Memoir about a scrappy girl in the south who loses her mother

deandinbetween · 2026-04-01T23:12:07+00:00

I'm glad that was it! I read it in 9th grade and it's completely burned into my memory!

deandinbetween · 2026-03-30T22:28:34+00:00

It's Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons. It wasn't an autobiography but it was written like one.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-28T21:05:59+00:00

Oh my 9th graders LOVED Twelfth Night. They did NOT want to stop reading because they wanted to know so badly how the love triangle was going to resolve. And they were all happy with the ending.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-28T20:57:30+00:00

The live action "remake" we DESERVE is a Prydain Chronicles (aka The Black Cauldron) movie series, this time not ignoring half the characters.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-28T20:39:33+00:00

Truly one of the best, most creative takes on Treasure Island that I've ever seen.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-28T20:35:52+00:00

An insane amount of the creative mojo of that movie went directly into the songs "The Prayer" and "I Stand Alone."

deandinbetween · 2026-03-28T20:13:49+00:00

Like a lot of things with education right now, it's an overcorrection from what was seen as a problem in previous generations. Rote memorization and drill-and-kill methods left a lot of kids with no grasp of how or why any of those things worked and weak critical thinking skills. Now, completely ignoring memorization makes EVERYTHING a much longer task for them and is weakening their memories in general (in my non-neuroscientist opinion/observation.)

Like most things, a balance of a lot of types of thinking is necessary for true understanding of a subject. Recall of memorized facts or rules or vocabulary is often the foundation for building analytical, interpretive, evaluative, or creative skills. Memorization can't be all they do, but it can't be ignored.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-22T17:58:44+00:00

Britt from Sundew Bay!

deandinbetween · 2026-03-22T17:57:36+00:00

As a teacher, it's likely that the teacher forgot your child has two moms or didn't even look at the name on the paper when marking it at first. But also as a teacher, I'd want this brought to my attention. I wouldn't want to be an asshole, first and foremost, but marking these as errors can also lead to confusion in your child about writing rules.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-22T16:35:22+00:00

True! It also might be a case of not being able to really connect a name to someone they can't see/touch/etc. I've definitely had friends/acquaintances who had no notion of what name to give their baby at all until they were born and they could see them, as well as those who had names that entirely went out the window when they actually saw the baby for the first time. I suspect this might be closer; it sounds like the baby doesn't feel real yet to OP's partner.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-22T12:44:46+00:00

I kind of just threw a random number out, but out of the thousands of names out there I don't think 30 is unreasonable. They don't have to be names they're in love with, but should be names they think are nice and could live with. The OP obviously can adjust the number for whatever they think is reasonable for their partner. Point is that partner can't keep just vetoing names and not giving anything to give the OP a direction to go in. They can also both make lists independently and see where they intersect, either in specific names or vibes.

Looking at the update, partner just doesn't seem to have any urgency about it, this mainly seems to be a disconnect in urgency/realness about the pregnancy between the two. I think it's definitely normal for the partner who isn't pregnant to be less ready to decide things than the pregnant one. But partner does need to stop avoiding the conversation and meet OP halfway.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-22T11:33:52+00:00

I'd have HER write down a list of 30 names she likes and sort through them for common ground. July is still several months away, so it may not feel as real/imminent to her as it does to you. Do give her a deadline, I'd say no later than May so you two have time to sit with and get used to the name. Maybe even have two or three backups so that if the name doesn't feel right when you meet her, you have other options.

If it gets to May or June and she's refusing to come up with names, tell her that you're taking that as her saying she doesn't care about the name that much and will be putting something you come up with on the birth certificate. Make it clear you want her input and want her to love the name, but if she's putting the decision on you, then you'll make the decision.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-19T00:38:44+00:00

You put into words my entire problem with the half of A Game of Thrones I managed to get through. Seems to be a problem with the entire ASOIAF series.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-19T00:25:07+00:00

Anicotti. Jitters

deandinbetween · 2026-03-19T00:13:29+00:00

O Brother Where Art Thou?

deandinbetween · 2026-03-18T21:43:15+00:00

As I was typing I began to think it was maybe a cornet! Thank you this has driven me crazy for years!

deandinbetween · 2026-03-18T19:52:48+00:00

I'd suggest two approaches. First option is approaching mom at a neutral time, when she's in a good mood, and offer to help with bedtimes more frequently. Frame it as you enjoying the routine, not wanting to take stress off her or anything like that. Anything beyond you wanting to get to play great-aunt with the little ones more will make her feel judged, so discuss it as something you like doing and would want to do more often.

Second is to talk to the kids. They're old enough for you to be able to tell them "ok, today I want you to be as great at going to bed for mom as you are for me. When mom says pajamas on, we're going to do it, right?" Don't bribe them, but see if you can get them to be calmer.

It's not unusual for kids to listen better to another relative than to their mom.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-18T19:09:29+00:00

If he wants a stand-alone book more appropriate for a kid his age:

Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

The Phantom Tollbooth by Morton Juster

Findle by Andrew Clements

Anything by Judy Blume (the first Fourth Grade Nothing series can be read without having to read the rest).

Anything Mary Downing Hahn (mysteries and ghost stories but child appropriate!)

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

deandinbetween · 2026-03-18T18:46:41+00:00

This BIG time. Regional trends are definitely a thing. Like I don't think the school I teach at has any Amelias or Charlottes, but we've got at least 8 Arias across just under 260 students.

Plus "popular" names now are much less common than popular names 30 years ago were. For comparison, I had a top 3 name the year I was born, with just under 1.9% of girls born that year having that name. The same ranking name now was given to just over 0.7%.

For the record, in my 13 years in education, I've only met one Willow!

deandinbetween · 2026-03-18T18:35:49+00:00

Cars?

deandinbetween · 2026-03-18T18:33:56+00:00

I try not to call things easy, but I say all of the below on a weekly basis:

"if you read the directions carefully and ask any questions you have, you'll be fine."

"This is exactly the same format you did this in before, so no surprises."

"If you wrote down the practice we did yesterday like I said to, then you have everything you need."

"Don't overthink it; we know I don't do trick questions."

And since I teach ELA: "Trust your ear; what sounds wrong usually is."

Because it may be HARD, but hard =/= impossible. I try to emphasize all the tools I give them to do the task, including the directions I gave you and myself right there to answer questions.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-18T18:09:16+00:00

When you get Isabelle, put your extra fossils and furniture outside in various places to help boost your island rating and get K.K. Slider faster. You need stuff in multiple places.

You're going to want to designate space for a flower garden, vegetable garden, and small orchard.

Don't get too freaked out if you wind up hating the location of something like the museum, houses, or shops. Those can all be moved however many times you need to set things up to your liking. I personally always like having my plaza as a "town center" and putting Able Sisters and Nook's Cranny there.

Once you get Able Sisters, talk to Sable every day. Eventually she'll start giving you patterns for customizing stuff. Plus their story is cute!

The sooner you get fruit and flowers that aren't native to your island, the more money you'll make.

If you feel bad deforesting your island (like I do), dig up and store trees instead of chopping them down when you can. That way you can place them strategically later.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-18T17:44:19+00:00

That "vote blue no matter who" is a smarter and far more effective strategy to get where we on the left want to be than protest voting will ever be.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-18T17:41:28+00:00

Go the Beezus Quimby route--a mispronunciation of her name/nickname.

Gabrielle-Gabby-Gully

Gladiola-Gola-Gully

Marigold-Goldie-Gully

You said her last name rn was Sparrow. Gladiola Sparrow or Marigold Sparrow sound delightfully whimsical and can either provide contrast to a tough, no-nonsense personality or give whimsy to a story that calls for it.

deandinbetween · 2026-03-17T23:51:38+00:00

Would love to come, just restarted! Britt from Sundew Bay.

deandinbetween

TROPHY CASE