An (Un)Review of Marvel's Black Panther and a DIY Black Panther Birthday on a Budget

I didn’t think I would feel as emotional as I did taking my son to see Black Panther.

Sure, he’d been obsessing about it for months. Ever since we’d heard the script was in development, he’d focused on this protagonist more than any other. Roman has a knack for art, and for the past few months he’d devoted his most involved works to various homages of Black Panther. But I still thought it was something of a phase. He’d get over it.

School Daze

*insert obligatory piece about how kids shouldn’t die at school - vol 18* 

My husband sent me pictures of his time at the kids’ elementary school Donuts for Dad event yesterday. My husband, though, is a pretty mediocre picture taker. I didn’t expect much and so I smiled but didn’t inspect them too closely when he sent them to me. They were run of the mill cute. 

This shot, though, was sent to me by my kindergartener’s teacher. It’s good, really good I think - not just because of the subjects - but because you feel something when you see this. I feel my 5 year olds arms around me when I see this. Roman hugs us like this consistently. Physical touch is his love language. We usually have to tell him to let go...tell him to hurry up...politely shoo him away a bit, because he lingers. 

Petty Betty: Mama's Still Got It

Standing Out

My kids had a family themed event at their school this week. We make it a point to attend most of the festivities the school facilitates so as to foster a sense of community for our children in the place where they spend so much time.

On this night there was a full house , with no shortage of children and adults idly milling about while awaiting further instruction. There was a friendly vibe though as the kids & I walked amongst people we saw regularly. I like our school and quite a few of the families in it. It’s more diverse than many of the schools in our area with a small enough population to allow everyone to make friends easily if they try.

Before long, I bumped into a woman I speak to regularly but, to be honest, don’t know intimately. We engaged in a bit of small talk when my kindergartener - who’d been threading his way between my legs - interrupted her. “I like your buttons,” he said marveling at her jacket & purse, “what’s that one say?”