After-School Conversations

I caught Sophie lying like this and listening to Eva Cassidy singing Imagine.  Still life with cup and purple ball.

Imagine all the people living life in peace

I caught these guys in their version of conversation, responding to my own shout from the living room. Here's how it went:

ME:

HENRY! What's the deal with you leaving your socks in the living room at night when you take them off? THERE ARE AT LEAST THREE PAIRS LYING ON THE FLOOR AND YOU NEED TO CUT THAT OUT!

HENRY:

Oh, yeah. Ha ha ha ha ha. Ok, MOM! 

OLIVER (interrupting):

Yeah, Henry, you're such a pig! You leave your boxers in the bathroom every morning after your shower. I like to pee on them!

SOUNDS OF PROTEST AND MUFFLED SCREAMS

ME:

YOU GUYS! PLEASE! ENOUGH!

OLIVER:

HE'S KILLING ME! HE'S KILLING ME!

HENRY:

You can't just pee on my clothes! You can't even say that you did!

ME:

YOU GUYS! PLEASE! ENOUGH!






Five minutes later.

HENRY AND OLIVER:

See you later, Mom. We're riding our bikes up to the video store.

Carol of the Day

I remember a beautiful school holiday concert when Sophie was in the third grade or so. After a few rollicking holiday songs, the lights went out and the choral group on stage raised their white-gloved hands in the darkness, glowing. They proceeded to sign Silent Night in the total darkness, so quiet you could hear the air move between their fingers if you could hear, the white glow-in-the-dark voices --