us were bored of that after a couple minutes, so I just had her spend the other 10 minutes or so reading from her own books or library books.  Her teacher sent a letter home last week with her apologies and an actual full-length book: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.  My daughter is thrilled with the new material and we no longer have to supplement to fill her allotted reading time.  I have been reading some books lately for research purposes and marking passages with post-its.  I was surprised to see that my daughter had noticed my reading patterns: she has cluttered the Silverstein book with post-its.

Summer Photos the Sequel

After posting my random summer photos, I realized that I missed some.  Here they are:

State fair

Hayride at Thanksgiving Point

My toddler doesn't realize that he isn't actually playing the demo at the arcade.  Makes for cheap entertainment.

My sis, baby, niece and daughter at Trafalga.