Emails from a 10-year-old

Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:03:20
Subject: Re: book
From: Madison Ross
To: Debra Ross

Dear Deb

I can't take time to come down but my book is coming along so great

-Madison

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Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:22:42
Subject: Re: book
From: Debra Ross
To: Madison Ross

Dear DEB?!!?!?!

Where's this coming from?


Love,

MOM

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Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:24:04
Subject: Re: book
From: Madison Ross
To: Debra Ross

um... is this not your name?

Happy Lightbulb Day

Our Lightbulb Day pinata hasn't been decorated yet, but at least this easiest-of-all-pinatas-to-make is ready to be covered with yellow crepe paper and stuffed with leftover Halloween candy. We're expecting friends at 6:30 for dinner and our annual celebration of reason, freedom, and productivity. I've got the games and stories and poems all planned, and technologically-appropriate gifts are wrapped and under the tree. It's going to be a good one.

Celebrate with us, at least in spirit!

How about some photos?

Chopped down a tree (notice no snow)...


Decorated it...


Sang at Barnes & Noble for Chorus concert...



And posed for me.

A bad milestone

I am feeling really bad about an incident last night. For the very first time, and, damn it, the only time, I called one of my children a bad name.

Last night, Madison snarled and snotted up at Ella, without provocation, and so very badly that before I could stop myself, I angrily called her a "little snot."

I don't do this. It's not just that I have a principle against calling people names; I don't do it.

And yet, there it is. Oy. I think what was going through my mind was something like, "Shock her. Make sure she understands and remembers that she can't talk this way."

I calmly apologized for it right away. But still.

My feeling bad about this doesn't make up for it. But I can't go overboard at making up for it, because then it will elevate the incident to an importance I hope it doesn't already have in her eyes.

But as soon as she gets home from this morning's science class, I'm going to apologize again. Casually. I do want to show that when we do something wrong to another person, we do our best to make sure that that person knows that we understand it and won't do it again. I want her not to think of her mother as a person who may call her a name. Ugh. Just typing that makes my insides twist.

Madison Ross ROCKS!

Now, of course all of YOU already knew that Madison Ross rocks. At least, you know that WE at least think that Madison Ross rocks.

And now a New York City literary agent thinks she does too. The agent had posted a challenge on her blog to see if any brave soul wanted to record "The Twelve Tips on Queries," to be sung to the "Twelve Days of Christmas." Madison DID! She recorded it, edited it, and sent it to Janet Reid.

Here is her note to Madison:

Dear Miss Ross,
You totally rock.

I'm sure I can scare up an author or two.

I'll be in touch.
Meanwhile, don't forget me when you want to get your writing career started.

We're about to blast off on this podcast series, folks! See you on the other side of the moon!

Update: If you check out the comments on Janet Reid's post, you'll see that one of them says: "She's home schooled? Why am I not surprised. It is comforting to know home schoolers will one day rule the world."

It IS friction, after all

Says David, of Madison, on a cold, snowy morning:

"You would almost think that the motion of her jaw would keep her warm."

It's good

Madison was beaming ecstatically after her first rehearsal tonight for Schoolhouse Rock. She has about four lines, and a solo in one of the songs.

I was impressed with the crew and the show in general. Very positive and nurturing, concerned with the quality of the show while mindful to keep it fun for the kids.

Sometimes, as a parent, you get a sense that an experience your child is having is particularly good for her, and you're happy with yourself for having figured out to put her right where she needs to be. This is one of those times.

Ella enjoyed her time with David, too. She'll have a lot of nice Daddy-and-Ella time for a while.

Last night was Ella's first Messiah

The Bach Children's Chorus was in the Rochester Chamber Orchestra's annual production of Handel's Messiah last night. It was Ella's first one. It would have been Madison's third one except she had a doozy of a stomach virus last year. It started at 7pm and got out at 9:30 (The Messiah is very long.) The kids were only in 4 numbers (I think) but they had to be on stage the whole time.

Two years ago, some of the BCC kids (NOT Madison) started playing finger games on stage while they weren't singing. It was visible from the audience. I was mortified, and I'm sure the offender's parents were even more mortified. And then this year, instead of an afternoon performance, it was a night performance. Ella has never made it through the Messiah before, and THIS time she was singing in it. So to try to ensure that the girls were okay and didn't totally wilt on stage, I fed them Coke and chocolate chip cookies before they went on. Whether it was psychological or the effect of the sugar and caffeine, they did fine.

It was a good thing I was sitting where I couldn't see their faces, though. (M was behind the adults and E was on the risers on stage right and when they were sitting and waiting, I couldn't see her face.) This is because I would have not been listening to the music; instead I would have been analyzing their faces to make sure that they were still in the land of the conscious. As it was, I was able to enjoy the music, and next year, if they're in it again, I think I'll just simply be able to relax.

Rochesterians ovate anything, but this performance did merit it this time. So I felt no ambivalence at all about standing up with the rest of the audience.

Only two more performances to go for the season: Ella has a dance recital on Friday evening and they both have one more BCC concert.

Now my main problem is that I have to figure out Christmas presents. Sigh.

It's official: I'm a theater mom

Schoolhouse Rock will now consume our lives for the next two months. The show is structured with a couple of leads--played by older teens--and then lots of opportunities for the rest of the cast to have lines and solos here and there. I think it will be a really good experience for Madison. Rehearsals Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. And one of her best friends is in it, too, so that makes it extra-nice and a good opportunity for carpooling.

I think that, ironically, a high proportion of Schoolhouse Rock performers are homeschoolers.

Get ready, folks, you know you remember this:

When Reginald was home with flu, uh-huh-huh,
The doctor knew just what to do-hoo.
He cured the infection
With one small injection
While Reginald uttered some interjections..

Hey! That smarts!
Ouch! That hurts!
Yow! That's not fair givin' a guy a shot down there!

Interjections (Hey!) show excitement (Yow!) or emotion (Ouch!).
They're generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point,
Or by a comma when the feeling's not as strong.

Here it is on YouTube. What's not to love?

Thinking seriously of temporarily changing our homeschool name to SCHOOLHOUSE ROSS. :-)

Auditions for "Schoolhouse Rock"

Madison is auditioning tonight for a theatrical production of Schoolhouse Rock, in which the actors are kids age 10-16. I don't know much about the script, but it features all of the great songs we remember and love. Her audition song is "I'm Just a Bill" (though she could have chosen "The Preamble" or "Interjections").

She's concerned because she has no natural dancing talent. (Not that I emphasize it to her, but she says it, and she's right. She is quite the thudder. Grace is not her strong suit.) But she's always been able to get by on brains when it comes to choreography; that is, she's a quick learner, she's good at remembering steps when they're taught to her. And in an audition, that serves her well.

Funny thing is, she's quite blasé about the whole audition, which makes me happy. She's not nervous. She really has perspective on the affair. I asked her about it this morning, why she is so cool about it. She answered that she knows she can sing, and do many things well, so even if she doesn't get in, she's okay with that. She's auditioned before for small things, so she knows what it's like. And, she's only going for the chorus, not for any of the main speaking parts. It's all probably fun, but not a big deal, she does a lot.

Perfect attitude, and she didn't even have to hear it from me! Hope she does well tonight, though. We'll know by Saturday.

Update: The Fates decided that since I thought I was so freakin' smart about my own kid, they'd send Madison into a panic attack about the audition not 10 minutes after I hit the "publish post" button.