Ebola, Dances, and Rainbows: Three Observations

October 22, 2014

By Dan Brosgol

Dan Brosgol
Dan Brosgol

Ebola on the brain

My wife drew the Davis and Lane Back-To-School night straws this fall, which means I got the privilege of going to the John Glen Middle School one a few weeks back. It was a lovely evening, despite the fact that two of the teachers were out and I had three free periods out of the first five—other parents must have thought I was quite the truant as I aimlessly roamed the halls. The most interesting fact that I garnered from that evening was that the kids are very concerned about Ebola and are always talking about it in class, asking questions about it, and getting anxious about Ebola news that seems to be getting worse. This made sense to me, as my son has come home in successive weeks talking about Ebola in Texas, Ebola on planes, Ebola in Braintree, and a questionably-true allegation that a mouse in Rhode Island tested positive for Ebola. While I’ll try to keep him less worried, it’s worth noting that kids are definitely alarmed about it.

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On Monday night, I went on an impromptu field trip to Whole Foods in an attempt to buy something ironic. While that quest wasn’t quite successful, I did run into a friend and his son on the way out. We made idle small talk about soccer and school and then I asked the boy if he was excited about the upcoming Middle School dance. He was clearly excited to answer in the affirmative, and then predictably refused to tell his father who he was going to ask to dance. “I’ll never tell you” was the direct quote. Well, buddy, sorry to disappoint you, but within five minutes of that dance being over your father will know because someone will text him about it. Probably me.

Earning my (rainbow) stripes

Kindergarten is joyful through the eyes of my five-year old. I think she loves everything about it, and is most excited each day to hop off the bus and share with us what color she was in class. It’s a very complicated system in which green means good, yellow means no so good, orange is getting worse, red is bad, blue is better than good, and purple is the best you can be. My daughter, though, has taken it a step further. Not only does she rate her siblings and parents on the color scale based on their behavior and interactions at home, she has created a new superlative color- rainbow. This color rating can be earned in many ways—by a brother reading her a book, a parent giving her dessert, or a baby sister smiling at her, and more. There’s no sweeter sound than the sing-song “you’re on rainbow” that follows a jubilant little girl reaction.

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