As many of you know, we do a form of homeschooling with our children.*  This decision was considered fairly non-normative and odd in France, and even there, people did not "approve" and sometimes cited a nonexistent law saying school is obligatory.**  However, here in Lebanon, people are outright authoritative in their declaration that we must STOP ( Read more... )

It is funny to note that all three of my kids have begun counting this way, only in French: un, deux, trois, cinq, huit... They have all felt that 4, 6, and 7 were somehow not that important, at least not at first. After neuf and dix have been tack on, 6 is usually the next one to be accepted in the ranks, and 7 the last. :P ( Read more... )

...OK, probably not only in Egypt, but it makes for a good subject line ( Read more... )

...and then it was.

Strange back-and-forth of gunfire and fireworks tonight...not in response it one another, I don't think. Just: gunshots, then later fireworks, then the poppoppop of guns again...

The fireworks are normal; the gunfire is not.

No idea what is going on. :-/

And now, I'm going to stop pondering it and get some sleep.

I love my husband to bits, but I cannot deny that he has a few, um, shortcomings, namely his lack of memory and sense of direction.  Thankfully he has a small daughter ( Read more... )

..."Mom, do mermaids have vaginas?"

I recently blogged about hearing a horse on the street beneath my balcony and had comments asking me to expound on the difference between the sound of a horse or a donkey passing by.

The differences are several.  First is the heavier resonance of the horse's hoof; the bulk of the beast makes a more resounding clop on the asphalt. The donkeys, with ( Read more... )

and say what you really mean.

Overheard at the park today:

Mother, speaking to her 5-6 year old boy: Children don't have the right to say "no."

Really?  They don't have the right?  Because they are children?

Do you really mean that?  No, I don't think you do. I think you mean, "I am the parent, my say goes, and I say it is time to leave, so come on."   ( Read more... )

I would tweet things like:  I love sitting on my balcony, listening to the clop-clop of a horse's hooves and the jingle of its harness ( Read more... )

Since being in Egypt, J and I have often tried to determine if Cairo is noisier than Hanoi, Vietnam or Tirana, Albania.  When we arrived in Hanoi a couple of years ago, I dubbed it Hanoi(se) and declared it the noisiest city I had ever been to.  We then spent two months in Albania, our apartment located at a busy intersection, and after rereading ( Read more... )