Our Little New England Kid

There's an interesting book that I want to read called Far from the Tree that looks at parents how are raising children who are very different from themselves.  In many ways, Lucy is a mini-me, or perhaps a mini-half-and-half of Jake and me.  I identify (sometimes with much worry) with certain traits and preferences she has, some of which make me crazy.  Oops.  But then there are moments when we realize (and I suppose every parent realizes) that she is her own person. 

Lucy is a New England girl.  A Lowell girl. After all, she was born in a hospital with a Dunkin' Donuts in it.  Seriously.  Today, she came home from school and said "The Red Sox won last night! Can I watch the Red Sox tonight?" and we realized that we might need to start paying more attention to some of these kinds of things.  Or not -- maybe she'll keep us up to speed.  We then took her to "Safe Trick or Treat," which means trick-or-treating in the dorms on campus.  We've done this for a few years, and Lucy loves it, but for me, I feel like it might be called "Unsafe trick or treat" because there is a high likelihood that I am going to have multiple awkward interactions with current and former students.  It's not really a bad thing, but it does feel weird to be in their space (and see their dorm rooms and their costumes).  But Lucy loves it.  And there's the candy.

Post-trick-or-treat, we did another very New England thing: we took Lucy to get her ice hockey gear.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Lucy's going to start a learn-to-ice-skate program.  The way to do this is to sign up through the local hockey league.  So for the next 20 Saturdays or so, Lucy's going to be on the ice, in full gear.  She has a helmet, knee/shin/elbow/neck pads, gloves, and of course, skates.  We are *very* excited.  Go Lucy Go!  Get your New England on!