Warm regards,
FBA Team

Why are we going to bed when it’s still light outside? asked Mrs. G’s children when she was tucking them in. The sun is still shining and kids are still playing outside! Mrs. G. would shrug her shoulders and show them her watch which she had set forward an hour ahead and say I don’t know what to tell you, but look it’s 8:00. It says so right here. Both of her children looked skeptical as they crawled under their blankets, so Mrs. G. avoided direct eye contact and kissed them goodnight. Then she went upstairs and made herself a gin and tonic.

These are GIRL pajamas!!!! screamed Mrs. G’s four-year-old son when she handed them to him to put on. Maybe in this country, countered Mrs. G. in an effort to keep the hand-me-down train rolling, but in European countries, pink is considered a powerful and lucky color for everyone. German kings wore pink; it was the color of royalty. Are you sure? Mrs. G’s son asked. Absolutely! I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Now hop into these bad boys, brush your teeth and let’s get you to bed.

BUT IT’S NOT EVEN DARK OUTSIDE!!

I know what I’m talking about here, and you will not stand out. Every kid at art camp will totally have lentil soup in a Nancy’s yogurt container for lunch. Sandwiches are out. Bean soup is in. Trust me.

I promise this is not the bad stuff. This is the good stuff. It tastes exactly like fresh oranges. Just like an orange Popsicle. No, I swear, just like orange sorbet.

Sweetie, your glasses were super expensive, so I bought this pretty little chain for you to hook onto them, so you won’t accidentally lose them. Look at the pretty beads. All the elderly librarians kids are wearing them now. Oh, honey, look at me. You look fabulous. No, they certainly do not look weird. Take my word for it. You’ll be seeing these on more people in no time. You’re a trendsetter!
 

Reader, what lies have you told your children?

I have always preferred instant regret.

Kerry had a difficult student who had gotten into trouble many times before. She had a rap sheet quite long and had previously irritated many adults before. This girl came with a reputation and lived up to it. It seems that many people, in dealing with her, warned her about where she was headed. It’s what we do. We try, sometimes to no avail, to let students know what’s in store for them if they don’t straighten up and fly right. It’s a bad, bad habit and can go awry.

When Kerry was at her wit’s end she said, “You know, if you keep acting this way you’re going to end up at the alternative school!”

My friend didn’t expect the reply she got.

“I know how to get there. Everyone has always told me how to get there! What I want to know if how to get to that college I’ve seen on the tv. Can you tell me what I need to do to get there?”

Damn. Those lessons we learn as the adults in schools are sometimes really hard to learn.

And I had someone say “When I am driving, I always see you walking to work in the morning.”

I said, “That’s funny. I never see you.”

They said “I think it is because you are always looking at plants.”

Probably true.

I tend to think of plants as people and grieve when they die. Even killing weeds is hard for me. The plants so obviously want to live – sometimes in the most impossible places, but they give it their all! That’s my excuse for the way my yard looks, anyway.

Here are some friends I met in Washington, D.C. at the Smithsonian Institution: