5:45am the call came: school delay. Ok, we can manage this. Annoying, and a concerted shuffle to re-schedule and re-adjust our calendars, but we’ve become pro’s at handling this — the dual-career couple with school aged kids — we’ve got this down. Within 5 minutes we had re-planned our mornings to have 2-hour-delay under control. We will rock this!

Until…

7:45am the dreaded 2nd call came: actually, school cancelled. Not ok. We freak out, panic, and the 2 adults’ blood pressure instantly blows through the roof, while the 3 kids jump for joy in celebration. Braydon had important business meetings lined up for today. I had a day of classes and meetings on campus. What’s a dual-career couple with school aged kids to do? After 10 years, we are still flailing about, drowning in the absurdity of a work world that was — way back in the day — structured around a stay-at-home-wife. It is 2015. Too bad for us, the J-Ms have no stay-at-home-wife. We are on our own. And it is sink or swim, baby!

It was determined: I would take one for the team today. I couldn’t cancel classes, but I could take the bambinos with me. On one other other day of desperation, I had done this once before. I could do it again. It was declared: this is not just a snow day, it is BRING YOUR KIDS TO WORK DAY (granted, just for us, but still…)

And so it went. I teach two classes this semester — both on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The first is Introduction to Sociology — a 240 students class in Packard 101. Off we went~

The topic was “The Sociology of Lehigh,” and C. Wright Mills’ classical sociological conception of “private troubles vs. public issues.” I was using the subject of “why students choose Lehigh” to get students to think through life trajectories, and to compare and contrast seeing the world sociologically vs. non-sociologically. Kyle took notes in that class. Here’s the first page from his notebook. I was impressed! I wonder how many students’ notes from today were this good?!?

Every Tuesday I have a Team Meeting with my five Intro to Soc TAs. Today, because I had the bambinos with me, I sprung for a working lunch at the Faculty Dining Room for all of us. (This is a real treat for students — especially grad students whose eating habits leave a lot to be desired — and, as loyal readers know, this is also a real treat for the bambinos — the Faculty Dining Room is their favorite place on campus to eat.) So, class ended, and off we went.

My TAs got a big kick out of it when Meera went up to the buffet for her lunch, and came excitedly skipping back to the table with this:

Upon my insistence, she saved it for dessert. The TAs got another big kick out of it when she was about to dig in and — looking at her dessert admiringly — pronounced enthusiastically to the whole table, “This is gorgeous!”

After lunch it was straight to to my next class. That one is Race and Ethnicity with 35 students. Owen and Meera couldn’t sustain their attention to sit through that one, so they played in the lounge of the building, right outside the classroom. But Kyle was fully engaged in the class the entire time. We were discussing “what is race?” and there was a lively, contentious discussion full of debate and some pretty high-level thinking. Kyle joined right in, even raising his hand (and making a very good contribution to the conversation) at one point.

It was exhausting for this mama. And it was way-out-of-the-norm for Lehigh (you almost never see kids on campus here, let alone at classes). But it was good, I think, for all involved.

I wouldn’t want to do it very often. But all is well that ends well. And, in the end, it was all pretty well.

(And tonight, I’m treating myself to an extra glass of wine!)

P.S. If you are a current student reading this…. thanks for your cooperation and understanding today! 😉  Love, Prof J

We are coming off a 4-day weekend here in Never-a-Dull-Moment-Land — the bambinos had no school Friday or Monday (President’s Day weekend). And we are knee-deep in our annual February Funk. This year, layered on top of our usual February-funkishness, is the more-than-usual ice-and-snow, and — double whammy! — a significant sports injury on the part of Kyle (fractured knee cap; leg brace; 3x/week physical therapy for 6-8 weeks; immobilized 10-year-old). We are facing what could easily morph into our most funkish February yet if we’re not careful. So, we’re trying very hard to be proactive.

Often people have told me that our family “just needs to watch Master Chef Junior!” But we hadn’t done it. So, this weekend we took the plunge and watched the first episode of the first season. It was like crack for the J-Ms — instant addiction! For all five of us! One hit and we were done!

We watched the entire first season over the course of our long weekend. And, as a result, one of the five of us — Owen — has become immensely inspired.

In one of the episodes of Season 1, the winning kid — Alexander — makes sliders. Owen had never had sliders before and this was like a whole new world opening up to him. He was absolutely dead-set upon the idea of creating his own version of sliders. Rather than make them “super fancy” (his words), he wanted to make them “McDonalds-esque” (his words). His concept was McDonalds-inspired “Classic American Sliders” (his title), but with super high-quality ingredients. I actually thought this was a pretty cool, novel, confident food concept. Sort of an ‘in-your-face’ to the gourmand-haute-couture foodie world. I like it! I like it! I could roll with that. So, this afternoon we went grocery shopping for the ingredients. Almost everything was top notch and organic (except for the King’s Hawaiian rolls), and he wanted to serve his sliders with only mayo and ketchup as condiments.

The result was unbelievably outlandishly good!

I’m not going to complain. I got off easy this year. (I am not ashamed to admit it: while I love the philosophy behind the hand-made-valentine, in all practicality, I am all for the store-bought type.) I mean, yes, Meera had to prepare 50 Valentines (50!). But, she did not have to write each individual receiving kid’s name on each one; only her own name as the giver. This is nothing — nothing! — compared to what we’ve done before… For example, the year we did this: [click here for link].

As for the boys… they have become real clever in their old age. For the first time ever they came up with the bright idea to do one fell swoop of V-Day giving — one round of valentines signed from “Kyle & Owen.” They only had to prepare 35 of those suckers. So, I got off real easy with that. Which can’t even be compared in the same league as, for example, the year we did this: [click here for link]. Holy heck! What was I thinking that February of 2010?!?!?!

Anyway, the point is this: I’m not going to complain. No sir, I am not. I will only remark very superficially on the following: His & Hers, or Boys vs. Girls, valentines.

Seriously people, this is a gendered holiday if ever there was one. And there is nothing more gendered than what goes on in my kitchen in the days leading up to V-Day.

I am a sociologist. So, this is especially hard for me to face, admit, and acknowledge. But, in all honesty, there is nothing like the lead-up to Valentines Day to highlight the fact that my children have somehow — despite all my best efforts — become the most gender-stereotypical-little-humans on the planet.

Meera could not wait to shop for those valentines. She carefully examined every option on the shelves of that God-forsaken aisle of the store. She chose with thought and deliberation. Then she could not wait to get home and write her name on every single one of those pink Brach’s-Conversation-Hearts little boxes. She truly savored every single minute of writing with that fine-point-Sharpie. And she lovingly placed each of those little boxes in a bag, and is now counting the hours until she can hand-deliver them to her friends. This is her kind of holiday.

Kyle and Owen, on the other hand. Do I even need to recount it? They were edgy and annoyed at the mere mention that we were to stop to buy valentines on the way home from school. They could not get in-and-out of that store fast enough. The first options they laid eyes on were just fine, and were quickly snatched off the shelf. Once at home, they put off the assembly of these things until the very last minute, then begged for assistance because it was “soooooo haaaaaaaard” to put the ‘Air Head’ through the paper slot. Their hand-writing was sloppy and all they seemed interested in was that the fine-point-Sharpies smelled “sooooooo goooooood!” (whaaat?!?), and as a result they proceeded to get almost as much permanent black marker ink along the bottoms of their noses and their upper lips as they managed to get into script on the actual valentines. Ok, this might be slight exaggeration. But the use of “slight” here is not an exaggeration. I will tell you this: I am 100% positive that when they are grown they will not look back on this little elementary-school-V-Day-annual-ritual fondly. In their opinion the whole entire thing is just a big waste of time, money, and energy. Why would you do this when you could be playing Marble Blast on the computer? Or, better yet, shooting hoops?

Heaven help them. I really hope — for their sakes and for their their future loved ones’ — that someday they are making the big bucks so that they can just buy their girlfriends or boyfriends indulgent gifts for valentines then call it a day.

Another snow day today. This is the 2nd year in a row that we’ve had a whole string of weeks in the dead of winter when we just cannot catch a break to get into a rhythm and groove. To state the obvious: this is absolutely so, so, so strenuous for a dual-career family!

Snow days around here mean not just being stuck at home, and having our calendars go haywire. In addition, snow days around here mean feeding Owen.

Owen can EAT. I’ve posted about this so many times over the years. I know it is random (because I haven’t been posting consistently), but for whatever reason I just feel compelled to chronicle this. Someday, when I’m old and gray, I know I’ll look back fondly on these days. But right now, these days feel like a LOT OF WORK.

Here’s what I posted to Facebook at about 10am this morning–

Another “snow” day. (Actually, Ice Day.) No school for Owen = a day of food production for me. Breakfast is finally complete. He had 6 fried eggs and 1/2 gallon of orange juice. For reals people. For reals. He is 10 years old, and that is half a dozen eggs. There is no rest for the weary.

And then, a little while later–

UPDATE: It is 11:20am. Owen just asked, “When are we going to eat lunch?”

I told him we’d eat lunch soon, but at about 11:45am I found him foraging in the kitchen pantry. He said he was “sooooo hungry!” I said he could have a banana. Which was gone in a nanosecond. So I let him eat a Nutrigrain cereal bar. Then some cashews.

Shortly after that, it was lunchtime. We made “baby pizzas” (english muffin pizzas). The bambinos have always loved these. If you aren’t making these, you should try them–  english muffins (I use Bay’s brand multi-grain english muffins; they are the BEST!), tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, and whatever you want on top (today we did some plain cheese, and some with turkey-pepperoni), bake at 350 until melted and bubbly.

Braydon, Kyle, Meera, and I each ate two of these. Owen ate 4.

Luckily, I had a helper today. Meera made a fruit plate with apples and blueberries…  Owen ate at least 2/3 of this little platter (which had on it 3 apples and a pint of blueberries).

Don’t let the photo below fool you. The honest truth is that the bambinos spent much of the day lodged on the couch watching a shameful number of Netflix videos (while I frantically tried to stay above the fray with work at my desk). But there were periods of loveliness when they made me feel like I wasn’t the worst mother on the planet. Moments like this one:

Later in the afternoon they had a snack. Ginger cookies (thank you for sending those MorMor!), and milk. Kyle and Meera had 3 cookies each, and a glass each of 1% milk. Owen had 6 cookies and a large glass of whole milk. Like I said, this boy can put it away.

Dinner was a highly unusual one for us. I actually roasted a chicken (something I haven’t done in at least 3 years). Ina Garten has the best roasted chicken recipe in the original Barefoot Contessa cookbook (my favorite cookbook on the planet) — it is stuffed with lemon and garlic and is so, so, so delicious! We had roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots. This is my own childhood snow-day-type “comfort food.” Braydon made a loaf of whole-grain bread (one of the bambinos’ favorite treats). Owen ate a full quarter of the chicken and a ton of all the rest too (and this boy can layer the butter onto the bread, let me tell you). He then proceeded to eat 2 chocolate-covered ice-cream-on-a-stick.

I cannot wait for him to get to school tomorrow so that I can get a break from cooking.

Owen and Meera sittin’ in a tree[HOUSE] ON A VERY SNOWY DAY.

I just showed this to Kyle and Owen.  They laughed hysterically!

A couple of weeks ago we were at the movie theater (seeing Annie), and before the movie began there was a preview for the movie Selma. Kyle was sitting next to me. As soon as the preview began and I realized what it was, I turned to look at him (just knowing my son, I knew he’d be transfixed). Sure enough, he was transfixed, literally on the edge of his seat for that movie trailer. As soon as the preview was over, he turned to me and whispered in my ear, “I need to see that movie.” Since then he’s been all over me — daily — wanting to see it and asking me to take him. I posted to Facebook about it, asking for insight from people who had seen the film — “Do you think I could bring a 10-year old to this?” For the most part, the response was, “Yes, especially because it is Kyle.” I talked to a couple of friends who had seen it, and who know Kyle, and I decided that I’d bring him. Kyle is a huge Civil War history buff, and is also quite knowledgeable on the Civil Rights Movement. African-American history is his passion. Secretly, I had the idea that I wanted to take him on MLK Jr. Day — I just thought the symbolism of that would not be lost on him.

And it wasn’t. Today was the day. We arranged it so that Braydon took Owen and Meera to see the new Paddington movie, while I took Kyle to see Selma. Kyle was unusually calm and focused and solemn as we went to the movie theater, and he and I got our tickets, then stood in line for popcorn. We got settled in the theater and then the movie started. For the entire two hours, Kyle was deep into it. It was an incredible experience for us — Selma, on MLK Jr. Day, white mom and black son. We went out to dinner afterwards, and then came home to write the following blog post together. We did it in “interview” form to make it easy for us. Here it is~~

* * * * *

H: So, what did you think of the movie?

K: I thought it taught me a lot. I did not know a lot about what happened in Selma. I knew about the bridge and what happened there. I knew it was a massacre. But I didn’t know MLK was not there for the first bridge protest. I thought the movie was really good. I admit, I started getting the shivers. I didn’t know if it was just cold or if I was really really attached to the movie and knowing it just happened a few decades ago. I never got the shivers like that in a movie before.

H: Why did you want to see the movie Selma?

K: I wanted to know a lot more about Martin Luther King Jr., and when those movies come out I really feel like I need to see it.

H: Do you think other people need to see it?

K: Some, but not all. Some kids need to wait a little longer. They need to get a little older and a little more mature. Some people can’t handle seeing someone be really beat like that, or someone being shot, and seeing nothing happened— meaning, they never go to jail – and this is in real life, it was not like a fiction story. So, you really have to be mature enough to know that and be able to handle that.

H: You said that during the movie you were getting “the shivers.” What do you think was the most “shivering” part of the movie for you?

K: Probably when they were starting the march, just about when it was going to start the huge engagement. It was a peaceful protest but they engaged it with violence. I wasn’t like, “oh this is scary!” or “oooh, what’s going to happen?”—it was like excitement. And I knew they were going to win the civil rights, but it still seemed like anything could happen. And knowing it was real life, that’s what gave me the shivers.

H: What was it like for you, as a 10-year old Haitian-American black boy, to see this movie?

K: 10 and a half. But, close enough! Anyway, it was like, well, I knew I needed to see this movie. I needed to see the truth. To know the truth. And I knew my mom would support me on this. And I wanted to see the action – like in a movie – not just in the books. I read a lot about these topics in books. Like the Civil War, and the Civil Rights Movement, but in a movie you can see it in action.

H: And then, when you were actually seeing it in action, what was that like for you?

K: I knew it had all happened, but seeing it was like, “My gosh!” It was like, “That’s sad– how people can be like that over just the skin color of someone.” It made it a lot more real.

H: Did you feel uncomfortable watching the movie?

K: I was squirming in my seat a lot. Like, literally. Cringing.

H: Are you glad you saw it?

K: I’m definitely glad I saw it.

H: Why?

K: It was just meant to be. When I saw the preview for it, I knew I had to see it. Even if there was violence, which I thought there would be. I just knew, “I need to see this movie.” And that’s how I feel now—like, “Yes, I did need to see that. And I’m glad I did.”

H: What other questions should I ask you?

K: You should ask, “How did you feel seeing something like that? Seeing such a massacre, or seeing the beatings?”

H: So, how did you feel seeing something like that? Seeing such a massacre, or seeing the beatings?

K: I felt like I wanted to do something when I was watching it. I wanted to be in that line, protesting with them. I would have to do a lot of practicing to do running – to run as quick as I can, to retreat from the massacre on the bridge and other places. They had to run for their lives. I’d have to run for my life if it was me. It made me inspired to want to try to help fix this type of stuff. Today it isn’t as bad as back then, but stuff still happens today. Like the shooting in Ferguson, and stuff. And it makes me—well, it makes me — not worried — but I have to be extra careful— more careful than I should need to be. It made me want to do something about that – like nonviolence – and trying to help with the problems now.

H: Anything else you want to say to the people who might read this?

K: I would say, “go see this movie!” But if you don’t think your kid is mature enough, then don’t let them go. Warning – if they are scared of loud noises, watch out because in the beginning something sudden’s going to happen. I’m not telling you what—because you have to see the movie. But that’s just a warning.

H: Any last words?

K: I hope you enjoy this movie as much as I do and learn as much as I do.

H: Ok, so, do you have any questions for me? I asked you all these questions. Do you want to ask me questions now?

K: As a sociology professor, how do you feel seeing that movie?

H: Ok, I’m going to answer this question like this is a real interview– ok? So, here’s my answer–  I was anxious to bring my 10-year old black son to see it. I was nervous for what he’d see, and how he’d feel about it, and process it. But I’m glad I did it. I believe in being as honest as possible with my kids about social issues, and all issues. As a white mother raising black boys, I believe that it is of the highest importance to be truthful and real with them — in as age-appropriate a way as possible. Selma helped Kyle to understand the civil rights movement, the history before it, and our history after it— through to today —- in a way that was different than us just talking about it, or him reading a book about it. It was powerful for him and for me to see the movie. And to see it together was a bonding experience for us as mother and son. I want him to remember that his mom had the guts to take him to see Selma when he was 10 years old. But that’s actually all how I feel about seeing it as a MOM. As a sociologist, here is what I think: I think people today of all ages, including young people, believe that the Civil Rights Movement was won and that it is done. I think we need to understand that this push for justice and equality and humane-treatment-of-all-people is still very much needed now. As a sociologist, I believe that movies like Selma can be powerful and inspirational for all people, including young people. I think everyone should see Selma when they are ready. And some will need to be pushed even before they are “ready” (because some will never really be ready to face reality and see the truth). I think it is ESPECIALLY important for white people to see it. Particularly white YOUTH. So, white parents: Please bring your white kids to see Selma. And then talk about it with your kids.

K: I don’t think I should give you any more questions because we’ll probably be sitting here for hours!!!

H & K: [[[laughing out loud]]]

H: Ok, well, then, let’s end it with a quote. Can you give us a quote to end this with? A quote from you.

K: “If you want something so bad, you will risk your life for it.”

Today we took Kyle and Owen’s basketball team to a Lehigh basketball game. Here they are with their coach. It was a dream come true for K & O!

My Dear Readers,

It is a new year, and I’m going to try to get back into blogging. I slowed down with it a lot over the past couple of months. And I missed it. Interestingly enough, though, the people who seemed to miss it the most were the bambinos. They love looking at the blog, and they’ve been verbal about the lack of photos lately.

A few things were going on this fall that led to my blogging sluggishness. 1) I wasn’t feeling it. I was weary. I’m tired of being the one who is taking the photos all the time and chronicling the big events. And I was feeling a lot of pressure to blog certain events in a certain way.  2) Our “good camera” is in need of a major overhaul/repair, or a total replacement. Which is pricey, and which we just haven’t prioritized. So we’ve been using our iPhones for photos and to be honest, it just isn’t very artistically inspiring. 3) Our blogging platform died on me, our photo-editing program has been problematic, and our photo-organization system is a wreck. It has taken months for Braydon and me to try to sort out all this technology-related stuff and try to figure out how to proceed. In addition, I got a new computer and a new phone this fall… which wreaks havoc on blogging. “Technical Problems,” as it is called. 4) I was working on a couple of big academic projects this fall that were requiring a lot of my creative energy. I was feeling creatively zapped by 11pm, with zero zest left for blogging. But now those projects are now pretty much wrapped up.

I’m ready to get back in the saddle. I’m kicking the new year off with a major compilation of our blog’s most popular posts. I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time (and often get requests from readers for this). Today I took the time to put this together. I’m working on gearing up for more daily posting in 2015. In the meantime…. I hope you enjoy this:

READERS’ FAVORITE POSTS~~  http://johnson-mccormick.com/readers-favorite-posts/

Happy New Year!
~Heather