Half Term Break

Madeleine and Willoughby

The kids on half term break and Eitan watches four hours of television which really means six. Or 7. In fairness the poor kid is recovering from a cold and he (and Madeleine) have been working hard in school, sports and extracurriculars.  Each have a running schedule to keep them sharp and, yes, there is some homework. Eitan is re reading 'Lonesome Dove' but it has been slow going: after several weeks he's on page 76 of 945. Still, it is not Harry Potter (Thanks God).

Willoughby over for the afternoon. When not hanging out, he designs graphics for different merchandise sold on redbubble.com (he and Madeleine lie on the floor reviewing traffic statistics and listening to music).

We pile into the car to buy another turtle (pre named Alfonzo Smith). Madeleine: "At Sheen Mount we used to get house points for good behaviour."
Willoughby: "At my school, we got to be a Mexican for the day."
Me: "Oh?"
Willoughby: "We were studying the Mexicans or something. We also had a Mexican Of The Year but they just decided to give it to everybody."
Me:
Willoughby: "By being good, you got Mexican points. If you got enough points you got a prize."
Me: "Like a taco?"
Willoughby: "Like your picture with a golden Mexican moustache."
Me: "So did you learn anything about the Mexicans?"
Willoughby: "Um, no. But we got to dress up like them."
Me:
Willoughby: "I guess that's kind of racist. Stereotyping them like that."
Me: "So you did learn something."