Thomas's Dream Costume

For this year's Halloween costume Thomas asked me to make a Yoshi costume (reference a series of Nintendo games) mixed with a pokemon named Aipom. He wanted a Yoshi body and an Aipom tail. Since his every wish is my command, this is what he got:

Here is the back, so you can see the saddle and spikes on his head.
Not too surprisingly, no one at Thomas's school had any idea of what he was. (His Halloween party was yesterday and featured a terrifying performance by the Flint Youth Theatre that caused him to walk out halfway through [and later that night caused him to be too scared to go into his dark room to get in bed], a meal at subway which he "didn't like much", a "blizzard" at Dairy Queen which was "all right" and then a game of bowling at a local bowling alley which was "not so great". Getting not much praise but many confused stares doesn't seem to have turned Thomas off his costume, since he said he wants to wear it continuously until, eventually, he turns into a Yaipom.

Frederick Goes to a Halloween Party

Today neither Thomas nor Frederick has school, but Frederick's school had a short Halloween party in the gym with activity stations. Simon and I hate these sort of things but Emily really wanted to take Frederick so he got to go. Here he is, modeling his Wolf Suit. (Reference Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak: "The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind...and another...his mother called him as WILD THING!" Yeah, we've read it a few times.) He is with his teacher, Miss Perkins.
Hmm. I'm not sure I would have sanctioned THOSE sorts of activities.
Frederick didn't want to color the pumpkin, but he did draw a rainbow around it.
Looking slightly defensive (or just very hot and tired) as he snags his second baggy of popcorn.
In the car, with his popcorn, heading home. All is right in the world.

Pop Goes Another Tooth

And the next day another tooth popped out. This one I have--it is surprisingly tiny. You can just see the new ones coming in.

Frederick lost a tooth! (His first!)

...and we don't know where it is!

Enjoying But Not Destroying

Frederick and his father know For Mar (named after the couple, Forbes and Margaret something, that donated the land) even better than our devoted readers. Here are some autumnal shots of the smaller party frolicking there.

Here is the sign right as you enter the For Mar wooded area. This is one of Frederick's favorite sayings. I think it's a good motto to live by, too.
As Frederick was crawling into bed with us the other morning (about 6 am when it was pitch black and in the low 30s outside) he said, "Cuddle up." "Yes," Simon replied, "but let's be very quiet." "Entering quiet area," Frederick whispered, as he nuzzled down between us... and then burst into wild giggles and wiggles that, 30 minutes later, got him (and daddy) kicked out of the bed. (I'm sure Simon had had enough sleep by that point anyway. And, besides, he likes to get up early to get the fire in the livingroom up and roaring.)

I'm not sure why Frederick is working on his ASL (American Sign Language) skills, but he is clearly showing off a very fine letter B. [He is standing next to the turtle lake. Within its slimy depths dwell lots of cute little box turtles and three monstrous looking snapping turtles, the largest of which is said by the guides to be 90 years old. If you dabble a toe off the dock seen in the background it will usually come surging out of the murk, trailing algae behind it as it comes, its gummy mouth agape... But not today. It's too cold for turtles, apparently.]

This is a very rickety bridge--great fun. (Unless, like me [Jami], you hate these things.)

Carefully, carefully, negotiating the wet and slippery tree. [Not as carefully as his father would like. But somebody has to take the pictures...]

More Enjoying But Not Destroying

And now at top speed! Frederick has discovered the thrill of living dangerously.
Here he is demonstrating his posed smile. Of course he can smile hugely when he is reduced to helpless giggles (he is extremely ticklish) but if you ask him to smile, he gets very shy. Since they had school pictures a while ago, the teacher was practicing smiles with the class. I haven't yet seen how his pictures turned out, but am very curious.
A very Huck Finn sort of shot. [Note mud smear acquired since last photo because of a sudden urge to sit down on a muddy path.]
Does it look different upside down?

Look at Fall while you can. Right now we are having a hail storm that is knocking all the leaves off the trees and it will be a barren pre-winter wasteland very soon.

Recent Conversation With Thomas

Yesterday after school, after Thomas got a bottle of grape juice to drink, we had the following conversation:
Me: "I'm surprised you like grape juice. I think it's too sweet."
Thomas: "I've found that there is a time and a place for everything. Right now is the time for grape juice."
Me: "What about dog poop? When and where is the time and place for eating that?"
Thomas (without a pause): "If someone was threatening to blow up the world unless you eat dog poop."
Me: "Hmm. Yeah, I suppose so."

Don't attempt to match intellect with Thomas (especially when sleep deprived)--he'll leave you in the dust.

Just When I Thought the Semester Was Going Well, I Was Reminded of What I Do and Why I Have to Do It

I have to vent. I normally reserve such ventings for weekly therapy sessions with my workmates and spouse and, since Simon is lucky enough to be both, he gets it twice. But I've done that already today and I'm just not feeling any better. This semester I am teaching a new course, Disabilities Studies, which is aimed at first year students. This is a relatively new field in the world of academia (it hit the scene about 15 years ago) and is absolutely cutting edge in philosophy departments (which tend to lag behind academic cutting edges quite a bit). Put most generally, the main idea of the course is to investigate and analyze issues relevant to individuals who have disabilities (whether those disabilties be physical, intellectual, psychological, emotional, and so on). This includes not only legal issues (usually created by the American Disabilities Act) but also issues involving education, medical care, employment, housing, and anything in "popular culture" like movies and tv, novels and films, and so on. What's really cool about disabilties studies is that all the literature is written by people who have disabilities, not by "experts" who make a living studying (or "curing") such individuals. Even though this is the first time I have taught this course, it's packed and most of the students have admitted to me (either in class or privately) that they have someone very close to them who has a disability. Their personal experiences have really brought amazing insights into classroom conversations, and I have really been enjoying teaching this class. Until today, when one of our department's part-time instructors, Mejdulene, came into my office to tell me that she saw one of my students in the elevator, carrying the textbook for this class. Mejdulene then asked the student how she was enjoying the class so far. The student replied, "It's retarded." The student explained that the "retardedness" of the course stemmed from the classmates who waste class time with "totally retarded questions."

I was pissed off when I heard this and have been doing a slow burn ever since. How is it possible to sit in a class on DISABILITY STUDIES--a course entirely devoted to analyzing the offensive, obnoxious and dehumanizing assumptions about individuals with disabilities that permeate this culture and the resulting institutional policies that oppress amd degrade such individuals--and then casually (and unreflectively--have I taught her nothing in these past six weeks?) use the term "retard" to express disapproval? Why would such a person take this class? Why is she still in this class? And why, for god's sake, does this person wish to go into elementary education where I am sure she will spread the word "retard" with wild abandon? (I know she's an elementary ed major because I am able to access her student records. Bwahaha!) I am very tempted to turn this course into her private hell. (Repeat: Bwahaha!) Would that be wrong? Would that make me a bad person? I don't think so.

I didn't have an image to include in this post relevant to this issue. So here is this.

Another Favorite Place--Mott Community College

Although over 17,000 students are enrolled here, the campus is strangely empty by 5 in the evening, the perfect time for a walk.
This is the building with the electric car. There is a fascinating story behind this car, but I don't know what it is. You'll have to come to Flint and visit Mott to find out for yourself.

Running up and down the stairs is loads of fun, unless you've done it five times already this evening and want to go home and have a cup of tea but Frederick wants to do it another five times or maybe more.

And, meanwhile, what is Thomas up to? Of course, sitting in his "game zone" (the space under his loft bed devoted to Gameboy, DS, Gamecube, iPod...). Thomas would live out his entire life in this space if we let him.

Take a Tour of ForMar

Come along with Frederick on his evening stroll through ForMar. The leaves are just starting to change, and everything looks lovely.

If you are very lucky you will see a deer, but more typically frogs, toads, snakes and Ol' Snappy, the 90 year old snapping turtle. Don't put your fingers in the water.

Just a little farther...

Here, this explains exactly where you are.

And there you have it.

Frederick under the weather

Today Frederick was definitely not himself. For the first time since he was about two, he actually fell asleep on the couch and had a several-hour-long midday nap. Naturally I was there to give him moral support. Jami reckons it's allergies from the leafmold. That's her explanation for everything, though.

Ready for winter!

As we felt the first nips of Autumn I panicked and got on the 'phone to Walter the hippy wood guy (not as cheap as others, but the wood is always long dead and dried) and ordered SIX cords (I still don't know exactly how much a "cord" is - so I am at his mercy) of wood. And here it is, stacked up by ME at the back of the garage (he parked his truck at the end of our driveway, his large doughy (and yes, I mean doughy not doughty) sons tore themselves away from their GameBoy DSs long enough to load it from the truck into our wheelbarrow, and he ferried it from there up to the garage - a well-oiled wood-unloading machine). Of course, since that day we have had a heatwave. But NEVER MIND. To Winter I say: BRING IT ON.