oh, kids!

Before this year, I hadn't spent a lot of time with elementary school aged kids. They are wild and crazy and hilarious! They make me wonder at what age walking stopped being fun. I don't see how elementary school teachers (like my moms) do it! Here are some of the funny things I've heard around the neighborhood lately...

M: My little sister's room is so girly. It is full of Disney princesses. It makes me want to die.
Me: How is your room decorated?
M: Hannah Montana

A: I am never having any children. Well, maybe just two or three girls so they can be flower girls in my wedding. (Okay, maybe given the neighborhood dynamics this isn't so funny!)

P: (to me) You sound just like a little mouse!

Me: (reading an animal book to F) Have you ever seen a gorilla?
F: (looking at me like I am a total idiot) There is one right on the page!

The Eternal Triangle

The "eternal triangle" of gender, race, and socioeconomic class has informed literary studies for a long time now, but it is generally accepted that gender and race get more critical attention. John Guillory gives the following explanation: "for while it is easy enough to conceive of a self-affirmative racial or sexual identity, it makes very little sense to posit an affirmative lower-class identity, as such an identity would have to be grounded in the experience of deprivation per se."

I'm trying to consider what it means to reject the idea that a working class identity is grounded in deprivation without romanticizing poverty. For now, though, I will affirm the happy events in Franklinton this week and leave the rest for my dissertation...

*celebrating Junior's birthday with our amazingly supportive family at St. John's
*kids on spring break riding their bikes and enjoying the sun
*breaking ground at the 123 community garden this Saturday

And so much more to look forward to this summer!