Rainy Sunday

Today was quite a full one. This morning I interviewed an Ethiopian immigrant who has applied to Northwestern. As a member of the Northwestern Alumni Association, I interview prospective students. He was so impressive, as was the Korean immigrant I interviewed tonight around dinnertime (and, because this is a VERY small town, it turns out that I actually know another person who interviewed the Korean kid -- my friend Sarah Ames, who went to Yale; her husband Peter used to work for the Oregonian and Sarah used to be a spokesperson for Portland Public Schools and had a long talk with me about whether she should got back to law school at age 48, etc. etc. etc. The interconnectedness of Oregon, and Portland in particular, never ceases to amaze me). I'm going to recommend that both of them get in, but of course it's up to the admissions officers in Evanston.

Anyway, after the morning interview Drew, Rachel and I headed to the monthly meeting of our chavurah in Beaverton, where Drew and I separately got into intense conversations with all the parents about school choice options, and whether their kids were really learning what they should, etc. etc. Everyone told me not to stress out, which is precisely what I will do anyway, so it was futile advice. Kindergarten round-up begins NOW, and there are about 10 schools I want to visit even though we'll probably end up at our neighborhood school anyway. I just want to make sure I'm being an involved, savvy parent, y'know?

After my evening interview with the Korean kid, I made beef barley soup and we all sat down to dinner of matzo ball soup and challah. Right before we sat down, Rachel set up a tea party in the living room, complete with blanket, plastic cupcakes, teacups, teapot (thank you AGAIN, Tia Daniella!), her animals, and Sophie (Rachel set up the challah, candles, knife and kiddush cup) -- only to have the animals SEVERELY misbehave. Bunny and Sawyer the Bear gulped their tea, and Sawyer spilled his all over his shirt and stuffed his face with fruit and bread and had to be given multiple timeouts, as did Bunny, especially since they wailed all the way to Rachel's bedroom. When she mentioned their appalling behavior over dinner, I reminded her that she's their mommy and it's up to her to make them behave. She appeared to take me quite seriously.

***

"Are you tired?" Rachel asked me as I handed her the plates to set the table.
"Yes," I said. "How can you tell?"
"You seem mixed up," she said. "When you're mixed up, that's a sign that you're tired."

***

"Don't peel the garlic," Rachel ordered tonight (in fact, the beef barley stew doesn't contain garlic).
"Why not?" I asked.
""Cause I want to help you," she replied. "How's THAT for an answer?"

Perfect, kiddo.