Kefir Dreamsicle!

You know what is the best, most delicious kefir drink? I do! I like you guys, so I will share it with you now.

Pour a half glass of plain kefir (use a 12 oz. glass or larger), add a half glass of orange juice, a half teaspoon of vanilla, a tablespoon of raw honey and stir it all up right in the drinking glass. It will take a little longer to stir than you think it should because of the stickiness of the honey, but keep at it until it's thoroughly mixed.

Then. Well, then you're about to have what amounts to a liquid dreamsicle--it is amazingly good. And, you're going to be getting those good probiotics into you.

You don't have to have junk to feel like you're having a treat. Junk has it's place--we eat junk occasionally--but, it's so much better when we can have treats that are both delicious and good for us.

Try it!

Gone Daddy Gone

You know what is severely underutilized in the whole rock/pop/ska world? Yes, that's right--xylophone.

So, here's some for you from The Violent Femmes--Gone Daddy Gone.

Enjoy your weekend.

Bad to the Bone or Another Day of Running Errands

We had to go get the car's emissions tested yesterday. Illinois law mandates it every so often for all cars, although it would probably be more efficient and effective if the testing was saved for older cars alone. But, we went.

My daughter assured me that she was fine dressed in her 1880s prairie dress which she uses to pretend she is Mary or Laura or an unknown pioneer girl out on the prairie trying to make her way breaking up sod and battling grasshoppers. She was going to be fine in her red calico with white overdress and didn't need to change before hand. Besides, we could all stay in the car so it wouldn't matter any way!

Yeah, except when we got there we saw that everyone had to get out of their cars and go to a little room while the car was tested. Uh oh... I reassured my daughter that she could still get away with going around town in dress up clothes, depending on the clothes, and it would be OK.

My son meanwhile was cracking up and thought the imminent embarrassment of his sister was hilarious. My daughter actually laughed too and took it in stride.

Turns out we didn't have to get out of the car. Instead, the creepy worker guy let me get out and sit in back while he sat in the driver's seat and conducted the test. He went on to insult the quality of our car and then said weird rambling things that we all couldn't quite make out.

I asked the kids what they thought of him as we left and they told me he was creepy. My daughter described him as having milky blue eyes (descriptive!). My son asked what was wrong with him which led to a lengthy discussion about creepiness, instincts and feelings about people, social awkwardness vs. malicious intent, not being afraid to hurt feelings or offend anyone to keep yourself safe, having the right to not get in an elevator or cross the street or stay with a crowd of people if someone makes you feel creeped out. I told my kids to trust their feelings and instincts.

We talked about why someone might be socially awkward. Why someone might not like people. And then my son fished out my husband's aviator sunglasses from the compartment in the dashboard and put them on.

My son as he looked in the mirror in the sun visor said, "Hey! I look really cool in these! I look like a BUG!! These are so cool."

Some time later after more self-admiring and tilting his head this way and that, he said, "I look like a bug--AND THAT'S AWESOME!!"

A teen sitting in the passenger seat of an oncoming car caught sight of my son and dropped his mouth open and stared as his head pivoted to get more of a view. My son thought this was hilarious and so did my daughter and I and we all laughed and laughed.

Who says running errands can't be fun?

Huckleberry Finn

I am reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to the kids. I just started it last night, complete with dead-on accents and full emoting. The kids thought the whole Tom Sawyer gang requirements were hysterical: no telling the secrets of the club upon the penalty of family being killed. If no family, as is the case with Huck, a proxy will do, namely Miss Watson. Also, they will hold captives and ransom them, which to their confused minds means clubbing them to death. The women captives they figure will all fall in love with them. The gang admits that the cave will become mighty crowded what with men waiting to die by ransom, and women swooning in love with them.

It all takes place in the early 1800's and Huck refers to the slaves as n******. It was difficult to even say the word, and Huck says it repeatedly. My kids had never heard the n word (they haven't heard a whole lot of words). I explained that it was a word to dehumanize and vilify the slaves (and people of color since then) and my daughter said, "Oh, like 'mudblood'." Yes, exactly--like mudblood.

I realize that there are critical views of Twain and the language he used. I know that this is a banned book in many places, because of it. But, I feel that Twain pointed out the extreme hypocrisy of the lifestyle of that time. I want my kids to learn about that. I want them to recognize it now, when they see it. I think it's important to learn. I also think Twain is a wonderful writer and I love his wit and sensitivity. I love how he understands kids and their imaginations and how their thinking is generalized and absolute. He has sympathy for them. I like my kids to know that too.