Relaxation : Yule : Day Twelve

With our family gathering postponed until tomorrow due to snow, there was a lot of this happening, today. I'm hopeful we will begin the hardcore relaxing (and movie watching) in the next couple of days, but we're not ready to stop with the baking and hosting, just yet. Thank you for following along on these Twelve Days of Yule, friends! May you have a safe, joyful, and outstanding New Year! I'll see you in 2014!

Surprise and Delight : Yule : Day Eleven

The year of research, collecting ideas and pins, listening to their rambling about this or that, paying close attention to their preferences, watching them dive headfirst into a passion, and squirreling away items that match all these things over the course of a year - that is one of my greatest pleasures (and one Alex shares, and we do this for each other, too). We will stay up all night wrapping that. That's what we do. (Did.) That's what we want. No complaints. (Maybe some whining.)









It's becoming more clear with every year, that our children have this desire too. They will craft or seek out the thing that makes the other's heart sing. This year, Olivia made all sorts of beautiful and touching things, including this ornament that looks like one of Adam's Planet Minecraft skins. Adam was so pleased. She also made him a gorgeous felted red fox pin. To the entire family, she gave us adorable ornaments that bear a remarkable likeness to Beatrice and Annabelle. These instantly went on the tree and will be hung every year going forward.







It was great fun to give things that though not handmade by us, were handmade by others. I received three coveted Phoebe Wahl prints from Alex, for instance. Olivia received a few favorite items from some artists specializing in social justice or feminist topics. She adores her Feminist Killjoy collar pin. There were a few Twin Peaks references in her stocking, also.



And sometimes there's just that thing, that they never expected to get, that thrills and amazes them. We live for this stuff.











Sometimes there's another sort of joy, of finding the thing that moves the other with its import. I was crying by the time he came over to give me a long hug with extra grip.





We couldn't resist pranking Papa a little, with a box featuring "Bacon Scented Dryer Sheets" and the mirth (and relief to all) that resulted when it merely contained his favorite candy bar in triplicate. Although he did say we had him going there for a bit, so I do wonder what he must think of us. As if we'd ever use dryer sheets.



Look at these two. Those smiles. Total sweetness.





It's not often I can find something whimsical that will surprise Alex. But after he went on all summer about wearing a straw beach hat while mowing or working outside, I thought he should have a proper straw hat. One made for a farmer. One that looks great with his beard.





It truly was a pleasure to share these moments with these fine people, to experience the joy of giving and receiving with them. It was a good day. Full of merriment and pure fun.

I'd be up for it in oh, say, another year.

Youth Activism: Preserving Spaces and Youth Voices on the Air

Even with our move to the farm, Olivia and Adam remain committed to their volunteer work with Blunt Youth Radio out of WMPG in Portland. They both continue to produce and engineer shows, like this one on LGBTQIA+ Issues, or Intersectional Feminism, or Geek Culture in Maine. Most recently, they were both asked to produce the Indiegogo campaign video for Blunt's latest fundraising effort to improve and update Blunt's recording equipment. Adam and Olivia used their own equipment, talent, and skills to produce this video. They spent several days editing and agonizing over details. Essentially, they did what they always do, regarding their work; they took it seriously and committed fully to it. They are both detail oriented, and passionate about producing good material. They make a good team and it was sometimes overwhelming to listen to them geek out about the finer points. It was also incredibly fun to watch them work together. Ultimately, I think their vision will serve Blunt Youth Radio well.
Please consider offering your support by preserving youth voices on the air with your donation.

On His Fourteenth Birthday

Our Adam turned 14, yesterday. Like I imagine all parents must, from time to time, I wonder how it is that my baby has grown taller than me? I know for a fact that he is kinder, more patient, sweeter and nurturing than, well, a goodly portion of the people on the planet, so that doesn't surprise me. But taller? Well, that doesn't compute, somehow.

We began his day with our traditional birthday breakfast, made by Alex, at which point, Max the cat was convinced he needed a little something from our plates, followed by Adam opening his cards, then his gifts.













Since Adam is an avid gamer and has been delving into Machinima, we thought he needed to upgrade his hardware. He was a little bit psyched. As in a lot psyched. Like, a lot. Psyched.





Which had to be set up immediately, of course. Even before cake.





Last week, Olivia had made a white cake with a buttercream frosting flavored with our own maple syrup for Blunt, which was apparently a hit, and Adam decided he wanted the same cake for his birthday.







In the afternoon, we went out, and stopped at Coast City Comics, where Adam scored a 2001 Nintendo Game Cube. We then had an early dinner, and went, where else? To see Iron Man 3. (We liked it, surprisingly so.) Of course we stayed for the end credits (as one should stay for the end credits to all Marvel movies because there's always an extra bit).



I asked Adam a few days before his birthday if he was looking forward to being 14, knowing that sometimes, my children have resented these older years laying claim to their childhoods. He shrugged at first, and gave the question some thought. Later, he said that he liked "turning 14 better, because I feel more aware of things. I feel like I know more and understand stuff better." Oh, my thoughtful, imaginative boy. Never have we doubted that. Happy Birthday, Adam.

Paper Toys, Minecraft, Princesses, Ponies and Other Unschooly Things

Adam, 13, has been having a lot of fun designing Minecraft templates at PaperMinecraft, this week.

photo by Adam Bradstreet

photo by Adam Bradstreet

The really fabulous thing about this is, Adam has been using all the skins he has designed at Planet Minecraft. For example, this is the skin he has designed for himself. Adorable, eh, cool, right? It's clear that he really enjoys constructing these toys and he becomes completely engrossed in the project, so much so that he referenced this article about the effect working with our hands on our brains has, several times.

If Minecraft is not your thing, there are plenty of paper toy templates out there, many of them free. In my search, I found this Pinterest board called Printables & Paper Toys, which looks like a great resource.

--Also, Adam is experiencing a growth-spurt and has grown 4-inches since the middle of September. One of those inches he's grown in the last month. Today he is 5-feet 10 1/4-inches. Coincidentally, our house and all the furniture in it, has shrunk. (Olivia, who will be 16 next month (!!!), is just a bit bitter about being short at 5 feet 8-inches.)

Olivia, on the other hand, has been exploring and expounding upon The Misogyny Within The Criticisms Of The Misogyny Regarding Disney Princesses and My Little Pony with a side of The Inherent Racism Within Both the Critiques and Stories. For example, she correctly points out that much of the feminist and social justice critiques of Disney Princesses, begins and stops with the actions of the princess, but never lands on the other characters or even the writers or creators of the films. Belle is blamed for her Stockholm Syndrome, but The Beast is never blamed for being a kidnapper. In Disney's The Princess and the Frog, "black people spend most of the movie trying to become real humans". Even within My Little Pony, widely loved by the social justice community, she has been troubled by the problematic othering regarding the treatment of the character named Zecora, discussed here. She has also pointed out the indentured servitude and infantilization of the dragon Spike, among many other problematic themes within the show. I've been encouraging her to write her thoughts down, but for now, she's happy to process these thoughts with us as her sounding board.

--By the way, Olivia needed to download Minecraft to her new Mac laptop, (and there's a rumor that this is a difficult task), she found a simple tutorial that had her running the game in minutes with no issues.



If they aren't doing any these things, they might be singing all the Les Mis songs. To kazoo.

Comfort and Joy Come To You : Yule : Eleventh Day

Simply put, our Yule, our Santa Day was most joyful. We woke to snow, not much, but enough to give us a winter white landscape outside our windows. After two hours of sleep, Alex and I were up and readying the the house for company. Alex started his Yule bread and put the ham in the oven. Before everyone came downstairs, I tidied some and took in the quiet beauty of the morning.







Heather, Alex's sister arrived first and we sat in the cozy living room, next to the roaring Netflix fire, while the kids read their note from Santa. The two aunts would arrive around noon. We opened stockings, and Santa gifts and then exchanged gifts with each other. I say this every year, but our two teens are such joys to give to and it's such a wonderful pleasure to be able to do so.




Since Papa is always asking if we have a comb for him to use, he was given a mess of combs he can stash in our home to his heart's desire.




Olivia received so many beautiful luxurious soaps and candles. Adam received several Minecraft-themed things, like a Creeper wallet and mug, in addition to some Brony or My Little Pony accessories. Both were given books; some longed-for, some surprises. And music, of course. Alex gave me things that made me know just how much he understands me. (Like my gorgeous mermaid Swatch watch.)



In a hilarious turn of events, I gave him a watch, too. Maybe even a really good crappy watch. If you are familiar with the film Planes, Trains and Automobiles, you will get this.



Adam and Olivia gave each other things, too, and the thought and attention to their choices for one another speaks volumes regarding their friendship.







Midway through our family gift exchange, the aunts arrived and we made room for them around the uh, fire and tree. When the kids were down to their last gift, they both seemed pleased as anything with their morning. And then this happened.






To say that these two geeks were thrilled would be an extreme understatement. For the first five minutes, they only spoke some sort of shared sibling geek language, which sounded like gibberish to us, but probably wasn't. At any rate, we all shared in their immense joy, which was just the cherry on top of their day.

The rest of the day was about gathering around the table for food, eating cookies and candy, lighting candles and enjoying the company of each other. Later, when we tried yet another seasonal film out on Papa, (this time it was A Christmas Story, which I thought for sure he'd get into...I was wrong), we tried and tried to convince him, as Adam said, "to suspend disbelief", but alas... I wonder what he must think of our taste in movies? I'll have to ask him. As ever, it's no matter. Our day was well-spent, surrounded by love and joy, and memories and comfort. I hope it was much the same for you and yours.