It’s been a hell of a week here in the US. The kids are paying attention and asking a lot of questions that have no good answers. Usually when I shut off the TV in exasperation, it’s been blaring Disney sitcoms or the latest teen drama for hours; this week it’s been the news. I watch my kids questioning, feeling compassion for the victims, putting together their own conclusions, and realizing that the world is a scary place. . .which some of them knew, some suspected, and one had no idea at all.

Why would somebody even want to blow people up?

Is this because of North Korea?

Does this mean we’re at war now?

Why does everybody hate us?

Did the same people attack that factory in Texas?

Elvis tried to poison the president?

And as we checked in with our friends in Boston and breathed a sigh of relief when we touched base, it was a short-lived relief and I was filled with conflicted guilt because I was happy that I didn’t have to go through the same first-hand pain as someone else, not yet. It reminded me of this post I read several months ago on Larry Hehn’s blog: Someone Whom You Don’t Know.

Politics, terrorism, and disasters are not only outside the scope of my blog, they’re barely within the scope of my parenting. I struggle for words both there, and here. But we do our best to give them answers, or at least ask them other questions.

We make it a point to tell each other when we hear a good story about someone helping someone else out. We make it a point to try and make each other laugh.

That’s truly the extent of what I can say about this week in the US. So now I’m gonna talk about Narwhals.

I just recently- like last year- learned that Narwhals are actual animals, not mythical creatures.

And I learned about it off of someone else’s blog.

My kids, however, knew. Whereas I first heard about Narwhals in the Archie McPhee catalogue (hence my confusion as to their legitimacy), my kids were taught about Narwhals in school.

That’s your tax dollars at work right there. Or at least mine.

Last week while I was reading some Harry Potter to #5, he kept interrupting me to show me the Narwhal sculpture he was making out of Silly Putty. Over and over. And over.

Here’s a link to the Narwhal song. I had never heard past the first verse until I saw this. It’s kind of hilarious (repeats after 35 seconds, so it’s also a quick view).

Speaking of dramatic sea life, do you know about the Mantis Shrimp? Click this link. Don’t let the “shrimp” fool you. It’s completely badass and terrifying. At the end of the piece are a couple of videos: one of the Mantis Shrimp breaking glass to get to a crab and one of it kicking the crap out of a different crab (think: Heavyweight Championship on Pay-Per-View).

This is the best damn post about parenting an autistic child that you’ll read this month: Autism: It’s How We Roll…and Spin…and Rock…and Whine on “Jen” e sais quoi Also, April is Autism Awareness Month.

Here are 18 Dogs Whose Beds Were Stolen by Cats.

And, because levity is the only thing that IS within the scope of this blog, The Problem With One-Night Stands in Locked-Down Boston on Esquire.