Born in a Barn

Irreparable Damage

I believe I might have killed the old Ms. Dangerfield morning round-up routine. Ever since I asked if I could record her, and, well, did my spot-on imitation for her. The long, deep, loud, proud postured, "Gooood Morning Children!" is now a flat, self-conscious, slumped, "Good morning children." The crisp and confident "Line up smartly now" has morphed into a meek variety of other soft-pedaled phrases, such as "Line up...uh...astutely" or "Line up...beautifully." Noah told me that she informed his class that she was going to go through the alphabet using a different adjective each day.

Well, the kids have noticed the change, and not just my kids. I have heard other kids muttering, "Ms. Dangerfield sounds different." and "Something isn't right." Some of the kids sneak suspicious glances at me. I fear that they know I am the culprit who zapped Ms. Dangerfield's mojo.

I am not sure if it is reversible. If I ask her if I offended her or comment on the change, it will just further increase her self-monitoring. Oh, what a mess.

The Cohen Kids Find Jesus

In case you did not know, the English public school system is linked tightly to the Church of England. So, there are regular assemblies each week when the children get some good ole Christianity brainwashing. I recently found Noah and Liv arguing about whether Jesus' birth and early years were in Bethlehem, Nazareth, or Jerusalem. This has provided Rachelle and me with the enjoyable opportunity to discuss Christianity, Judaism, faith, and culture with our kids. It is interesting that Noah and Liv do not mind being the only Americans and pretty much the only non-Christians in their classes. Of course, this has all intensified with the coming of Christmas and Noah and Liv had been preparing for their school nativity plays.

The younger half of the school put on the widely-regarded hit, "Born in a Barn." The play enlisted the fine acting and singing of the kids in Reception (4-year-olds) through Year 3 (7-year-olds). The event oozed cuteness. Liv was a shepherd, complete with a tea towel (rag) on her head, and helped watch over the sheep, cows, pigs, and other barnyard animals/children in the Jesus birth story. The central score, "Born in a Barn", allowed the tiny tykes a chance to vocalize in the gray area between singing and yelling. I recorded a bit for your enjoyment.



Noah was selected to be one of the kazoo players in his play. I am guessing that I am not alone in finding the kazoo to be the most annoying "instrument" to be invented. Of course I want to be a supportive father, but there is only so much kazoo "practice" anyone can endure in their home. As Noah practiced in the days leading up to his performance, I began to suspect that Ms. Dangerfield was at home chucking, "touche American!" Two nights before the play I noticed a peculiar and pleasant sound in the air. I was not able to put my finger on it until Noah said that his kazoo had been confiscated because one of the other kazoo playing boys was using it to shoot spit balls at the girls. Ahh. Thank you spit ball boy.

So, Noah's nativity play, "Cracking the Christmas Code", was put on at St. Stephens Church, a beautiful Victorian Gothic church on a hill. For the Advent, the church glows purple, but I am not know the meaning behind this. Regardless, it gives the church a spooky feel (see picture). So that you know that older kids can belt out a song too, I uploaded a video from this play. Although it is blurry, you can pick Noah out. He is in the center with the red shirt, tinsel on his head, and the only kid singing with an American accent.



Football Woes

You might have noticed that I have not been keeping you up to date on the Belvedere Football club team fixtures. Well, we have been on a cold spell losing our last 4 games each by 1 goal. Most frustrating. To top off the gloomy performance, this past Sunday I was called an "American Prick" by an opposing player. Oh well.

Related, I have noticed a different quantity and quality of cursing on the football pitches here compared to the U.S. First, there is more cursing and it is not met with any sanction whatsoever by the referees. Liv regularly keeps count of the "F- and S-words and she always reports double-digit figures. Fortunately, Liv does not know the C-word, which is regularly used here but rarely heard on the U.S. soccer fields. As an example, in one of our games a stray ball went off our field into another game. A player in that game kicked it back, but he overshot his pass, sending the ball beyond the player who had gone to retrieve it. This player shouted, "Thanks, you f***ing c***!", which was followed by laughter among the players in our game and the referee!

Time with Mates

We had Chris (the director of the Pain Research Centre) and his wife, Zoe, over for dinner. Rachelle made a lovely stewed veggies in pastry and I cooked up mushrooms fresh from the Saturday market. As a side note, Liv and I have attended the last 3 Saturday morning Bath Farmers Markets, picking up great local bread, cheese, and olives. See the picture.

Noah and Liv are continuing to enjoy new friendships at their school, which has increased their resistance to weekend family excursions. Noah recently had Harvey over to our house where they had fun playing an online computer game on separate laptops in separate rooms in our cottage. I should say, they had fun playing until I rained on that peculiar parade. It seems that I stumbled upon a new generational phenomenon where these children today think that they are "playing together" if they share cyberspace albeit not physical space. Mercy under heavens.

Here is a conversation I overheard when Poppy was over for a sleepover:
Poppy: "Your real name is Livia? I am going to call you Livia from now on!"
Liv: "Then I will call you Polly Pocket from now on."
-pause-
Poppy: "OK. I'll call you Liv."