Ugh

Just in case any of you are considering getting the stomach flu at the same time as your newborn baby, I'd highly recommend reconsidering. Now before you protest that it sounds like a boatful of fun, think about the loss of sleep, trying to console a poor little baby screaming because her stomach hurts while your own feels pinched in a vice and the whole world is teetering. Imagine running to the bathroom every so often because unpleasantness wants to come out both ends at the same time. Think of being unable to keep down any liquids while at the same time nursing a hungry baby who is nursing even more than usual because she vomits up most of what she eats. And speaking of vomit, imagine being covered in layer after layer of baby vomit and being so weak as to be unable to change your clothes or bed sheets and half-dozing in a cesspool of sour milk...

So, how was your weekend?

All I can say, is thank the heavens for a husband who was at home and for a grandma who carried poor Max away from the vomitous bedlam.

I found the discussion after the last blog extraordinary. So many thoughts on this, I think it deserves continued discussion. Let me link again to my list of texts I'd assign if I taught high school English (by no means comprehensive). And again, I'm not saying that we should throw out the classics. Variety is the key, to my mind. While I love Edgar Allen Poe, certainly not everyone will, and while I abhor Steinbeck, many others adore him. When we present a variety of books in a curriculm (ideally with some of them written with teen-relatable characters and in the vernacular), more teens will find a book to fall in love with and not give up on the love of reading. I have met so many adults who gave up reading altogether after high school because their reading experience in their English classes was so negative. Some of these people rediscovered reading later in their lives by giving themselves permission to read what they loved. Good for you!