I love books. I love reading. And I want other people to have the chance to read, too.
Too many students in this country don’t have that opportunity. We can do something about that.
What should kids read? I’m sure we could all come up with plenty of suggestions, but the answer, really, is “what they want to read.” That’s what works best.
Schools don’t get enough funding, and when they do, it’s often not for books. But books are available in the world.
So here’s what we can do. Send a book–just one book–from this Amazon Wishlist to Warren Mott High School. And then share this post wherever you can. Ask more people. Let’s see what we can do.
Want to choose your own book? Try non-fiction, STEM books, Manga. Want to send supplies? They’re on the list, too.
Warren Mott High School, just outside Detroit, has about 1,650 students, and some 25% of them are English Language Learners. According to the New York Times, their library budget for this year was $500–enough to buy abut 30 books. And that’s after two years of no budget at all.
You can do this. We can do this. Give one book.
Photo by Elliot Glaser, Teacher Librarian, Warren Consolidated Schools, Warren Mott High School
So I’ve been listening to podcasts for a while now, and one of my favorites is The Mom Hour with Meagan Francis and Sarah Powers. Each week they have a new episode that shares parenting advice and experience on a particular topic–but in a no-judgment, do-what-works-for-you kind of way. It’s just my speed.
(And their episodes always give me blogging ideas, so watch for more references to them and the podcast!)
They’ve also added a series of episodes called “More Than Mom,” in which they discuss things beyond parenting advice. This week’s topic was travel.
Travel’s something I’ve been meaning to write about for a long time, because it’s one of those areas in life where I had expectations based on my own childhood–and then things turned out to be different.
When I was a kid, we traveled a lot–with the result that I visited every state (except Alaska) before I was 30. In the U.S., we traveled mostly by car, often camping in our pop-up tent trailer. Budget motel rooms were fairly rare, and the four of us would stay in one room. Then we moved to South Texas, where it was too hot to camp. Budget motel rooms became more common.
We were fortunate enough to do a fair amount of international travel; my dad was in the military, so when we lived on the East Coast, we could get cheap flights to Europe on Air Force cargo planes. On those trips, we stayed in B&Bs, which tended to be less like showplaces filled with antiques and more like the house of someone who had a couple of spare rooms and was willing to serve you some food in the morning.
Eventually, my parents moved on to tour packages and cruises, but my travel expectations for myself, certainly for the forseeable future, were of the DIY, low-budget variety. And, as it turned out, so were Mr. Sandwich’s. Neither one of us felt like resort people.
But then we had Baguette, and we got to know her needs, and our travel style changed.
First, neither Mr. Sandwich nor I has been on a plane since our trip to Kauai in 2009. This is kind of bizarre, because when I was single, I was the person who was on a plane once a month, and not for work. Even after we married, we flew once or twice a year. But we haven’t taken Baguette on a plane yet–although I’m sure we’ll try it at some point–so most of our travel is by car or train (she loves the train!).
Second, we don’t stay in budget motels.
Baguette is pretty adaptable, but she does best and is most comfortable in a setting that’s like a home. She likes some space, and some delineation of that space, and a comfy sofa. Those don’t tend to be features of budget motels.
When we move in, we move in. Stuff EVERYWHERE.
Also, she’s not a fan of restaurants. Too much waiting. So we cook more on vacation.
What this means is that VRBO is our best friend. We look for one- or two-bedroom places with a full kitchen, in areas that are walkable and close to amenities, as well as within reasonable striking distance of the attractions we’re visiting. We’ve found a regular place in Santa Barbara (this summer vacation will be our eighth year spending a week there, and our fifth with this particular rental), and based on our Spring Break trip to San Diego, we may have found a regular place there, too.
If VRBO doesn’t have anything available in another location, we look for a hotel room that comes with a kitchen. There are more of these than there used to be; over the past few years, we’ve stayed in Homewood Suites, Larkspur Landing, and TownePlace Suites.
For a night or two, we can manage a simpler room that has a mini-fridge and microwave, but longer than that and everyone gets cramped and edgy. No one wants to be cramped and edgy on vacation.
So it’s not what I expected–but it works. It works well. And if something else works in the future, we’ll do that. But this is really good for now.
A lot of things are changing. I want to write about all of them, but I don’t have the time, energy, or focus. Here’s one:
For the past several years, I’ve colored the eggs that Baguette hunts for on Easter morning. This year, during a visit to Bestie’s house, Baguette colored them.
I’ve realized recently that I’m a sucker for an English thriller featuring a 20- to 30-something woman. Also, I often like books that tell a story in two time periods. So J.P. Delaney’s The Girl Before would seem to be a match for me.
Two Londoners–Emma (then) and Jane (now)–each rent the same austere house. Each sees it as the solution to her problems. Each follows a path that leads to jeopardy. Also on that path is the same man, a man they find irresistible, a man whose appeal I find incomprehensible.
I got to preview this video for review here, and I want to tell you: Dylan Kussman canact. Dylan Kussman can write. Dylan Kussman can direct. And? Dylan Kussman can sing. Seriously, folks, have a listen to his latest single, Sailor.
Love, separation, reclaiming what matters–this song is about life, and it’s brought to us by someone seriously talented. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
I was not financially compensated for this post; I received a preview link to the video in exchange for a post with my honest opinion.
The Women’s Marches are not for us–at least, not the big ones like L.A.’s. We decided that last year, and then Mr. Sandwich suggested we make a last minute-try, because he could see how much I wished I were there, standing next to my friends to support our beliefs. And it was literally last minute; we threw backpacks together, bundled Baguette into the car, and set out.
We never made it. The Metro Red Line trains were too crowded; while the other riders waved us on, the crush clearly was too much for Baguette to manage. But I tried my best, and I got to cheer on and support other marchers. I feel like I got to be a part of it on some level.
This year, we didn’t even try. I couldn’t imagine that we’d been any more successful than we had been last year, and the photos my friends are posting on Facebook confirm that, indeed, this event is not right for Baguette. Instead, we made an almost last-minute decision to take her to the snow, of which there has been precious little in area mountains this year.
I decided to make a donation to an organization or two, and I figured that would be it.
But then another friend posted that she had gone to the Redondo Beach march. And I realized that, as always, there are more options than the ones right in front of me. The L.A. march isn’t right for us. But maybe there are smaller events that would work better for Baguette.
There’s a lot of 2018 left–but let’s see what 2019 brings.Red Line in motion–Women’s March 2017
Kimberly Rae Miller has written a thoughtful and touching account of her life as the child of loving, supportive parents who also struggled with hoarding. From the outside, her life in a working-class community on Long Island probably seemed typical to most of the people around her–because even as a young girl, Miller put tremendous effort into creating that impression to protect her family.
In fact, she lived in homes that were packed to the brim with papers, broken appliances, and more–homes in which the plumbing didn’t work, and repairs went unmade, and fresh food was an impossibility.
We’ve started reading chapter books to Baguette at bedtime. Our first was The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White. Neither Mr. Sandwich nor I had read that as children, and we’re continuing that with our next selection: Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater.
On its surface, the story is cute enough. A seasonally unemployed house painter unexpectedly takes delivery of a penguin, and hijinks ensue. There is a second penguin, and then little penguins, and more hijinks. Baguette is enjoying the story, and that’s really the point.
But as an adult, I can’t help but be struck by something. Mr. Popper does not think things through at all. He only has an income for half of the year, which means that his family has to eat beans all winter. Nevertheless, he goes into debt to buy a “chilling machine” for the penguins in the basement.
Mrs. Popper, meanwhile, doesn’t even get a personality. All she does is clean the house and talk about whether the house is clean. And they have two children, but darned if I can figure out why. Janie and Bill are barely present and don’t add to the plot or the humor.
So on a level that the writers don’t seem to acknowledge, this is the story of a woman who puts a lot of effort into making a home for her family, but has the misfortune to be married to a man who spent the entire winter’s bean money on extreme air conditioning.
Fine. It’s fine. But it’s the kind of book that’s probably charming to a child, and a source of some eye-rolling for an adult.
For more reviews by more readers, and to support the American Cancer Society, visit Cannonball Read 10.
So apparently I’m now selecting books without having any idea what they’re about.
First, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. This is a really good book. I’d heard great things about it. Apparently I’d never actually read a synopsis, because for reasons I can’t explain, I thought it was about a teenage boy.
Spoiler alert: It’s lovely and moving. Also, it is not about a teenage boy.
Second, Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg. I was expecting funny anecdotes about Ansari’s life, and there are some. But this is actually the funniest serious book about sociological trends that I’ve ever encountered. This book is based on a study and references others. It has substance.
I recommend both of these books. But I am surprised that, twice in a row, I read (well, in the case of Modern Romance, listened to) books of which I had no prior knowledge or understanding.
That’s my father’s saying. Mine is “It’s always something.”
Baguette’s IEP includes bus transportation between home and school. Because she is now able to attend the after-school program (this is a whole story of its own), she only rides the bus to school in the mornings; Mr. Sandwich picks her up in the afternoons.
At the beginning of the year, I called the Special Education department, which is where you’re supposed to call to let them know this.
Her bus comes at about 7:15 each morning, except for when it doesn’t–usually because there is a substitute bus driver, or because there is some sort of maintenance issue. Usually (but not always) we get a robocall about the latter.
Baguette, meanwhile, loves the riding the bus. She is ready ahead of time, can hear it 1/2 mile away (I am not exaggerating), and is almost frantic to get the front door to the house open when it pulls up.
Today, the bus did not arrive. We waited on the porch for almost 20 minutes. There was no robocall.
So I called the Area Bus Supervisor, who was not there, and left a voicemail. Then I called Dispatch, which required a lot of time on hold before I spoke to a person, and many more short times on hold while that person talked to other people before finally let me know that Baguette was not on the route sheet.
Which is weird, because she was on a route sheet YESTERDAY.
Then I got Baguette into the car and called Special Education, who confirmed that their records showed that she was to be picked up in the morning and said that her “profile is active,” but that they did not see any routing information.
And then I called the Area Bus Supervisor again, and actually got a person. She remembered talking to me earlier in the year (when I was trying to get Baguette’s pickup time changed because I refused to cut into her inadequate sleep even more by waking her up before 6:00 a.m.), confirmed a.m.-only pickup, and said that the only thing she could think of was that sometimes “when you make some changes, the system goes ahead and bumps kids off of routes when it’s not supposed to.”
You know what? That’s not a system.
But she did email the person in charge of routing and get them to reinstate Baguette’s transportation starting tomorrow, and she called me to let me know it was fixed.
So that’s good. But to get it fixed, I had to make multiple phone calls to multiple offices for a total of 45 minutes, be late to work, and find breakfast out in the world (thanks, McDonalds!) because I hadn’t been able to eat at home the way I usually do.
This is going to happen again, because this is how it “works.” Nothing’s ever easy, and it’s always something.
