The end of the second quarter of school coincided with my birthday.  The teachers had a day off on Friday to finish working out grades for report cards, and my wife had the day off from work.  So, starting Thursday night, we ate and drank and were merry for the extended weekend.  The weather has been unusually warm.  But, since instead of snow there was mud on the ground, we all stayed inside pretty much the entire weekend.  The girls watched videos and played games on their laptops and when the laptop batteries died, they switched over to their tablets.  But there were plenty of other activities, too.  Both girls helped out in the kitchen, and Dee Dee and I played some music, and we had a fun dance party on one of the nights.  While nothing really exciting happened, just because everyone was home with me, celebrating for over three days, it was a good birthday for me. 

We survived the first couple weeks of the “next level” of after-school activities with the girls.  Audio has been very agreeable and quick to get ready on the Mondays and Wednesdays that we have to bring Dee Dee to her theater class.  Starting next week, we’ll be bringing Dee Dee to play practice on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays through the end of February.  On Wednesdays, both girls have swimming lessons, Audio’s is first and Dee Dee’s is immediately after Audio’s.  So, after my wife leaves to bring Audio to the pool, I leave to pick up Dee Dee from theater and drive her from there to the pool.  When we get to the pool, I bring Dee Dee to where her mom is sitting in the gallery above the pool watching Audio.  I take over viewing duties while my wife brings Dee Dee to the locker room to help her get ready to get in the water. Then, she helps Audio get dried off and dressed.  It’s a little tight, but even on a night that I drove home another girl who is in the play with Dee Dee, we’ve made it to the pool on time for her lesson. 

On Thursdays, Dee Dee has started participating in a new afterschool program.  I still pick up Audio at the end of the school day, but Dee Dee sticks around for a Digital Art class until 5:20PM.  At the first class session, after viewing some videos that had been created by previous Digital Art classes, Dee Dee showed the group some of the music videos that she and I have made together.  Apparently, the videos went over pretty well, with kids complimenting her after seeing them.  Up until now, she has only shared her secret music hobby with a handful of friends.  So, I was a little surprised that she was willing to show about 20 of her peers what she does for fun when she’s not at school. 

During the COVID lockdown, when Dee Dee was four years old, I recorded a version of the Misfits song, 20 Eyes and had Dee Dee sing it.  We made a music video and shared it on YouTube and Facebook.  We followed that up with a cover of Beat on the Brat by the Ramones, and I Dig You by Cult Hero (The Cure).  At some point, I learned that a dad of one of the kids who would eventually be in Audio’s pre-school class did audio mastering.  So, we did a couple original songs, made videos for everything, and then we had CDs pressed.  Other than the fact that no one has a CD player anymore, it was pretty fun.  The music gave us something to do together, and it gave Dee Dee a sense of being good at something that other kids weren’t doing.   

Dee Dee and I have fun recording music. But we don’t do it that often and when we do, we don’t do it for very long. At first, Dee Dee didn’t have much to say about our recordings, and there have been plenty of times that she hasn’t felt like recording. When she showed her Kindergarten class the completed CD (through the computer, while she was doing distance learning), she didn’t have much to say about it.  Since then, I’ve wondered if every song that we recorded might be the last.  So, her sharing her music videos with her Digital Art class was a bit surprising.  But then again, it shouldn’t be, since the whole idea was to give her something that she can feel makes her unique and talented.   Apparently, to some extent, it’s working.   

Audio is interested in music.  When she was younger, she knew and referred to TV shows not by their titles, but through the words of their theme songs.  But she hasn’t really shown a desire in creating songs and videos like Dee Dee has been making.  Audio’s interest and talent lies in visual art.  She draws well and likes to create collages and other paper-based artwork.  Anything with scissors and glue is right up her alley.  Where her talents really lie is in her strong imagination and her ability to see her ideas through to the end.  She also shows a need to create.  Every once in a while, as if her life depends on it, she will announce that she needs paper to draw on.  I’ve scanned a lot of her artwork and over the winter break I set up an Instagram page where we can share her pictures.  As with Dee Dee and her music, Audio shows pride in her art and often brings me drawings and asks me to scan them.  It feels good that both girls have positive, productive things that they can do that keep them busy, creative, and proud.