We Got Jokes

The kids have recently taken an interest in telling jokes. Really bad jokes.

We've Got Jokes from Kate K. on Vimeo.

An Actual Studio Photo

I'm so glad that Tori's mom bought a photo session for a group photo. With a family this size, you need professional help!

Studio photos seem more and more rare these days, but I really like them. 

I present to you the Rogers Thanksgiving 2013 Family Photo!

Becoming My Father

I'm a thirty-something lesbian who lives in L.A. I majored in English lit and did the Peace Corps after college. Sometimes I drive my electric car to work, but most days I just ride my bike. Did I mention we used cloth diapers for all three kids?

I've got "left-wing" written all over me.

Yet lately something funny has been happening. I can't tell if some secret inner Republican buried deep inside me is starting to creep out or if I'm just turning into my father.

Zadie is now attending an alternative charter school that has a lot of unusual rules. For example, the kids can't wear any clothing or backpacks with commercial characters. Screen time is not allowed during the school week. The food you feed your children should be nutritious and preferably organic.

It just so happens that our family pretty much practices all of those principles anyway (we don't even own a television), but for some reason when I was sitting in the auditorium with all of the other parents a few nights before school started, I felt like rising up against the nanny state. I realized my stream of consciousness sort of resembled a Sarah Palin rant I'd heard before.

I've also been a little heavy-handed with a few situations at work lately, both involving a young employee who irritates me a little bit. Why does he irritate me? Oh, just because I don't think he shows proper deference to authority. Who am I?! I keep on telling myself that it's really not my job to go around trying to instill respect for authority into people, especially given that I don't even supervise this person! It reminds me of Gus from Lonesome Dove not tolerating rude behavior (my father suffers from this same affliction).

And I don't even need to tell you how many times I'm reminded of my father when I'm dealing with an unruly or disrespectful child of mine!

Lastly, one night when we were visiting Tori's family over Thanksgiving, I came back from seeing a friend and her family was playing a new, rather raunchy card game. I sat at the table and hung out for half an hour or so before I went to bed. Or at least that's what I thought I was doing. Later multiple in-laws told me they thought I seemed really uncomfortable and offended by the inappropriateness of the topics being discussed. I wasn't offended at all by the game and I actually thought it was really amusing. But, since apparently I've become my father, apparently I now exude some kind of fatherly/motherly disapproval and have serious facial expressions even when I'm having fun!

Don't get me wrong, there is no one in the world I love or admire more than my father. But he's the father and I'm the kid. This must be part of the aging process. I guess I've heard people joke about turning into their parents before, but I feel like this is kind of different. Maybe because we're not the same gender.

And because I'm a thirty-something lesbian who lives in L.A., majored in English lit and did the Peace Corps. My dad, on the other hand, is a successful businessman who grew up in East Texas in the 1950s and served with special forces in Vietnam. Kind of different.

You'd be off the mark if you tried to judge either one of us by the obvious demographics. You don't know what kind of authoritarian, traditional values streak lurks within this particular thirty-something L.A. lesbian. And you'd be pretty surprised about how thoughtful and open-minded a guy who grew up in segregated East Texas and served in the military can be.

I love you, Dad!

The Smiling Soccer Player

This was Skip's first season playing AYSO soccer. Let's just say he took it pretty seriously. He wanted to wear his uniform every single day and he was pretty serious about getting a good night's sleep the night before the game.

Despite this focus, the funny thing about Skip was that he had a big grin on his face the whole time he was playing. Other parents definitely commented on this, too. He was having a great time out there.

Because he just made the cut-off this year, he was a full year younger than some of the other boys. So he wasn't the best player on the team, but he definitely had good ball-handling skills, a good understanding of the game, and most importantly, a true joy about competing!

Kind of hard to tell from these photos, but you can sort of see a smile on his face. Zadie, I'm sorry we have no photos of you playing this season (or of Tori coaching you!), but it's only because there was a mom on Skip's team who sent me these photos! Sure wish I would have taken a picture of Coach Tori and her daughter.

Skip's Bike Skills

Skip learned how to ride a bike when he was two-and-a-half years old. He's a little bit small for his age, but extremely coordinated. Someone recently described him as being "very aware of where his body is in space," which is an interesting way to think about it.

Before it started getting dark so early recently, almost everyday when I'd come home from work Skip would be outside riding his bike on the sidewalk in front of our house. It's just a little strip he's allowed to do by himself, but he would madly pedal back and forth like it was a really important race or something. Of all the kids, he's the least interested in independent play, but riding his bike is definitely an exception.

So I'm posting these two photos in honor of Skip's mad bicycling skills!

More bicycling feats from Kate K. on Vimeo.

Skip's ramp skills from Kate K. on Vimeo.

Pomegranate Season

It's pomegranate season and we've been relieving all the neighborhood trees of their heavy, heavy burden. There was a nice one on city property that Tori climbed into one night for a whole bagful and also some neighbors who sent us a few bags. People seem to be letting them rot otherwise. We've loved adding them to salads and just eating them as a stand-alone snack.

Pomegranates were the one fruit I absolutely loved as a kid, I think because it was so rare that we had them.

I think this photo Tori took is beautiful in so many ways. Quite the bounty (and the mess).

Halloween 2013

This is the first year we've let one of our kids choose what they want to be for Halloween. Usually we give them a list of acceptable options and they pick within that, but Zadie really wanted to do her own thing. She wanted to make her own costume so she spent about two weeks making her robot outfit and finding random bits of silly stuff to glue gun onto the box.

We'll probably have to stop being so controlling about Halloween costumes soon, but Tori pretty much requires that they either use their imagination or let us use it on their behalf. We vetoed Skip's desire to be Batman and Charlie's desire to be Superman -- sorry, no superheroes! But when they older and care more, I promise we'll cede the battle. At this point they feel passionately about it for five minutes and then forget all about it.

Skip's In-N-Out costume was Tori's idea, of course while we were dining at that fine establishment. I chose this photo of the back of Skip because it shows she even got the oversized safety pin for the apron (for those poor out-of-staters who don't have In-N-Out Burger, it's a key part of the uniform!). He looked pretty legit. She made the red apron out of a red re-usable bag and just cut out the bottom and tied it around his wait with the arms from the bag. She also got a little In-N-Out lapel pin.

Charlie was the Tin Man this year, which is a homemade costume that Zadie wore twice and Skip has worn once. We were just thankful he actually agreed to keep the thing on because he's pretty stubborn about wearing costumes (and everything else!).

Tori's mom Linda came down from Washington to celebrate her favorite holiday with us. Sure wish I had asked her to get in the photos!