We're going to Scotland!!!!

We bought our tickets to Scotland! Wahoo! We will be gone for most of the month of May. I am not exactly sure how all of this is going to get paid for (other than the airfare) but I will be selling on eBay and working extra hard. I can hardly wait! Evie and I floated around for the entire hour we had at home today!

We went to some friends' house this morning. The mom is teaching me to juggle. I got pretty good with two balls today but am having trouble adding the third. We met their chickens and the kids had a great time playing outside in the sand and shooting off water bottle rocket thingies.

We came home for a quick lunch and to work on some of the food I need to make for a catering job I have this weekend. Then it was off to a park day. It was a great group of families, the park is wonderful and the kids are finally old enough to go play in the woods on their own. Evie and some friends dug up beatifully colored plastic bb pellets and flew plastic bag kites. The parents sat around and laughed. There was a fair amount of talk about parents "getting their kids to do things" i.e. practice violin, do this worksheet or that chore. I wanted to download Joyce Fetteroll's site into everyone's head. Joyce says the following:

"If there is one thought that will help you understand unschooling and respectful parenting it is this:

The primary goal is joyful living.
All other goals are secondary.
All decent parents, of course, want their children to be happy. But they assume that sometimes happiness needs to be sacrificed to get something better.

But for unschooling, peaceful parents meeting any goal must also meet the goal of living life more joyfully.

If meeting a goal means sacrificing joy, then find a better way to meet the goal.
It's simple to write, but not so simple to put it into practice! Our heads are full of "have tos." We're full of fears of what will happen if we don't do what we "have to." Getting rid of those "have tos" and fears is hard to do!

The first step is finding something that's better than what you have.
The second step is wanting to change.
The third step is figuring out how to change.
So, as you read along, you may wonder why I suggest that parents basically make life more difficult for themselves. The reason is because I believe it leads to a much better place. And that better place is a more joyful life for our children and our families."

Wahoo, wahoo, wahoooooooooo!

Today was DEFINITELY a joyful day well lived

A little of this, a little of that

We started the morning with breakfast and a short movie about the Ancient Inca civilization. We followed that up with Little Sherlock Bear. Then we rode our bikes and Evie walked around the neighborhood on stilts. We shuffled through our always full garage and pulled out some Little Tikes building toys that our neighors gave Evie a few days ago. Their kids (now in college) enjoyed them and Evie and her friends do too. Then we came inside and read books. Here is what we read today:

Boxcar Children #4: Mystery Ranch
Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story
The Gospel Cinderella
Three Samurai Cats
My Costume Book
A Child's Book of Art

We went to the grocery store to buy food for a catering job I have this weekend. Evie played with friends this afternoon, they made a treasure map (stained with coffee, very authentic looking). We had dinner and watched a GREAT program called The Story of One, check your local public TV listings. I also ate a Ben and Jerry's flavor that is the answer to a prayer: Black and Tan--cream stout ice cream with a thick chocolate swirl, yes!!!!

A day very well lived!

Tricks

Scott made Evie stilts for her birthday. The second time she was on them she was cruising up and down the block. Now she can stand on one leg, twirl and do other amazing things. She and Scott would love to build a tightrope in the backyard but it is hard to get something that can stand have that much tension on it (even trees are too bendy).

On Sunday we went to see STOMP with my parents. Last night we went to see Cirque Dreams. STOMP was fantastic, Cirque Dreams was great fun too, we are really spoiled by the technical and artistic level of Cirque du Soleil . We saw some cool jump roping that was new to us in Cirque Dreams and there was a really spectacular double trapeze act. They also used a black light and costumes very effectively. We went to a Ben & Jerry's scoop shop after the show and didn't crawl into bed until after 10:00 (that's late for all of us!) Luckily, Evie had the foresight to take a nap earlier in the day so she was fine.

We went to the library yesterdy and went a little crazy, lots of project books. I am excited to see what all we come up with, I have felt in a rut lately!

I have a catering job and a church service I am involved in this weekend, my next big thing is speaking at the WPA Home Education Conference at the beginning of May. Hopefully we will be traveling for the rest of May!

Our day has only just begun but the last few have been very well lived!

The Brilliant Words of Ren Allen!

The following is from the AlwaysUnschooled yahoo group. Ren so eloquently stated what I often try to get across about limits, balance and freedom--I am never this clear! She graciously gave permission for it to be posted here, please visit her website for even more amazing insights.


"I believe you are saying many people are bragging that 'I quit
restricting "evil" action A, B, or C and now my child/ren is doing
what they are "supposed to" ("good" action instead, eating
vegetables, reading books, imagninative play, playing outdoors,
etc.). People are *judging* the outcome based upon what they desire
for their child to DO, rather than what their child prefers to do."

**********************

I tried to post about this last night, but everything was coming out
all muddled so I gave up. We'll see if I can get this down the way I
feel about it....

Not setting arbitrary limits allows my children to find their OWN
balance, not necessarily what *I* think is best. Part of not setting
those false limits is about viewing their activities differently. It's
about valuing THEIR own internal guidance above my own definitions of
what is "balanced" for my life.

Their balance is going to be different than my own.
If my own ideas were more important, then we'd all be vegetarians!:)
My children don't happen to share my passion for not eating dead
things at this point, so not setting arbitrary limits has certainly
not brought about some "desirable" outcome according to MY ideals.

The truly desirable outcome in my mind, is children that know
themselves. It's about my children having the freedom to choose their
own lives regardless of whether I think the outcome is ideal.

Trevor spends 10-12 hours per day on the computer. That would NOT be
an ideal balance for my life. It IS for him right now. I trust fully
that he will continue to learn and grow and develop to find his own
balance and passionate life.

When we talk about kids that choose many, many activities because they
are not limited, that is just ONE of the outcomes of giving them
freedom. Some choose to focus on one or two actitivies for longer
periods of time. The ideal is for the parents to honor whatever form
that freedom takes for each child. We aren't trying for some ideal
outcome other than children that have the ability to choose, the
ability to feel a sense of autonomy and a sense of self and community.

Not setting arbitrary limits is not about achieving some utopia where
the children do things the way we want. That's the antithesis of
unschooling. We're giving them freedom because it makes sense. We're
guiding them through this life with their sense of self intact because
it's the right thing to do. We're acting as facilitators because it works.

The learning that *I* had to do in order to extend the same freedoms
to my children that I expected for myself, was HUGE. The biggest part
of all this is the parents having to re-adjust their ideals! WE have
to view their activities as valuable in order for it to work.
So if you're extending freedoms to them in hopes that they will quit
doing the activities, there's a LOT more shifting to be done.

When folks post about "I let go of limits and my child played video
games constantly, but now he's starting to not be as interested,
YIPEEEE" that's a huge red flag for me.
When parents are waiting for their child to stop doing certain
activities, the freedom is all for the wrong reasons.

Once you "get" the whole RU thing deep inside your being, you don't
WANT anything other than a child that can find their own balance and
joy. If that is in video gaming, that's a good thing. If it's in
movies or hiking or chocolate or decorating or theatre or ANYTHING,
we're thrilled because it makes THEM happy.

For me, the whole "no arbitrary limits" thing is ALL about what my
child prefers. It's all about honoring what they prefer and not
letting my preferences rule the day.

Ren
learninginfreedom.com

The fog is lifting . . .

Evie and I were both fever free today, I still sound like I am 1000 years old and about to cough up a lung but hey, we are doing MUCH better! I thought I would list what we did today:

*woke up and looked at fun catalogues together (HearthSong, King Arthur and local community rec. classes)
*started a story of a receipt tape (I will post a picture when it is done)
*painted a clay pot
*Evie orgnaized her desk
*watched a movie about Picasso
*Evie read part of a Kaya Mystery (American Girl Dolls)
*I worked on recreating stuff in my computer
*played Cranium Hullabaloo
*played "Make A Word Bingo"
*Evie made a cool bracelet with a kit from her birthday
*I read a book Evie got for her birthday (I admit I read it to myself, Evie was doing something else) The book is called: A Street Through Time
*Evie jumped on the trampoline
*Evie played Polly Pockets

I am sure we did other stuff too, my recall abilities aren't all back yet!

A much more comfortable day well lived!

A mixed bag

Evie and I are both still really sick. Evie actually asked for Motrin today for the first time in her life. We had a good patch this afternoon but her fever is back up and she is asleep again.

I have had to write a lot of emails and make a few phone calls to reschedule things and I am sure the house will be a giant germ-infested disaster area by the time we are well again, but really, we are so lucky to be able to stay in bed, watch movies and snuggle.

My computer is fixed but everything on it is gone. The worst is all the photos and home movies that we lost. Scott is pretty blue about it. Life goes on.

A germy, fevery, coughing day that was still well lived!

Fevers and computer woes

Yesterday's birthday party was a smash success. Evie and her friends made an amazing castle out of cardboard boxes. It got moved to our back porch today. I absolutely loved that all of Evie's gifts from her friends were either handmade or things that the other kids owned and were giving to Evie. One little girl gave Evie a Barbie that Evie had once admired. They were all quite sweet together.

I woke up with a raging fever today and Evie succumbed this afternoon. On top of that my computer had truly died, taking with it all sorts of stuff that will be VERY hard to recreate. Not a great day but it givesus a reason to appreciate our unschooling life even more. We will take care of ourselves, get better, get help and keep going along. Enjoy the following pictures, I hope we are all up to more interesting blogging soon!

An exhausting day well lived!

Birthdays and Computer Issues

Today Evie is 6!!! And, my computer crashed!!!! There will be a momentary lull in blogging while I get it all figured out (thank goodness for our ancient laptop). Hang in there, check back tomorrow, hopefully there will be wisdom, humor and inspiration . . . or maybe just some really funny pictures!

Archimedes and Nancy Drew

Evie's grandma is in town (Scott's mom) but she is not feeling well so we are in between full-on grandma time and regular life. Evie had a double grandma day yesterday, much to her delight. They went to the University of WI Geology Museum then to a gymnastics open house and out to lunch. My mom and Evie brought the other grandma home and then went out to the farm for frolicking. We went to a great St. Patrick's Day party last night and then I got to attend the birth of a dear friend. Boy, being a doula was a great job. I can't see getting back into it any time soon though, the hours are killer!

This morning Evie and I finished the latest Nancy Drew we were reading. Nancy extricated herself from a closet using a pole as a lever. Evie said, "Hey, Archimedes! Wasn't he the bathtub and screw guy too?"
"Huh?" I asked.
"You know, displacement and all that."
"Where did you hear about that?" I asked.
"I think it was in a comic book, let's measure displacment using a measuring cup, and egg and milk."
"Okay."
Yikes! What interesting connections!

Evie turns six on Monday, I can't believe it. She is having a Paradise Island (Wonder Woman's home) themed b-day party. The main event is to be creating a castle our of old boxes. That is what she asked for, that is what she is getting. She also asked for a double chocolate cake decorated with green frosting and Wonder Woman pictures from her books. She is getting that too. She is also getting way cool presents from Scott and I. I won't write about those until "the" day!

We are going out for Indonesian food tonight with grandma. After trapeze this morning Evie came home to play with friends and they have been reenacting the Nutcracker ballet all afternoon. I have been putzing and enjoying the sunshine.

A day very well lived!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

This is a book Evie wrote as a present for her grandma's birthday. I asked her if I could post it here. She shrugged her shoulders and said "sure." Then she turned her head and grinned as if she didn't want me to see she was pleased. I love her imagination! You can click on each picture to see a bigger version, if you want to read the story.

Snow Storm - sort of

A winter storm warning was in effect for most of today - we got a slushy, wet mess of only a few inches. Evie and I read Nancy Drew off and on for most of the day while we madly cleaned and ran errands in preparation for our big grandma/birthday weekend.

In the afternoon our dear neighbors had an outdoor fire to celebrate the snow. The kids of the neighborhood made the above snowman--way awesome! (Evie is the one sitting down.)

A crazy day well lived!

So much fun!!!!

Sorry it has been a few days since I posted, we were on vacation with our neighbors! When I told people we were going on this trip with our neighbors they waited for the punchline. "No, really" I had to insist, "It is going to be awesome!" And it was! We went to Great Wolf Lodge Wisconsin Dells . We spent three days and two nights with 14 people (8 kids ages 13 months to 17 years) playing in the waterpark, playing in the game room and play maze place, eating, drinking, laughing our heads off and having SO MUCH FUN! The first night was the best as all the kids played. We all played limbo and Cranium and "What can you do with a towel," then the kids, all but the babies, starting playing Sardines. We were all exhausted at the end of each day. On the way home yesterday Evie fell asleep and slept for three hours once we got home, then another 10 hours last night. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends right on our block. The annual St. Patrick's dinner is this Friday night and we have decided to start a monthly (maybe weekly) cocktail hour with a neighborhood version of "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" being played. We have barbeques almost every week in the summer and for 6 months on winter we hosted a Soup Night in our home, Evie is so lucky to have so many families she can be a part of.

Today we started planning for Evie's b-day party! On Monday she will be 6!!!!! She is having a Paradise Island (Wonder Woman's birthplace) themed party where the main activity is going to be creating and decorating a huge cardboard castle. I will definitely post pictures.

We are getting ready for Grandma to come tomorrow, time to clean the bathrooms!

A day well lived!

At home with myself

What happened today?

We ate breakfast all together and then Scott went off to work . . . we won't see him until tomorrow.
I had to apologize to a friend for a horrible and embarassing mistake, Evie came with me.
We played in the mud at 60 degree weather.
My dad came to trapeze.
Evie tried a new hang and a whole new apparatus today--she looks so beautiful flying through the air.
We played Barbies.
Evie went to a birthday/slumber party tonight.
I am doing laundry, pointedly NOT cleaning, getting ready to go on vacation tomorrow, planning for Evie's b-day, eating chocolate chips.

I am happy and grateful for our life, I am not sure I have been home by myself at night in 6 years! All the lights are on, the cats are crawling over me and the radio is on loud!

A day well lived!

Happy Holi!

Scott's biggest trade show of the year happens this weekend. After a crazy morning of missing international FedEx boxes and car swaping and general panic I eventually went to work (thanks to my mom and Evie). Scott found his stuff and his day proceeded smoothly.

When I came home in the afternoon the whole house was decorated with bright crepe paper and signs saying "Happy Holi!" We celebrated the Hindu holiday of Holi which marks the beginning of Spring and commemorates the triumph of good over evil.

Evie and my mom had walked up to a neighborhood Indian restaurant to get various accompaniments for our meal, they talked to he restaurant owner awhile, he was very excited someone was celebrating. Part of the fun of Holi is throwing color on anyone and everyone. The colors are called "gulal" and used to be made of powdered flowers and minerals but are now mainly commercial. There are wet and dry versions and by the end of the day everyone is covered, head to toe, in color. Evie and my mom made plain white saris for everyone and after dinner we threw paint like mad! It was great! Unfortunately Scott had the camera!

A day well lived!

Evie the Brave

We went to a DNR site yesterday for a program about maple syrup and tree tapping. The guide we ended up with had no idea how to talk to children, especially ones that don't go to school. All of the adult guides at the event (except for one playing the role of an Ojibwe elder) threatened the children with testing and then laughed. The more the adults talked the more withdrawn and scared Evie looked. Luckily Evie has a good friend in this group who came with us. The friend is brave and was seemingly unaffected by all the school garbage. I am pretty sure Evie would have ended up in tears, even though I was with her the whole time, if this friend hadn't been there. I really don't want to rehash everything that was wrong with this event. We got to tap a tree, taste sap, learn about Ojibwe and Ho-Chunk history, see sap being boiled into syrup and taste syrup--those were good things.

After we left we spent some time at the home of the friend we had come with. On the drive home Evie revived and when we were at the friend's house Evie was louder, bolder and braver than I think she has ever been outside of a place she knows very, very well (i.e. our house, her grandparents house, neighbors' houses). She initiated a complicated trapping system to catch a ghost the girls were pretending about. She went into the kitchen and got things out, she even threw candy around the living room to lure the ghost, all the time talking a mile a minute. This is not all that unusual in our house, it is VERY unusual in a house she doesn't know well. I hope the other mom wasn't to put out, she seemed to be into the game too. It was like Evie had to have some MAJOR control over a situation. I am so glad it was okay to do that at this friend's house.

We did a few errands after we left the home of our friend and Evie continued to be a "take charge," bold, "move things along" kid. If you don't know her it is hard to explain how this is different from her normal self, she is usually quietly confident and competent, not quite so . . .bold I guess. She was practically sparking with energy when we got home and she flew around putting things away, wrapping some presents she had bought, writing things down, talking, talking, talking. We ate dinner and then we both collapsed. Evie watched "The Superfriends," interestingly that is always a sure sign she is exhausted. I think she likes to see other people working out major problems when she is most tired.

It was an interesting day. I am SO glad school is not a daily occurence at our house. I am so sad that school and school-talk is the status quo in our society. I am so glad Evie is a free child, a free spirit and a grounded soul. Yesterday showed me that she is becoming more confident in who she is, she is building supportive relationships outside our dyad, she is capable of working through complex emotions in creative ways and she maintains a healthy sense of humor in so many situations. I am learning a lot from her.

It was a day well lived!

Warm Snow

Connected

This blog is finally hooked into the Unschooling Blog Ring! Hurrah! I hope that brings some new folks our way. It is also now linked from here : sandradodd.com/help.

What happened in our lives today? Well it is 4:00 pm and here is what has happened so far:

*woke up early
*watched Mexico travel movie
*I worked on a project for our church (I am helping to put together a service about the wisdom of the fool and its role in helping us to facilitate change--I got to stream a lot of Colbert Report)
*watched The Incredibles
*cleaned for overnight company--Evie dusted and cleaned the windows, I vaccuumed
*Evie found a tiny atlas and asked if she could have it (of course)
*colored a world map (the continents)
*she labelled the hemispheres "occidental" and "oriental"--she had never heard those names and heard them used in our travel movie, she says they are much "fancier" than "east" and "west"
*we colored South America in stripes because that is where Evie most wants to go
*we hung the map on ceiling to "give people a new perspective on the world" (Evie's words, meaning it is a joke/play on words)
*ate lunch
*did a deck of cards workout
*Evie built a house for her Polly Pocket dolls and had a princess meeting, I worked on the computer and made a few phone calls
*read more of The Meanest Doll In the World
*Evie recently ran down the block wearing three skirts for petticoats under her nightgown, barefoot to go look for friends

We have a crazy and somewhat stressful few days coming up, we are going out to dinner tonight. I think that is all I will write for today.

It has already been a day well lived!

Isolated

We woke up to finish a mystery book. We went for a long walk in some nearby woods. My knee is still bothering me and I am grumpy at not being able to exercise in my usual manner. As we were going up a giant hill Evie said, gently, "Mama, take my hand and that way if you fall you can just lean on my shoulder!"

We went to a new house for knitting today. Evie did very well in a new place. I could see her discomfort at the way the kids talked to their mom and the fighting that went on between the siblings. More kiddos came later and I could see she was relieved not to have to be the only other kid to talk to. The game turned to a fighting game with weapons and "sides." If it is truly pretend Evie can get into it. But this game contained some real struggle between siblings and I asked Evie if she was having fun. She smiled at me gratefully and said "I will tell X we are going home in 10 minutes!" And we did.

Thankfully I had a dear friend over tonight to discuss our current "issues." We are both struggling and feeling like lone voices in the wilderness when it comes to truly respecting our children. "Unschooling" is starting to mean "homeschooling without a set curriculum." That is fine. We are leading a free life full of inquiry and challenge. Too often I get my hopes up when someone says they "unschool." They may not force their kids to memorize the times tables or tell them they can't write in cursive until 3rd grade (actually happened to Evie's friend) but they still bribe and threaten their kids. Even subtle examples of true power inequity get through to children.

My friend and I decided to start a movement we thought should be called "Women You Should Listen To." We would have buttons and pins and t-shirts that proclaim the slogans of free living. We would develop a neuralizer (a la Men In Black) that would immediately impart the contents of Alfie Kohn's Punished by Rewards into the brains of anyone we zapped. They would actually do and believe and live in a non-coercive way with their families and friends.

I know I am dreaming AND it was a day well lived!

Whatever we want

Ate breakfast
Made dresses out of big pieces of fabric
played pirates
watched the snow fall
fed the birds
decided to go sledding
tried our new sleds on a BIG hill
went to the library
reveled in the feeling of indulgence that comes from a trip to the library
read
read
read
read
watched a ballet movie
read
made brownies (suggestion from a book)
read
read
watched PBS kids
read
read
read
ate dinner
read
read

A few cartwheel shows happened in there somewhere, lots of jumping up and down at exciting parts in books, lots of other stuff I don't remember but still savor because they were our choice. We read A LOT of mysteries yesterday including a hilarious film noire send up. As we were going to sleep I said "So, tomorrow's Tuesday." Evie said, in her best mystery deducing voice "That means today must be Monday." We all fell over laughing and went to sleep.

A day well lived!

What we do

The weekend has been flying by as usual as we all do our own things. I have an injured knee and wrist so I am watching from a distance more than usual. Here are some things I have noticed this weekend:

Evie loves books. She loves to be read to, she loves to read, she loves to play with books, she loves to build with books. For the third time this week she has created a library with a friend. She has interesting categories (folk tales, bunnies, books with "special" in the title). She and the friend actually alphabetized a whole stack of books. She made library cards and she loves to have Scott and I come and make outrageous and obscure requests and see if she can find a book to fit the bill.

I was working on the computer for about 1.5 hours last night and Evie was at her desk making a book for her grandma, making me a riddle sheet and a number find card. Her spelling has changed so much in the last 6 months. Many things she spelled in her own way in September have morphed into conventional spelling. She also loves to talk by spelling now: "I l-o-v-e y-o-u- M-o-m-m-y-!" (yes, she actually says "exclamation point")

I don't like to be un-occupied. Even sitting still with a travel magazine was challenging for me this weekend. I want to list a bunch of stuff on eBay and I have the time but the auctions will end when we are out of town so I have to wait. I wish we had more money. I want to not worry about bills, I want to save for all of our futures, I want to travel and damn it, I want to but a few pretty things.

Scott will have a crazy week getting ready for a tradeshow that starts Friday.

I wonder what will happen in the days ahead--they will all be days well lived!

Losing Track of Time

I love being able to lose track of time. I love getting involved with something and not having to stop until we want to. We were reading this morning and Evie suddenly got the idea to make wings. As we were decorating them she decided that were Quetzelcoatl wings. Amazing!

We had plans with friends, the place we were going was closed, they came here and had a great time. Evie and her friend set up a library, the friend's little brother happily carried around balloons, cut paper, dumped out craft supplies and watched kitties.

Tonight we will plant some seeds for our garden. I can't believe that time is here already!

Prayer Flags, Fires and Multiplication

After a delicious dinner we set to work on our prayer flags. I researched color symbolism and chose to stick to the traditional colors and order (yellow/earth, green/water, red/fire, white/air, blue/space).

We burned all our corn cobs from feeding the squirrels and all the clementine boxes we had saved over the winter. One of the cobs must have had a great deal of moisture in the middle because is created a big jet of steam and later flame. It was very cool to watch!

Evie asked me "Mama, what is 7+7+7+7?"
"28" I replied.
"I suppose that is why 7x2 is 14 because 14 is half of 28."
"Mmhmm" I replied.
"Mama?"
"Yes Evie?"
"Why did you tell me the answer?"
"Because you asked and I knew."
"That's a good answer."
"Thanks!"

Evie and Scott are busy at work creating new superheroes. Evie has created Book Girl and Book Boy, Scott has created The Nerd, The Baker, and Sonic who, according to Evie, lives in Omaha!

We are off to bed soon. We are so lucky.

A day well lived!

Quiet Diligence

We started the morning finishing a book we started last night A Fairy Called Hilary. Then we started Akiko on the Planet Smoo. It was way too "typical school fourth grader stereotyped boy-crazy" yuck. Okay, that is my analysis of why I didn't like it. I read the first chapter and before I even said anything Evie said "Let's not read this one." She hardly ever says that. Then we started Dinosaur Habitat. It is diverting enough and fulfilled our need to read this morning.

We worked in the basement for a long time. I was making prayer flags, Evie was making Barbie clothes. Then we both made pillows. She is getting good and using the sewing machine! After lunch we read independently for awhile. She read a Superfriends comic book, I started Free Play. It is wonderful, you must read it, in makes unschooling seem like the only logical choice for living a full life.

We experimented with blowing up balloons and measuring lung capacity, we went to our dance group, Evie ran off to find neighborhood friends.

We have plans to work on our prayer flags tonight and Evie got three of her magazines in the mail today so I am sure they will be part of the evening's activities too. I have been feeling isolated in our ideals lately and have felt very blessed by Evie lately. Scott and I both commented that she has said somethings that blow us away in terms of knowledge, wisdom and articulateness--of course we can never remember the exact words after the fact!

A day . . . to be continued!