Small is Good

Our book discussion group went Very nicely today. Our recent loss of two families (though one threatens to return after she has finished her sulk) has left us with four families who are in agreement on what the group should be doing and how to get that done. All the kids who are left are cooperative and reasonably well mannered, and all the moms are willing to pitch in and do their share of the work. The announcement that we would be adding poetry memorization and recitation to the routine was received cheerfully, all the children listened politely (and applauded) as the papers were read aloud, and each child made a good effort to present their paragraph well. What a difference getting rid of a few malcontents makes!

Our newly reduced group also means that we can have the kids do "Hamlet" instead of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." (Hamlet didn't have enough roles for the larger group.) We all preferred Hamlet, partly because Midsummer Night's Dream is so silly, and partly because Hamlet has a ghost, sword fight, and allows all the main characters to die dramatically. My kids, at least, love to perform dramatic death scenes. And Travis was delighted when he was chosen to be Hamlet. He was a little shaken tonight to see how many lines he has, but I promised him that we will practice together, and that any kid who can memorize Paul Revere's Ride can learn Hamlet (this second part only because we are doing an abbreviated version, though the language does not seem to have been simplified much, if any).

We played Malarky tonight. It is lots of fun, but our children are handicapped by being awful liars.