20 questions

i'm thinking of an animal.
is it a dog? 
no.
is it a cat? 
yes-  it's a kind of cat.
is it a cheetah? 
no.
[pause]
is it a stray cat? 

"martha lookin king"*

today was a great day: no school + sunshine and 60-degree weather is perfect for sleeping in, dressing up, having a dance party, and playing in the park.
 it makes me ready for spring/summer.  i could get used to this.

*martin luther king, unintentionally mispronounced

life lessons: always peel the orange

yesterday afternoon, as my charge and i were enjoying our snacks, she became very interested in my orange, which i was happy to share.  rather than peel the orange, i'd begun to slice it in thin semi-circles.  i showed her how to eat it by biting into the fruit and pulling it away from the rind.
unfortunately, she didn't understand.  instead, she put the whole slice, rind and all, into her mouth and started chewing.  i didn't know what to do.  i figured that she'd spit it out, especially since she tends to be picky about what she eats, and rind isn't exactly edible.  i tried to explain; i tried to get her to spit it out.  i kept hoping; she kept chewing.  then, she swallowed.  she'd eaten the rind.
she reached over for more.
i peeled the rest of that orange.

rain

[driving in the car with my twelve-year-old.]

her: you see that man running in the rain? 
me: yes, i did see that man running in the rain.
her: ugh.