Theories

Actually, this first part is not a theory, but a fact.  Bridgett's Leo is a beautiful baby.  I've held him in my own arms, so I've got first hand knowledge.  Go see for yourself.

• Theory the first:  It must snow a lot more in other parts of St. Louis than it does in my neighborhood.  I've got about an inch of snow on the top of the mailbox outside my kitchen door (my makeshift snow gauge if you must know).   It is currently 18 degrees outside.  Are the roads slick?  Probably a little.  Is is necessary to close down every school in the metropolitan area?  Probably not.  It's January, people.  It's the Midwest.  It snows and it gets cold.  What are you, new here?  More to the point, I think, is that school districts build in a certain amount of snow days and they want to use them.  So,both kids are home for the day today.  At least I don't have to scramble to find a sitter.
• Theory the second:  Being a teenage girl these days must be harder than it was when I was a girl.  Dear Daughter has, well as far as I'm concerned had, a friend.  This girl is a year ahead of Daughter in school but in activities with her etc. and the girls began to pal around this fall.  This child has slept in my house a number of times.  I've fed her countless meals and driven her to the mall.  Her mother has done the same for my girl.  A week ago, in conjunction with the March for Life in Washington D.C which this girl wanted to attend but couldn't, it came up that Hubster and I support President Obama.  We discussed politics ad nauseum over many dinners at our kitchen table this fall, and Daughter supports him too, in the way that teens support anything I guess.  Which is to say she talks a good game.  This girl flipped.  The text messages got hateful fast("Baby killer" was the least offensive of them), so hateful in fact that I intervened with one of my own asking that she not send any more.  Dear Daughter is distraught and mystified and feeling persecuted.  Within the context of a tearful conversation last evening, it came up that this girl has scars from cutting on her arms and thighs-- Dear Daughter asked about cutting and what it entails and why someone would do it.  We poked around together on the Internet and talked for a long time.  As a high school teacher I was a mandatory reporter of such behavior, and I still have the inclination to at least call school and give them a heads up...  Daughter and Hubster are mortified at this inclination, by the way.  School is closed today so I have a day to cogitate.
• Theory the third:  The closeness of a knitting deadline is inversely proportional to my inclination to cast on new things to knit.  I think I have that right.  What I mean to say is that  as the number of days left before I should have completed a project decreases (Hubster's b-day is in 19 days), the desire, no compulsion to cast on something else increases in proportion.  If I could find my camera (believe me, I tried... it's got to be somewhere...) I'd show you the 13 inches I have of this sweater completed.  It's an easy, quick  knit on size 11 needles.  I guess quick only applies if I actually knit it.  Meanwhile I've gotten 30 inches of another Noro Striped Scarf completed.  Did I say another?  I meant my fourth.  I am weak.  And I lack intestinal fortitude and persistence.
• Theory the fourth.  Something must happen outside my house every week day at 4:15 or so in the morning.  I'm guessing this because I pop up around then every morning and can't get back to sleep.  I guess it's a good time for reading or blogging, but I might prefer the two extra hours of sleep.
• Theory the fifth -- added an hour later -- :  The USDA is checking food more carefully in the wake of recent taintings of Chinese milk.  I subscribe to the USDA recall list serve-- don't ask me why, it just seemed like a good idea at the time.  I used to get like one recall email a month, usually for some obscure local product.  It was not something I worried about too much.  In the last month however, the recalls have gone from rare to about 12 a week.  Really.   And they contain recalls from companies I recognize like Smuckers, Trader Joe's  and Kroger.  Yikes.  This begs the question:  Is tainting more common now or were we just unaware of earlier problems?  No way to find out, I guess, but things like this make me jumpy. 

Comments

[Carole]

I'm sorry about your daughter's situation. I'd probably try and talk to her mother. And as for theory #3 - yes, yes, yes!

[Jenn]

*ninja squish*

[Fríða]

#2, I appreciate your dilemma. if it was me I would report it to the authorities/her school counsellor sth.like that. when sth. really bad happens, and it will, you will not be able to forgive yourself if you don´t do anything about it. this is a sign of serious pshychological problems. I don´t know how it is in the US, but in my country you are bound by law to report if you have even an idea or the tiniest of suspicions that something is not right with a child. if you don´t you can be punished. the moral being that all children are the responsibility of society as a whole. and the child protection law stipulates the right of all children to a good life in all aspects, parents have no rights as such. for example, if the parents divorce, the parent who moves away doesn´t have any rights to socialize with their kids, on the other hand the child has an unrevokable right to spend time with both parents.
I hope you find a good solution that works for you.
best wishes from Iceland
Frida

[Jenny Elizabeth]

HA! Theories #1, 3 and 4 sound like I could've written them. But with less cussing. :)

[Rachel]

I think different areas do get different amounts. I am sure it has to do with the proximity to rivers and valleys. I cleaned 3" off my car this morning right as it started sleeting. The news said roads were clear, but I couldn't get control of the car at all. I fishtailed up to the church turned around and slid home in oncoming traffic. That's the last time I attempt to take Watson before it has been salted or plowed. The state considers Watson a minor highway and always plows it last--3pm today.

Report the text messages. That is harassment and don't most schools have policies against that? Maybe in the course of reporting those then you can bring up that you are concerned that girl has displayed some self-harm behaviors?

[julie]

Theory #2 - Been there - cutting is so scary - for the cutter and the family and friends. I am so sorry for your DD's friend, she must be really hurting. REI girl always said that it was a way for her to release her unknown pain. She said she had no control over her actions. (She still has the pain - but has vowed to herself not to do it anymore - she says the scars remind her of how far she's come)I'd carefully talk to the parent - the family needs support and help.
Thank you for keeping me in your prayers, I'm recovering and knitting away like mad! It's a much longer process than I ever anticipated.
Good wishes to all

[Lucia]

There are people out there who seriously believe that President Obama supports infanticide. I could take you through the whole deliberately obtuse chain of reasoning, including willful (it has to be willful: there's no other way) misconstruction of things he actually did say, but you have better things to do, such as measuring the height of the snow on your mailbox with a micrometer. As for the cutting, it's a very common thing at this age (two of my friends did it, and both are alive and well and reasonably well-adjusted these 35 years hence), and nothing bad will necessarily happen, but I would probably still report it.