Dear Roger: My Kid Is Smarter Than Me And She Talks To Monkeys!

My life is so damn weird Roger. I really dont know how I am expected to deal with how fast life is changing around me. My small daughter is a strange little genius, my son is a smelly music prodigy,and even Sticky is above average for a child with Downs and he shows all the signs of having some musical talent. The eldest daughter is writing a series of books and the youngest daughter has informed me that she wants to explore acrylics this summer! I sense your influence at work. She has been painting with watercolors for quite a while, and even doing some odd stuff with markers, but she remembers that bin of paints I had of yours and she eyes my brushes and tools with an envious eye, so I figured it was coming. When we discussed shutting off the tv for the summer as a way to not only get our brains back in gear, but as a way to save money for things we would rather have, she didnt even squawk about it. Her brother asked for an electric guitar and voice lessons as well as a cell phone, but she asked for a violin and lessons as well as ballet lessons and an artists easel and paints! I intend to go to more concerts and art museums and maybe take a writing class. I have managed to pare down our monthly expenses so much that we can actually afford to start doing some of the more interesting things. We dont have a car, so there is no gas to buy or insurance, we have a small place with cheap rent and only electric that is minimal, cook at home food from scratch, and very little else. The cable was one of our biggest expenses, and since I managed to get a usb wireless internet card at an affordable rate, we are golden.

I need to be able to provide the kids with more things to encourage their artistic endevours and passions. Son has been asked to play with his church band and he is playing small gigs a few times a month with his friends. He is doing well in choir and has even been offered private voice lessons as well as recruited for to the concert choir. Neither of them threw a fit over me deciding to shut the tv off. I think was struggling more with the decision than either of them because I am used to having it as background noise. When you dont have adult conversation other than in small snippets over coffee in the morning, you get starved for the sound of adult voices. Honestly I miss the sound of a mans voice. I think that is half the reason I keep it around, just so I can listen to a man talk from time to time. But in the end, we agree that with all the negative crap that is on tv nowadays, and all the just pure trash, reality crap that we dont watch anyway, we would be better off. I think the only things I will really miss will be things like Artland and Halogen tv as well as some of the educational programming, but that just makes me feel old to admit that. Most of the stuff I want to watch I can see on the internet anyway and that is the most important thing to keep us connected.

Daughter had another stellar performance at her talent show, and I was informed by more than a few people that my small daughter apparently has perfect pitch. Well...she sure as hell did not get that from me. She loves to sing. In fact, she sings a lot. She knows more song than I do and she writes her own songs and she seems to really enjoy it. I dont mind singing when I cant hear myself, but she can get me to sing with her, and we often sing in the kitchen in the evening or on Saturdays when I am cooking a big meal for all of us. Son was shocked that I was cajoled into not only attending church this past Sunday for her play, but that I actually stood up and sang. I dont do it often or willingly, but daughter gets me to do all kinds of things I never thought I would do. She has me carrying around a monkey in my pocket or in my messenger bag. She has me apologizing to that same monkey when I stuff it in my back pocket and then sit on it. She has me filming her performances of songs about some boys purple pants, listening to her sing that song until it was stuck in my head for daaaaaays. I have watched a monkey opera, and even participated in debates over, "if so and so was a real monkey, what kind of monkey would he be?" My daughter is somewhat of an expert on not only the monkeys, but the boys as well so it was pretty interesting to hear her speculations, (I dont think I will look at those fellas without an extra giggle ever again), because she even drew pictures to illustrate her point.

My other two boys should be up here this summer. I am not going to hold my breath, but I am hoping against hope that I get them soon. My ex says he wants to go back to school and he doesnt think he can manage two kids and school as well. Gee...I managed 4, a all hell breaking loose around me constantly as well as poverty and him making life hell. I didnt quit grad school until I was halfway through and everything was settled down. I just simply lost my way. If I ever found something to interest me again, I might even go back, with 4 kids making me crazy, because thats how best I roll.