Humor Me.

It is Mother's Day, and I decree that I shall blog! And I further decree that in this post I shall exercise any and all maternal bragging rights. You might want to make sure your seatbelt is tight and, of course, have your discreet vomit bag at the ready.

1) Vida—along with twelve other classmates—qualified to represent their school at the National Math Bee in Indianapolis. Ours was one of only 3 schools from California, and it was the only PUBLIC school (rep.re.sent!). Add to this that the team was 99% students of color, and you have a situation over which the entire school community was ecstatic. Everyone donated time and money to get the kids to Indy. In one extreme example, a small cadre of parents sold $1500 worth of nachos, lemonade, and homemade tamales.

The kids, some parent chaperones (including my intrepid SU), two teachers, and our principal left at 4:00 in the morning on Thursday, spent the afternoon at the impressive Children's Museum, went swimming, and dropped off to sleep. The following day they walked to the competition at the Indianapolis Zoo, and the computers promptly crashed. After a few hours of fruitless tinkering, the damn National Math Bee was CANCELLED. Oh, the sadness. Apparently there was a team of 61 kids from Alabama who not only arrived in completely color-coordinated attire, but who had endured an ELEVEN HOUR bus ride. Oh, the sadness.

There are many different levels of disappointment: several Math Bee parents sacrificed quite a bit to get their kids to Indy; many teachers worked hard to prepare them for competition; the kids themselves drilled and drilled; and our parents and administration worked a small miracle to raise all the necessary funds. In the end, the kids had a great time (about half had never been in a plane or stayed in a hotel before); they just didn't get to do what they'd gone to do.

But getting back to Vida. Of course the fact that she made the team = she will one day be a Nobel Prize winner in Economics. Here she is solving incredibly complex math problems with a couple of her teammates. Or maybe she's just having a great time? I'm not sure:



2) While Vida was at the Bee, Risa decided she would try out for the All-Star softball team. You know those All-Star girls, right? The ones with the fancy embroidered jackets and equipment bags? The ones who walk a little taller, look a little more smug, and seem to know something that you have no hope of ever knowing because they are freaking ALL-STARS, man! And you? You are not.

The tryouts, which kept us at the field until 9:30 pm on a school night—hello!—was stress-inducing (not only that, I was bummed to miss Miguel Syjuco's reading at the Ferry Building). Risa had to run the bases and slide; she had to bunt twice and swing away three times; she had to catch pop flies; and she had to field grounders in left field and throw all the way to first base. She's a strong player, but I really had no idea how she did. I mean, she ran fast, yes. She can slide. She hit both bunts, she fouled twice and then hit a scorcher into left field. She caught all the pop flies. She missed one grounder, but whipped every ball off super-accurate to first base.

Well, she made it. I have already instructed her not to be smug. Walking taller and brandishing her fancy embroidered jacket is fully acceptable, however. Of course the fact that she made the team = she will one day win a gold medal in softball (once it's reinstated as an Olympic sport, that is).

Here she is, about to hit a homerun that propels her team into first place for the season (never mind that there's another team that has yet to lose a single game). Or maybe she's just having fun playing ball? I'm not sure:



3) Lea has invented her own language. It has no verbs, but that's not the point. Also, her chalk, El Greco-inspired drawing, was chosen for an art show. Of course the fact that she has invented her own, verb-less language and had a drawing that was chosen for an art show = she will one day become a multimedia artist whose work will be featured at the 2030 Whitney Biennial.

Here she is displaying her quirky, artistic nature. Or maybe she's just at Disneyland trying on the Mad Hatter hat/wig? I'm not sure:



Because it is Mother's Day, you just have to go with me on all this, okay?