Census meme and child management issues

2011-03-09T14:00:33Z

I had a hard time at last night's Girl Scout meeting - the kids ran amok a bit, and I need to work out a way to not have that happen. It's still astonishing to me how 10 2nd and 3rd grade girls can be so wild, when there are 2 adults in charge! I definitely need to work on my group management skills. There's one girl in particular who is extremely distractable and creates wildness in others (including, especially, In Casper) and in general the fact that 7 of the girls are in the same grade at the same school and are mostly good friends exacerbates things. This meeting required us to be outdoors for part (planting seeds) and in the gym at the church for part (setting up tents). It's much easier to manage them physically and socially when we are seated around a table, which works for some activities. I just need to figure out how to work with them when we can't do that. Thank god we only have a troop of 10. But I am a bit worried about our upcoming activities prior to our camp-out.

Census meme:
March 1981 I am living in two houses, both in the same town in rural Maine, since my parents separated about 9 months ago. One house is our former family house, currently inhabited by my father, a big 1930s four-square style house with lovely woodwork and a big yard, that was going to be my parents' back-to-the-land homestead. My mother's house is rented, a less fancy Cape, and we only have 2 bedrooms so my 2 siblings and I share a 3-story bunkbed. I am 8, and my siblings are 5 and 2. Since it's March in Maine, there's probably snow on the ground. (I am honestly not positive which year my parents separated; it may not have been until late spring 1981, in which case we're all still living together in the fancy house. One thing I am certain of is I hated my 3rd grade teacher.)

March 1991 I am in my freshman year of college, by this point living by myself in a "maid's quarters" room in a wing of my dorm that is about 8x10 feet. The dorm is elaborate Victorian-stone architecture, and I love my tiny room. I moved out of my quad after the woman with whom I shared a room spent every evening sitting on her bed watching me, which freaked me right out. I'm in suburban Philadelphia, but probably the campus cherry trees are not yet in bloom.

March 2001 I am living in Northwestern CT in a small town, in a rented apartment which is the first floor of a small and modest Victorian house, with my husband and one juvenile cat. We are here for my husband's work; I am in theory working on my dissertation. I shovel snow and volunteer at the local public library. Our landlord Vinnie, who lives upstairs, has a black lab he leaves home alone inside for 10 hours a day, and the dog's pee drips down into our kitchen light fixture. Our kitten loves to explore the rough-stone, dirt-floor basement.

March 2011 I live in a house I own (okay, the bank owns it - or probably some shadowy international conglomerate who bought my bundled mortgage owns it) in Athens GA. We live in a sidewalky, family-filled neighborhood with great kids across the street and next door and down the block and great neighbors without kids, too - older couples, single adults, etc. Our house was built in 1922 and we just put a roof on it, and it has old-house issues, but a big yard and a hammock on the front porch and all sorts of great stuff. I live with my husband, two kids (7 and 4), and two cats (10 and 1). It's Georgia and we had a warm February, so we have daffodils and cherry trees in full bloom and redbuds coming out.

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Census meme and child management issues