Both March and Brigid Come in Like a Lion

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is Brigid's second birthday. Two! Where has the time gone? Although she has been in all her two glory the last few weeks, with shrieks and screams and fits of temper that truly reveal her strong will, it pales in comparison to her sweetness and incredible cute disposition, when she's not, in fact, shrieking or screaming or throwing temper tantrums. I was holding her last night as she was nursing, and she stopped and looked up at me. "Hi, Mommy," she said. Then went back to business. It was such a sweet sound at such a sweet moment. I have to say it melted my heart. Where has the time gone?

Speaking of time, it will be Easter in short order -- the earliest since 1905 or something like that, and we'll not see another this early in decades (thank you, Grandma Wright, for sending that brief history on the timing of Easter). Because it came so early this year, it means the kids have a couple days off surrounding the Sunday, but then have their spring break in April. I wish we all lived on an academic calendar, having time off when the kids have time off. But if this crazy winter weather continues, who knows what it will be like come April, let alone Easter. So much for egg hunts and Easter finery. We'll be bundling up in layers and snow boots.

Next week is a vacation of sorts for Jack, who gets the time off from teaching his course at the college since it's the college's spring break. Teaching a college course has been a not-altogether enriching experience for him. In fact, it's been a pain and a whole lot of work for very little compensation. It's a course in newspaper design and is required for the journalism program. He only has 12 students in the class, which is a manageable number considering they have to work on computers and design pages never having done so before. He has a lot of one-on-one work to do. In any case, you'd think 12 students could make it to a 10 a.m. class three days a week. He has an attendance policy that, while strict, puts the onus for passing the class in their own hands -- the expectation of which is that those hands can set an alarm clock. So far, only a couple (out of 12) have made it to every class. Several have missed enough that they will not pass, even if they made it to every class hereon out. Missed classes also spell missed assignments, and in some of their cases, missed exams. He's not hard-hearted: he's cut several a break. In fact, he's cut them several breaks. More than I would, but his philosophy is simple: He just wants the semester to be over with. I hope spring break will give him a chance to breathe. But it's a slippery slope after that -- the semester ends very quickly after spring break.

And then, March 24, Brigid starts her days at Sibley at the child care center. We're pretty excited, and although we haven't taken her over yet to check it out (we hope to this week) we know she's going to love it. It will be good for her to be there, even if on a part-time basis. They have a great program, and it's amazing to see children that age participating in a structured day, knowing what's expected of them, knowing what they're supposed to do at different times of the day. The kids take a lot of pride in their accomplishments and their independence. It should be an interesting transition for her. And for us.