Practicing: My second attempt at painting Daniel's face like Darth Maul's. This time I'm trying out the paint that comes with the Klutz book of face painting. You have to mix a little water into the dry paint first, and I'm not happy with the effect. My first try went a lot better because the cream face paint I used then was easier to apply.

Link of the Day: "raw fish and warm rice" in Tamar's wonderfully written journal, visions and revisions. Do you like sushi? Even if you don't, you'll find yourself craving it after this sensual entry. Tamar is an old online friend. We "met" on a book group more than five years ago and struck up an off-list conversation that went on until I became pregnant with the twins and essentially dropped out of the online world for awhile. When I discovered Tamar had started a journal of her own this summer, I was delighted to have the chance to renew our friendship...and to find another wonderful journal to add to my bookmarks. Tamar writes with passion and eloquence about her life as a mother of a young son and about her career as a screenwriter. Good stuff.

The Pen is Mightier

Daniel's homework assignments lately have been less voluminous than they were last month. Perhaps some of the parents complained, or perhaps it's just that the school year has lost its chromey, new-car shine for the teacher. October is pretty early to be suffering from teacher burn-out, however.

Whatever the reason, these days he usually only has a page or two to do in one of his workbooks each night, along with the daily five to ten sentences to write in his journal. Unless his teacher assigns a particular topic, he can write about whatever he chooses. His favorite topics lately have been his swimming lessons and, of course, Halloween with all its attendant preparations and celebrations.

Recently, however, Daniel discovered the usefulness of writing as a means of venting frustration. Stephen was bothering Daniel while he was trying to work, so I suggested he write about what was upsetting him.

With great feeling, pencil pressed hard against the lined note-book paper, Daniel wrote:

Tonight when I was working on my homework, Stephen was being loud. He was pressing the buttons on his tow truck. It was very annoying. Now Stephen is making noise with tinker toys. My mom told him to stop. Then he went away.

After he wrote it, Daniel walked around the house reading it to anyone he could find, to Stephen's great annoyance.

The boys were watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown this evening before dinner. When Sally dressed up as a ghost, Daniel commented with honest amazement, "I didn't know girls could be ghosts."

Now, on occasion (and always out of my hearing), my mother-in-law has told Daniel that girls shouldn't be firemen or policemen, and I've had to explain to him several times that Babci has many old-fashioned, incorrect ideas. I'm always on the lookout for signs that he has absorbed her way of thinking, so I asked him what he meant by his statement about Sally.

He elaborated, "Well, I didn't think that girls could be scary."

I had to laugh. "Trust me, Dans, girls can be scary. If you don't believe me, just ask Daddy."

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