The big cut tomorrow

Actually, I think that Jennifer will make the team. Not only does she have some natural talent as an athlete, but there are 15 slots. About 18 girls, give or take, turned out - and some just barely.

So I'm hoping for the best, and that she gets on, and I won't have to have Kleenex available at 4:40 pm.

But I think this is a good wake up call for J. Not everything in life is fair. Sometimes someone's opinion of you will influence things, like it or not. And sometimes you get cut, whether it be baskeball, dodgeball or job interviews.

It's never easy for a parent to watch from the sidelines however.

Snow play days appear to be over

We woke up to snow today, as did most of Western Washington.

Before, this would have meant brewing up some hot chocolate, finding some friends in the neighborhood and playing in the snow.

Today, at 14, it means getting up, eating breakfast, and then demurring on the snow fun. J. decided to go back to bed for an hour, told me to wake her up when it was time to go to school.

I guess now that she's a teenager, sleep trumps snow.

Shooting hoops in the snow

Yep, that's what J. was doing today, as the big fat flakes fell around her.

Tryouts are on Monday, and as I've said before, this is the first time she's faced a team where you just didn't get on by showing up.

She also spotted the coach at a basketball game (high school) we attended Friday night. After awhile I was wondering where she was, and lo' across the gym was J. and her BF smoozing with the coach and the coaches dad.

Kiss up, I said after the game ended.

You bet, she responded.

Mom, I may not make the cut

In eight grade, it isn't "you show up, you play" anymore. To get the kids used to high school, eighth grade teams are done by the show up, play before the coaches and cut or pick method.

So it begins. She'll be trying out formally for the basketball team on Monday, and I'm worried that if she doesn't make it, what will I say.

Better have the hankies ready.

Other colleges start to favor the middle class

I notice that Dartmouth has also decided to give the middle class a break, following Harvard and Yale.

Questions that Make My Head Explode for $800, Alec

Mom, what does that mean?

This question sort of took me off guard, as a. we were watching TV at home, not an R movie in the theaters, and b. as I recall, it was a comedy. PG-13 to boot.

Anyway, the question : What is the s-word, rhymes with lobotomy?

In the few heartbeats it took me to answer that, a few options came to mind.

A. pretend my cell is buzzing
B. pretend I didn't hear her
C. tell her to go ask her dad (really not an option)
D. let her find out from her friends by Googling the word.

However, I flashed on the boys that ran into the bathroom with her cell phone last week and decided against option "d." I didn't want those boys telling me daughter anything. Or discussing this with her girlfriends.

So, with deep breath, in my calmest voice, which I was hoping wouldn't squeak, I told her the basics. Her eyes grew big, and then she just dropped it. No follow up questions, thank god. I guess her reporter DNA doesn't run as deep as I thought.

I guess I should have prepped for this, given that I have taken her to "R" movies, where yes there is violence (which -given a choice between violence or sex- violence bothers me the most) which I why, sorry Viggo, we turned off "Eastern Promises." as well as "History of Violence."

But we did see "Borat," tho I did notice I was the only one with a child in there under 18. I probably got the hairy eyeball from the adults behind me. I thought it was hilarious. So did she.

I've decided there are "Rs" and there are "Rs." The violent ones I'm likely to pass on and forbid J. from seeing, unless its essential to the story (Letters from Iwo Jima falls in this category).

Hmm, may make an exception for Sweeny Todd and No Country for Old Men, given it's Oscar season and all.

On sex, Gary is stricter in movie-land than I am with J. But that's okay, like My Space, it never hurts to be to curb the bit at this age.

Still, sometimes you end up defining words you'd rather not.

Yeah, He was Named After the Dog

Traveling up to Everett today, my daughter was fiddling with the radio (bored with 106.9),and came to 97.3, where they were doing anti-war songs of 1964. Some of those I hadn't heard in awhile.

Anyway, a Paul Anka song came up.

Paul who? she asked.

Paul Anka, says I.

Oh, that's the name of the dog on Gilmore Girls , she said.