I am in love with my daughter.* I mean, in LOVE with her.

She is working on a school project** and I am sitting here enjoying a few minutes of not having 15 projects in progress and a desk strewn with papers that are each and every one representing things undone (in other words, I'm surfing the internet).

The following conversation took place:

Me [to Beloved, in the bedroom]: THE U.S. HOUSE VOTED TO HIKE THE MINIMUM WAGE TODAY!!!

Him: Huh?

Me: [see above] TO 7.25!!

Him: Huh! [he hates having conversations from room to room - I grew up in the country, and I do NOT]

E.: $7.25? Is that like, an hour, or a minute, or what?

Me: An hour.

E.: That not very much money at all.

Me: No kidding. Right now, it's 5.15.

E.: But, you can work any amount of hours, right?

Me: Yessss, but then that's all you do. Paying for food for a family costs about the same as ALL the money from a normal work week if you make $5 something an hour.

E: So you'd have to work double overtime or something -- don't you get more money per hour if you work overtime?

Me: Yes, you do. But if you work from 8 a.m. until midnight so you can afford rent and food, how do you ever see your kids? How can someone pick their kids up from school and take care of them?

E: Oh. Well, must be nice for you that you're going to be a lawyer and make lots of money.

Me: [hiding a grin, which had more to do with her attitude than the words she was saying] E., it's not that much.

E: Whatever.

Me: I'm trying to show you what it is to be "humble" [which we've been talking about in light of her part in the play]

E: No, mom, this is you PRETENDING to be humble, and instead, sounding sarcastic.

ha ha ha.

* I feel bad that I'm talking about e. so much lately. I LOVE LOVE LOVE j., too. This week, however, her sister is dominating (again). With the play, and now this school project (see below), and then the reading question --- J. has a school project, but she has the same teacher e. had in 3rd grade, and she did the same project ... it's fun to see j. doing it, b/c she's my baby, and she's doing old things - like research and note-taking, and oral presentations ... and this week she's just POOPED. I don't know why, but every day, she's just exhausted. Last night I had her go to bed early - in bed by 8:30. Then again, today - EXHAUSTED. She went ice-skating with her after-school program, and I think that has some to do with it. So I told her I wanted her in the bed by 7:30 - and she did not complain at all!!! Which means she's extremely extremely exhuasted. i'll do a j. update post soon. I promise (unfortunately, it will have more to do with dentist appointments than play parts, but ... her time was in the fall, when she had the lead role!)

** e. is proving to be TOO MUCH like her mother. She had this project assigned WEEKS ago. I mean, WEEKS ago. She is only working on it in earnest this week. Yesterday, she left it at school, and at 7:30 we left the house to go fetch it (remember, we don't have a car, so we had to hoof it), and she didn't get started until 8:15, and got very little done. Tonight, she is doing a giant chunk, and HOPEFULLY will be done on time with her best work. But man, why does she have to have this gene of mine? huh huh huh?

Labels: kids, life, parenting, politics

posted by Zuska @ 7:24 PM

2 Comments:

At Thursday, January 11, 2007 10:15:00 AM, Anonymous said…

actually, a person cannot work as many hours as they like, it's entirely up to the employer and the law. some jobs, unions and employees (like minors) do not allow for overtime for various reasons.

i would hate for e. to think that people could earn as much as they wanted. that kind of thinking leads to "if they need money so bad why don't they just pick up extra work" mentality that certain future inlaws espouse. workers could work more than one job... as i have, but that's just no fun. besides, a working person should have to work more than 40/wk just to get by.

ps, glad to see "rick steve's europe" made into your library thing!
At Thursday, January 11, 2007 10:24:00 AM, Zuska said…

Don't fret, darling, enough seeds have been planted (in the excised portions of this conversation and in the thousands of other conversations that take place in our home) that I highly doubt we're raising a Republican here.