may 31, 2003. Yesterday the Boy brought home the highly-coveted They Might Be Giants album "No!". It's a children's album that contains several interactive features bundled in the CD (before I got home, the Boy had already spent several hours making marionettes dance). Oh my gosh, this album is the shit. Just for the song "I Am Not Your Broom" alone, it is fabulous. John: Now broom you must now sweep for me, the dust now fills my room. Broom: No, John, I will not sweep for you, for I am not your broom. John: What nonsense are you speaking, broom? My words you must obey. Broom: Another life awaits me, and I'm leaving you today. I am not your broom, I am not your broom, I've had enough, I'm throwing off my chains of servitude. I am not your broom, I am not your broom, no longer must I sweep for you, for I am not your broom. I told the administration yesterday. My vice-principal was very supportive and diplomatic, and although I've come to trust her a little less over the year, I appreciated her nurturing attitude. My principal, ever the master of the unthinking comment, told me that she didn't appreciate being the last person in the building to know. Uh, yeah. I told maybe 20 people, the rest heard it second- or third-hand. I'm not responsible for gossip, nor am I legally obligated to tell them anything until 2 weeks before I deliver. (Aside: what a weird contract clause! I can only imagine that it was slipped in during a 3 a.m. negotiation meeting, when the board was too punch drunk to realize what it was signing.) Anyway, it's out. So now I can tell my students. I though about announcing it, but that's really egotistical (I mean, even more so than most highschool teaching). Instead, I'll just be less guarded in conversation and if it slips out, it slips out. It's nice to have it all out. I hate lying to people, either by omission or otherwise...there's just too much to keep track of. "I feel so sorry for that woman. Married twice, to two jerks." - the boy's father, commenting on his ex-wife The Boy had a bad day yesterday - not only was our crazy neighbour blasting Q107 (a Toronto classic rock station) for hours, but when he called his mom to find out when she wanted to see us this weekend, he found out that she had completely forgotten that she invited us over. This is the last in a long chain of broken engagements, spur-of-the-moment invitations and other thoughtless social omissions. Usually I'm the one who gets mad about it - it's hard enough to co-ordinate a trip to my parents on a holiday without suddenly adding a 6 hour detour in another town - but the Boy has finally had enough. He's had some abandonment issues ever since his mom decided to remarry, mostly because when she did, she very clearly composed her new family of herself, her husband, his daughter and Scout. Pixie had been living outside the house for five years or so when it happened, and she wasn't bothered. But the Boy had been living at home and going to university; suddenly he was on the edge of the branch and had to fly whether he liked it or not. In the intervening years, Scout has managed to mightily piss off her "stepfather" so she also has been excluded from the new family...and now it's just three. This man tends to use all kinds of tactics to make sure that the Boy's mother pays at least 75% of her attention to him, and it leaves very little time for her work in literacy and her biological children (as opposed to the one she married). The Boy had secretly hoped that the baby would be his passport back into the family; he feels his exclusion keenly. There's not a lot I can do for him in that regard, other than encouraging him to work out his feelings in his excellent relationship with his father and sisters...and/or in my perhaps over-nurturing parents. No substitute for the big M, but maybe he'll find strength in our growing family. Weird Things People Tell You[r Partner] When You're Pregnant part 3 Last week the Boy ran into our friend Kate. Kate was very pleased to hear about our pregnancy. Her companion immediately began to lecture the Boy on why we should have a douella instead of a midwife, because it's more natural to have the coach on the mother's end rather than the baby's end. The Boy immediately thought, "yeah, because having someone where the baby's going to come out is really counter-intuitive." I'm told that this girl was a hippier-than-thou type, somebody who might respond to the announcement that you're a vegetarian with the counter-claim that she was a fifth-level vegan. We still like Kate. Booty Call: Day 84 - With this week, you'll have completed one full trimester and will move on to your second trimester. Risk of miscarriage is now reduced. Congratulations! 4 years ago today: johnny bravo