10/2/08 "Kiss Mom!"

Tonight I turned on the radio in the hopes that a sentence or two of the VP debate might filter their way through kid-cacophony. Amused at the moderator's comment that neither candidate had answered a direct question (a pet peeve of mine of all politicians -- answer the darned question!), I asked Dave if he remembers Gwen Ifill from when he used to watch the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour.

So we opened the cabinet doors and turned on the TV in the living room, a rare event for the kids around here. We've never resumed our Sunday-night half-hour of TV, so the kids have no TV habit at all at home, though they still get bursts of screen time on the computer and Dave's iPhone. I can't imagine how we'd fit in TV with Gabriel's homework and all, it's out of the question.

Julian and Katrina instantly planted themselves in front of the TV, not realizing right away how kid-unfriendly this show would be. Katrina, being (almost!) 2, found great delight in the images anyway. There's been so much angst about Sarah Palin that many readers will find this truly mortifying: she saw a closeup of the candidate and shouted, "Kiss Mom!" and stood up and kissed the screen!

Not having developed partisanship yet, later she also kissed Joe Biden's image. (I think "Mom" was just her way of saying adult brunette woman; she didn't actually think that was me.)

Katrina's been so funny and adorable lately. Even her usual mealtime tantrum has largely subsided down to plain old toddler finickiness and unpredictability. She likes to sit at the table now, which despite the extra mess and lack of room for a 5th person (as if a mom can actually sit during dinner anyway), I'm all in favor of. Now if only she'd eat more than "uhr-uhrt" (yogurt).

10/2/08