feminists and bike rides

One of the cool things about being involved (if by proxy/marriage) to a prominent college is getting to take advantage of some of the events that happen on campus. Last fall I took D with me to see Vice-President Joe Biden speak at Dartmouth, and yesterday Tuck's Women in Business club hosted Anne-Marie Slaughter (author of this now imfamous article, among many other things) for a public lecture followed by a private reception for just Tuck students, faculty, and staff. Getting there was a bit of an ordeal-- Zach realized two days prior that he had a class that conflicted with the lecture, and the irony of the situation was not lost on me as I scrambled trying to find childcare so I could attend a lecture on mothers/families trying to "have it all.") But, help came through and I managed to wedge a tiny spot for myself in that packed auditorium, and even be there for the Q&A during the reception afterwards. It was a pretty neat experience and I have as lot of thoughts about what she said, and I'm letting them marinate for a bit before deciding what and how I may want to write about them.

Yesterday was a day of running around and stressing a bit and trying to make sure to fit everything in. Today, in contrast, was really chill. Zach didn't have classes today, so he was home all morning and part of the afternoon (before leaving town for a school project). I had a slowish morning to myself while he took over parenting duties for a bit. The boys and I spent most of the afternoon outdoors, enjoying the sunshine and very welcome milder weather. My good friend Jeremy came over and we went for a nice stroll outside with our younger kiddoes -- Quinn has made another developmental leap and has mostly figured out how to ride D's old 12" bike (with training wheels-- poor kid is the only toddler here who doesn't have his own Strider) so we mainly followed him along as he rode. Then Q and I dashed to pick D up from school, and spent the next couple hours playing out front with Ren next door. They had a grand time getting back into doing dirt races with their cars under their favorite tree and playing with sticks and twigs.

I've got a few days of solo parenting ahead so here's hoping the nice weather sticks around so we can spend a lot of our time outdoors...