Cordelia Makes an Example Out of Levi

Cordelia, Emma, and I are downstairs while Cody is jacking his way through a piano/guitar lesson. We're sitting on the couch talking and Cora, who has been very silly and weird, suddenly gets very serious.

CML: Daddy, can I tell you something?

JVL: Sure, honey.

CML: Something happened at school today.

JVL [shudders, wondering how bad this is going to be]: Okay. Tell me about it.

CML: Well, do you know Levi?

JVL [nods vaguely, half-remembering some 4-year-old kid from their class]

CML: Well, he was mean to Emma. He punched her and kicked her and wrestled her.

Here, Emma perks up and says, indignantly, "He was mean to me!"

JVL: So what did you do? Did a teacher see him being mean?

CML [with the most serious, stone-face she's ever made]: No. None of the teachers saw. So I had to teach him a lesson.

JVL [slowly]: What . . . kind of lesson?

CML: I had to teach him a lesson. So I punched him. And kicked him. And wrestled him. I had to do it, dad.

JVL [here, I'm trying desperately not to laugh]: Did any of the teacher see you doing this him.

CML [smiles]: No. I made sure they didn't see me teach him a lesson. And then, I went and told them what he did to Emma. And he got in trouble.

Holy. Shit.

Brother of the Year

This is an older item, from maybe a month ago.

Cordelia has her first mini-crush and it is on, of all people, Luke Skywalker. She talks about him sometimes and she and Emma have some imaginary game with him. She even drew a picture of him and taped it to the wall next to her bed, like her own personal Teen Beat poster.

So a few weeks ago we're downstairs on a school morning and everyone is off doing whatever while I get breakfast together. And Cody, who is in the dining room, calls out, "Cordelia, where are you? I have something for you. I made a picture for you!"

And I can just hear in his voice that he's about to be a jackass. So I say, "Cody, if what you're about to do is bullying of creating conflict, shut it down now."

Confirming my suspicions, he replies, "Fine."

After I drop them off from school, I go into the dining room and find the picture he drew for her sitting on his desk:

That is, in case you can't tell, Luke Skywalker. And he is being shot by, in case you can't tell, a Death Star. And just in case Cordelia couldn't figure it all out, there's an arrow and Luke is capital-D Dead in cursive and with an exclamation mark.

I want to get this laminated and save it forever.

Daddy's Home!

For the past 11 days, JVL has braved the snows and clown shows of New Hampshire, covering the primary for the Standard. We managed pretty well, all things considered, but everyone was SO HAPPY when the door opened last night. I wish I had thought to get video, but you would only have heard shrieking, anyway. :) Not only Daddy, but new stuffies! (Thanks a lot, JVL… : )

 (Yes, I totally forgot about the ashes on my head.)

Her Mother's AND Father's Daughter

Cordelia has been a reading machine this year, but the past few months in particular. She averages a book a day, and probably about 500 pages a week. Not picture books, mind you, but long chapter books. Mostly about fairies, but she'll read anything.

A couple weeks ago, JVL came down from tucking them in and said: "She's…you. It's creepy. She was reading intently. I started talking to her. I had a five-minute-long conversation with her as I was putting clothes away. Finally I realized she wasn't responding. I looked over and said, 'Red, did you hear what I said?' She kept reading. I said, 'RED?' She finally looked up, reluctantly, and said, 'Are you talking to me? I'm reading.'"

Today after school, we chatted about her day. She said, "I didn't really feel like talking to anyone today. So I was just very quiet." I told her I totally get that—some days we just feel introverted and like we need to keep to ourselves. And that it could be hard when you have to be around a lot of people all day, and lots of distractions. She replied, "Well, everyone is pretty loud and it's a busy classroom but I just tune everyone out and I pretend I am working at my own special desk in my own special room and then I just stop hearing everyone else. I basically just ignore them and I just do my own thing."



Love that kid so hard.