In which I go to a seminar, meet a fellow blogger, and debate whether or not to finish a book

So, I went to this parenting seminar that was jointly sponsored by several elementary schools, including ours. Normally I don't "do" parenting seminars. I rarely even read parenting books. First of all, none of the situations they describe ever seem to fit my kids. Second, who do they think their audience is? The handout at this seminar listed things not to say to your kids, including: "You're the reason we're getting a divorce!" Hell-LO! The people who say stuff like that are NOT the ones who come to parenting seminars. And third, I admit it: I have an arrogant streak, and I believe I know better than a total stranger what works for my children.

But you know what? This guy had some good stuff. Sure, his presentation was a little too rah-rah motivational-speaker-ish for my taste, but underneath it all, he did have some good advice. Here's one that I've already instituted: Don't call it homework time, because that just paves the way for "I don't have any" or "I forgot it." Call it study time. That way they have to do something, and it might as well be homework. And here's another that I liked: when your kids whine, "I can't dooooo it," instead of "Sure you can; just try harder," say "Ok, well, act as if you can."

The real reason I went, though, was because Nixie Knox was there! I arrived late because we had a PTO meeting right before, and when has a PTO meeting ever ended on time? So I was in the back of the room, where I had a good view of the crowd, and I spotted the chick in the pink coat and blue glasses right away. It was kind of distracting because all through the rah-rah motivation, "act as if," etc., I was staring at the back of this woman's head and thinking: "Omigod, that's Nixie, it has to be, it's Nixie!" Anyway, she was completely charming and funny and nice. I don't know why it took us this long to get together, considering we not only live in the same town, but we live on the same side of town in almost-neighboring school districts. I hope to see her again soon.

On the literary front, Birds Without Wings has turned out to be a huge doggie downer. In the last hundred pages or so it degenerated from a very entertaining portrait of peasant life in 1900's Asia Minor to a totally gruesome war story: bloated corpses, dysentery, bayonets, spilled guts. In great detail. I hate the thought of not finishing a book group selection (we're meeting on Tuesday) but I don't know how much more of this I can stomach.