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T. got his first shot today, and his second is scheduled for 3 weeks from now.
A.’s first shot is scheduled for Saturday.
A. and I talked today about her feelings around homework. Based on that discussion, and the current status of missing assignments, we made a plan. After school, she gets a half hour to do whatever she likes. Then, she can either exercise, or work on homework. She can stop to eat, but then when she is done eating, it is back to it. When she finished exercising, or at least 1 missing assignment (aiming for 2, but more is even better), she switches to the other one. When she has exercised and done enough missing homework, she gets the rest of the evening off. Discussing her negative feelings about homework, and how avoiding doing the work is _still stressful_ to her, and how attempting to suppress negative feelings associated with avoidance can lead to substance abuse problems, helped her to realize that she wanted to do the things like exercise and homework, but that she needed help with motivation and also just doing them. From there, we made the plan. This is an extension of the plan we put together over April break in Florida, when we talked about the importance of regular exercise so as to have the fitness and stamina to do fun things in life.
R. picked up the table from Belcastro. It looks really, really, really good.
A. opted to walk today first. On the walk, we talked about travel possibilities. I discussed with her (email occurred earlier in the day) whether she would like to visit her aunt and uncle in NJ, who have a pool. She does, and so we talked about how they are welcoming guests who are fully vaccinated. That led to us taking a break and registering her for her first shot; the specific I Get To Go Swim In Their Pool, plus the fun of seeing extended family, pushed her over the edge and she was very excited about it. We also talked about visiting other aunts in NY, similar. Had this not worked, the next step was the possibility of a playdate with friends without having to wear masks, but I have not been able to arrange that even in principle with anyone yet.
DNF Explanation, Nicolette Hahn Niman, _Righteous Porkchop_. I bought this in hardcover when it came out, and it has moved across country repeatedly and survived numerous, deep purges of books. It’s still around, but that’s about to change. I’ve been trying to read it for over a month and I keep failing. I talked to Priestess about it, then today, I decided I’m gonna crack this nut. And I think I have a pretty good handle on why I find it unreadable. Part of the problem is that I find the authorial voice incredibly grating — there’s just not much to be done there; it is pretty visceral. There are some tics in how she tells stories, but I don’t think that’s the entire problem. Part of the problem has to do with the presentation of information in the book. I’m fine with relatively dry non-fiction that is concise and clear (which this is NOT). I _love_ fiction in which an engaging author drags the reader along on a passion quest: let’s go figure this out! I’ll try this first and see what happens. Then that suggests more possible avenues of investigation. Lather rinse repeat. But that’s NOT what is going on here! This is more of a tour of What I Did Last Summer with tidbits of Shocking Information along the way. Not a fan.
I got better around the time I bought this about carefully reading many pages of a book before buying it, to make sure I would find the author’s voice appealing. I think I can avoid making this mistake again. I have no reason to think this is a _bad_ book — it is just very much not for me.
A.’s first shot is scheduled for Saturday.
A. and I talked today about her feelings around homework. Based on that discussion, and the current status of missing assignments, we made a plan. After school, she gets a half hour to do whatever she likes. Then, she can either exercise, or work on homework. She can stop to eat, but then when she is done eating, it is back to it. When she finished exercising, or at least 1 missing assignment (aiming for 2, but more is even better), she switches to the other one. When she has exercised and done enough missing homework, she gets the rest of the evening off. Discussing her negative feelings about homework, and how avoiding doing the work is _still stressful_ to her, and how attempting to suppress negative feelings associated with avoidance can lead to substance abuse problems, helped her to realize that she wanted to do the things like exercise and homework, but that she needed help with motivation and also just doing them. From there, we made the plan. This is an extension of the plan we put together over April break in Florida, when we talked about the importance of regular exercise so as to have the fitness and stamina to do fun things in life.
R. picked up the table from Belcastro. It looks really, really, really good.
A. opted to walk today first. On the walk, we talked about travel possibilities. I discussed with her (email occurred earlier in the day) whether she would like to visit her aunt and uncle in NJ, who have a pool. She does, and so we talked about how they are welcoming guests who are fully vaccinated. That led to us taking a break and registering her for her first shot; the specific I Get To Go Swim In Their Pool, plus the fun of seeing extended family, pushed her over the edge and she was very excited about it. We also talked about visiting other aunts in NY, similar. Had this not worked, the next step was the possibility of a playdate with friends without having to wear masks, but I have not been able to arrange that even in principle with anyone yet.
DNF Explanation, Nicolette Hahn Niman, _Righteous Porkchop_. I bought this in hardcover when it came out, and it has moved across country repeatedly and survived numerous, deep purges of books. It’s still around, but that’s about to change. I’ve been trying to read it for over a month and I keep failing. I talked to Priestess about it, then today, I decided I’m gonna crack this nut. And I think I have a pretty good handle on why I find it unreadable. Part of the problem is that I find the authorial voice incredibly grating — there’s just not much to be done there; it is pretty visceral. There are some tics in how she tells stories, but I don’t think that’s the entire problem. Part of the problem has to do with the presentation of information in the book. I’m fine with relatively dry non-fiction that is concise and clear (which this is NOT). I _love_ fiction in which an engaging author drags the reader along on a passion quest: let’s go figure this out! I’ll try this first and see what happens. Then that suggests more possible avenues of investigation. Lather rinse repeat. But that’s NOT what is going on here! This is more of a tour of What I Did Last Summer with tidbits of Shocking Information along the way. Not a fan.
I got better around the time I bought this about carefully reading many pages of a book before buying it, to make sure I would find the author’s voice appealing. I think I can avoid making this mistake again. I have no reason to think this is a _bad_ book — it is just very much not for me.