Zozo for President

We got through half of Zoe's homework folder before she had to go to bed. Late night due to a 5:30 p.m. soccer game. Later, as I was cleaning up dinner and cleaning off the kitchen counter, I found the stack of papers we hadn't gone through. Math homework (she's learning 3D shapes) and religion coloring pages and a worksheet on a story her class read together with a character named Abuela.

The last item, though...I struck gold. At first glance it looks like a presidential craft project. We've got construction paper, Presidents Washington and Lincoln, markers and a glue stick. Then I caught a glimpse of her handwriting between the two presidents and opened it up.

"If I was President of the United States I would change the price on everything. Man their expensive. I would make Feb. into 30 days. 'Cause Feb. 30th is my half birthday. I would help the poor. I'd go to war if I had too. I would make a rool that GIRLS could be Pope too."

That is awesome. My kid rocks. I mean, she completely overestimates the power of the US presidency, but she's got lofty goals. She's frugal, practical, generous, and apparently not afraid of a fight.

I think we're doing well. Need to work a little on grammar and spelling, but she gets her point across and that's more than I can say about many people.

St. Nick's Day

St. Nick stopped by last night for Zoe. I didn't say anything to her when she woke up, as I wanted to see if she'd notice. We didn't use her shoes, but opted for the stocking on the mantel.

After she dressed, she headed out to the kitchen to take her cereal bowl back and feed the cats. I was getting dressed in our bedroom when I heard her feet pounding down the hall. "Mommy! I have stuff in my stocking!" I explained that today is St. Nick's Day, and I guess he paid her a visit. The feet pounded away, and then she returned with one of her presents, an owl pen with blue LED eyes and a "hoooo hoooooooo!" call.

I love that she returned with each gift one by one, savoring the newness and the excitement, instead of just dumping everything out at once.

She danced around like a little imp, thrilled that St. Nick came. She talked to her elf, Henry, and laughed that she found him in yet another box of tissues. "Why does he keep sitting on the tissues?" I said maybe he likes them because they're soft. She thinks maybe he likes them because he sneezes a lot.

She is cracking me up these days, and I love seeing the world through her eyes. We've become big fans of The Wizard of Oz, which she's watched both at school and at home. She determined that bad witches are green, and good witches are "skin-colored," and that's how you can tell them apart. Because the maniacal laugh doesn't give it away at all.

This child, this little person who looks like both me and my best friend, who is both insanely creative and intensely analytical (also traits inherited from her parents), who is so empathetic and energetic...she blows me away. You'd think I'd be used to it after six years, but I'm continually surprised by my capacity to love, and to learn from her.

Zoe Question

Watching Little House on the Prairie with Zozer tonight. Laura runs out of the house to a small wooden structure.
Zoe: "Is she going to the owl house?"
Me: "Um, no, she's going to the OUT house!"

He waits, patiently.

I wonder what it's like to spend the bulk of your day in a small room. Zoe still calls her cubby, a covey.

Why didn't I think of that?

Another storm passed through here yesterday while I was at work, thankfully with no twisters, but lots of wind and rain.  A warning call from my MIL let me know that I was most likely without power.  The woman is in Chicago and I'm five minutes from home, yet she knows before I do.

When I picked up Zozer I warned her that we probably didn't have power and, if so, we'd go out to eat.  Naturally, she had all kinds of questions about what it means to not have power.  This, combined with being in an extremely good mood meant that she chattered the entire way home.  She'd ask questions, then answer them herself.  I was but her chauffeur, meant to just shut up and drive.

Finally, the conversation became a little more two-sided when I started talking about what we could do with no power.  We could read a book with a flashlight.  Or play games.  With a flashlight?  Yeah, with a flashlight.  When the sun goes down, we'll have to use flashlights.  Or candles.  We'll be like pioneer women in Little House on the Prairie (which we've started watching together).

She thought for a minute.

"Mommy?  Can we watch Little House?"

"No, sweetie.  We can't.  If we don't have power we can't turn on the TV."

She thought about that long and hard for a minute, before her face brightened.

"I know!  We can watch it!  We'll just point the flashlight at it!"

Oh boy.

Festive underneath

I talked to M this morning.  He and Zoe chatted about how excited she was today because (warning: double whammy ahead) it was Pajama Day and Babaloo Day.  Pajama Day is, well, pretty self-explanatory.  Babaloo is an entertainer who comes in once a year for an all-school assembly.  He farts and throws toilet paper all around and blows bubbles and does other things that preschoolers find incredibly hilarious.

Then, I dropped the bomb on him.  Poor boy, he's around the world and even in a different hemisphere, no less.  In other words, he's powerless to stop her.  I told him, "She requested, and is wearing, her party underwear.  Chosen especially for today."

First, there was silence.

Then..."What?"

Later, he told me he was tempted to ask two questions:

1. What, exactly, is "party underwear?"
2. Who do you expect to actually, um, see your party underwear?

Then he muttered, "I'm not gonna make it. Not gonna make it.  I'm gonna need to be tranquilized."

Is it wrong that I find his pain so funny?  I mean, it's fart/toilet paper cannon/bubbles funny.

Or, there's that

Zoe's teachers have been telling us that she's thisclose to reading, so we've been encouraging spelling and sounding out words and such.  This week at her Scholastic Book Fair I picked up a kindergarten level 1 reader (Splat the Cat Sings Flat, if you must know).  Last night, she carried it in and wanted to read.  by herself.  So we snuggled together on her bed and sounded out words together.  I was reminded again just how tricky the English language is (we have lots of silent letters, and it seems like "i" is pronounced about a bazillion different ways).  She continued reading this morning, doing quite well on her own, and wanted to tackle it again tonight.  She is determined to read, and she seems to be really getting the hang of it.

We were reading in her bed again tonight when the tornado sirens went off.  I sent her downstairs while I gathered the cats, blankets, flashlights, iPhone and laptop and headed down.  (No, I did not grab everything at once, although for a brief second I did consider trying it.)  We hung out under the pool table and continued to read.  She got stuck on a word, then finally figured it out, then sighed a big sigh and said, "Or, you know, you could just look at the illustrations."