Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Why is it extra-special, you may ask? Well, my son’s going to take a break from piano until basketball is over, which means I’ll only be driving two kids to piano for the new 2-3 weeks, which means that my two remaining piano students can use the two slots we have on Monday, which means that I don’t have to drive my usual Friday awkward zig-zag (from home to dance to piano to dance to home). Hallelujah! Unfortunately, my youngest isn’t having such a great Friday–but this time, she’s the one who instigated the friend drama. (I’m hoping she’ll have a change of heart and might possibly write an apology card to the friend, who’s in our neighborhood. We could deliver it and–hopefully–everyone involved would have a better rest of their weekend.)

In the meantime, my PTA meeting and tasks are over for the day, I’ve done my time on the elliptical, and I finished the YF audiobook that had an intriguing premise–Abbie Emmons’ 100 Days of Sunlight. A boy with no legs volunteers to help a girl accidentally blinded in a car accident on the condition that no one tells her about his disability; as a result, she starts out raging at him because ‘he can’t possibly understand what it’s like’. Interesting, right? And it is interesting, even if Tessa’s complete temper tantrum over what will likely be a temporary problem drove me crazy. (I’m 44 and not prone to drama, you understand. I can see teens not blinking an eye at her reaction.) Weston’s story, which he tells in a series of flashbacks, is both interesting and not quite what I expected–in a good way–and his friends and family are fantastic; Tessa herself lives with loving, supportive grandparents, and it’s nice. The outcome of the story is pretty thoroughly predictable, but the journey was enjoyable enough for me that I liked it better by the end than I did at the halfway point. I wouldn’t say my adult friends need to rush out and read it, but if you’ve got teen girls and you’d like them to read something more thought-provoking than the equivalent of ‘Sweet Valley High,’ this is a solid book to put in their hands. Happy Weekend!