Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

The coolest thing about this week was watching two of my children perform–my son in a sport/hip hop dance number at the Jr. High’s dance concert and my youngest daughter in a patriotic concert on Veteran’s Day. My older two were more stressed this week than anything, and my youngest had to complete and turn in her science fair project by Friday, so that balanced out the good; I also spent Wednesday and Friday mornings at the school, helping (respectively) with ‘Battle of the Books’ and the school’s fundraiser (our attendance secretary was out, and it took pretty much three PTA volunteers to adequately take her place). Today my older girlies and I went shopping at Seagull Book and then went to see my niece (their cousin, of course) in her high school production of ‘Oklahoma!’. You know, I never loved that musical, but boy howdy, as an adult woman in the 21st century I found that I actively dislike it. I could write pages and pages of scathing literary criticism about that thing, and while the kids were great, I would have vastly preferred to enjoy their talents in a different show.

On the positive side, I did finish listening to Meg Eden Kuyatt’s Good Different–another ‘Battle of the Books’ title for this year–and yowsers, what a book. This verse novel about a girl learning about and growing to appreciate her neurodivergence had ALL THE FEELS, and while I was pretty annoyed with the mother for most of the book, I was much more understanding by the end. (I could still cheerfully slap–or sue–the principal, though.) Selah is an inspiration to every kid who feels different, and as a mother of more than one not-exactly-neurotypical children, I hope her story helps its readers better understand those with a different perspective than theirs.

Everyone really ought to read this book.