Parenting Tip #1

If your toddler becomes attached to an item, make sure you have at least two of them. (10 would be better)

It sounds silly. Or at least if you don't have a kid, it sounds pretty silly. However, toddlers can't communicate very effectively yet and this is the age where they develop preferences. It's not a happy combination.

Big deal, I remember myself thinking before I was parent. How hard can it be?

plenty.

Everything is incalculably harder with a crying/whining/screaming toddler. You can't even walk away for minute! They've learned to walk. They follow now. *frowny face*

So, imagine your twisty red-faced screaming bundle of love refusing to cooperate unless he or she has item X. Trust me, in that situation, with a surprisingly strong and viciously flailing toddler, you look for item X. You look under couches, in cars, beneath furniture, and under beds despite being dressed for work in a skirt and knowing your ass is up in the air as you check under the bed one more time. Trust me on this, you look for it.

Bad news: item X could be anywhere including the trash, day care, or stolen by closet gnomes.

Good news: most things toddlers like are cheap. They really like brightly colored plastic. So if they have something that they really love and pitch tantrums over, do yourself a favor and get more than one.

The Emperor of Nihon-Jan by John Flanagan

I've mentioned Matt before. He's one of my freshmen and he is unbelievably stoked that I'm reading his favorite series. As I get closer and closer to the end of the extant series, he and I have had a series of discussions about what I think of it all. Surprisingly, these are pretty mature and critical discussions for a 14 year old.

Last friday was a kind of reward day for the kids and Matt took the opportunity to corner me at lunch to discuss what I thought of the series so far. Here's the highlights.

• I think this book, book 10, was originally envisioned as the end of the series (true apparently according to Matt)
• This book and book 7 (Erik's Ransom) both are really, I mean really, slow starting. They pick up and are otherwise two of the strongest books in the series, but that first 50 pages are a doozy. Matt suggested that it could be because those two books introduce new lands and cultures. I agree.
• Flanagan does a good job with character development.
• The next two books aren't as good apparently. (thanks Matt :-P )
• I should totally read the associated Brotherband series.

For a hopeless fanboy, he did a pretty good job. Clearly he's waiting, rather impatiently, for me to finish off the last two books so that we can have "the long conversation" about them.

If I sound like I'm complaining, I'm really not. This is why I became a teacher. It's really encouraging to see a kid enthusiastic about literature.

As a series ender, I can't really ask for an author to do a better job than this book. All the plot and character threads tie up pretty neatly and in a satisfying way. Horace finally gets his father figure and so, since the series starts off with five orphans, that means that they've all found parental figures. As young adults they are both happy and competent. Flanagan really did a good job. I'm not sure I want to acknowledge the existence of the next two books.

*frowny face*

But if I don't read them, Matt will pester me. *sigh*

Green and Yellow Curry

I've been making a lot of curries lately, but somehow ran into a recipe rut with them. I was following the same pattern a little too consistently. Bittman has, in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, a recipe of brussels sprouts braised in coconut milk. In this recipe, I took that basic idea and modified it into a full main dish by adding protein and more vegetables. The results were lighter tasting than my usual curries and worthy of overindulgence

1 Tbs peanut oil
1 onion, chopped
1 pound turkey or chicken breast, chopped into small bite sized pieces
2 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced in half through the stem
2 zucchini, scrubbed and diced
2 Tbs curry powder
1 15 oz can chickpeas
1 15 oz can coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste

saute the onion in the oil over medium heat. When the onion begins to soften, add the turkey/chicken stirring occasionally until the meat is browned all over.

Add the Brussels sprouts. Stir Occasionally. It's ok if the brussels sprouts get brown in a few spots. The idea is that they need a head start cooking. Let them sizzle for 10 minutes. Add curry powder, zucchini, and chickpeas. Stir until the curry powder is fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Add coconut milk and enough water to almost cover. Add salt.

Turn down the heat until the contents bubble gently. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve over rice.

20 minutes a day

At the risk of sounding like a motivational speaker, it's amazing what can be accomplished in twenty minutes a day.

Starting up the positive habits has been only limitedly successful. Most of the  limits, though, are caused by external forces. (School got crazy. . . always does sooner or later.) One thing I've really gotten into place is the 20 minutes, or so, of time in the yard. I really enjoy working in the yard. Tending to growing things is very satisfying.

I have a little herb garden plot in front of my bay window. (It used to be the bird garden, but I had too many squirrels and rats jumping from the roof onto the feeders. So, now it's an herb garden.) Too late in the last season I planted two types of rosemary, oregano, and a curry plant. I didn't really expect more than one of them to make it through the winter. We had really mild winter though and they all made it!

I already had some ornamental alliums, crocuses, and chrysanthemums  in the same plot which I will probably eventually move. I spent about a half an hour this afternoon pulling out weeds. Mostly dandelions, violets, and cat briar. And even though it's not a lot of time, I nearly cleared the whole plot. I also discovered some wild ferns that I plan on encouraging.

Earlier in the week I started weeding the boxes. All they'll need is a couple bags of compost and some fertilizer. I plan to finish them up this weekend and plant in some early spinach and calendula. I'll also plant out the last of the radish and lettuce seeds from last year and see what comes up.

Can I just say, at this juncture, that as pretty as violets are right now with their purple blooms, they are satan spawn. The things just won't die, and they get everywhere.

Halt's Peril by John Flanagan

This is the 9th book in the series and the second in another two book cycle. It always happens with these big series. The end is in sight so I start reading them faster. It's not precisely a rush. I just want to see how it ends.

Will continues to grow and develop. Halt continues to age. As mentioned, this book really is the conclusion to the plot line introduced in the 8th, The Kings of Clonmel. Halt's character continues to really develop which allows for his relationship with Will to develop as well. In previous books, Halt is a little more two dimensional. He's a sort of gruff mentor archetype. Now, however, he has weaknesses and failings. He betrays emotion and the relationship between he and Will feels deeper and more paternal.

One of Flanagan's more creepy villains, Tennyson, comes back as the Outsider cult continues to be a problem.

All in all, a solid satisfying read with a touching ending.

And On the Eighth Day by Ellery Queen

When my dad visits, sometimes he leaves books behind. He's been in an Ellery Queen kick. (Also a Nero Wolf kick, something about oddball detectives I guess) Most of my experience with Ellery Queen is a T.V. adaptation made in the eighties. There are a lot of turtle necks. Most notably, there are these PSA moments when Ellery turns to the camera and explains the solution to the audience.

I had no idea it was set in WWII era and just after.

However, that's not really what I want to talk about.

This is a seriously strange novel. It's about 26 books into the series and I think I started reading them in a seriously strange place. Ellery, after a bad stint writing film scripts for the war effort, takes a wrong turn in the desert and finds an odd little reclusive religious community living out a pre-biblical existence. This is a perfect crimeless religious community here. Of course, there is a murder. Otherwise what is the point of having Ellery Queen there.

So yeah. Not so much turtlenecks. Very much not what I expected walking in. Of course, on further consideration, based on the time period, those weird little religious communities were actually a bit more common than they are today. We tend to think in terms of creepy cults with homicidal suicide pacts these days but America was founded by religious nuts and there used to be a lot of these little religious communities dotted about trying to regains some sort of lost eden. Many were actually successful in the short term and if they weren't exactly harmless, they were at least relatively benign. So, perhaps the subject matter is a little more understandable.

Still seriously weird though.

The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan

Having finally gotten back into the groove with the series, I went ahead and picked up the next book which I slammed through in about a day. The Kings of Clonmel picks up after the events of the sixth book with Will being a full Ranger. As I noted in the last review of the series, the rangers have been spending a lot of time outside of the kingdom. The head of the rangers decides that they, therefore, need a special task group who specializes in that sort of thing. So Will gives up his fief (which is a big deal) and they almost immediately are packed off to Clonmel.

As it turns out, Halt has relatives in Clonmel. Ominous, yes? I think I'll leave that hanging there.

Horace of course goes with them. They defeat a strangely powerful religious cult. Everyone performs admirably, yay the day is saved. Satisfying quick read.

In other news, I have got to stop falling asleep before blogging. It's 3 AM.