Homework Night

A year from now, my daughter will be ensconced in college somewhere and ordinary evenings like this one will be a sweet memory. Seeing her hard at work on her English Lit paper last night, I suddenly wanted to record the moment. Everything is all blurry and soft but I prefer that to the cold blue light of a camera flash.

The painting above her head was done by one of her best friends. It's a portrait of the two of them, gullies for life, they say, and he painted it from a black-and-white photo of them laughing hard, and then presented it to her for her last birthday. Her dad and I were intrigued and charmed by the way he even captured the wayward tuft of hair that habitually shoots up from her hairline (although it seems to have been tamed here). She had another painting on that wall, one of glorious sunflowers, but she removed it and put her friend's painting in the honored spot instead.

In the middle of working, a song she was feeling came on her iPod. You can't really see it but in this picture, she's clapping her hands and rhythmically rotating her feet (see the blur of movement) and singing along, all while editing her paper. The girl knows how to multitask!

Finally homework was done and she was all, Mom, let's watch our shows, cue up the DVR, I want to be in bed by 11 pm. With absolutely no input from her parents, she now puts herself to bed by midnight each night, having determined that she needs a minimum of 6 hours of sleep to function well the next day. Here she is watching Survivor and marveling at a bone-headed move by Ozzy. I love that she ignores my camera. I wish the rest of my cohorts would do the same. Night, berry girl. Sweet dreams.