A LEGO Christmas

This Christmas, my husband, Dan, and I reverted to our childhood. Maybe we were pining for a simpler era, considering we're in the midst of the #2020pandemic, or maybe we have more time to play with toys right now.  As GenX-ers, we know how to entertain ourselves while stuck at home for hours on end. 

 

Our nephew loves LEGOs, and before 2020, when we could travel and gather with out-of-town family, Dan enjoyed helping him put them together. Of course, our nephew doesn't need help anymore, so when we got him a LEGO set this year, he constructed it within a few hours of receiving it. 

 

"Our LEGO boy!" my sister-in-law commented. "I forgot to tell you, last night before bed he said, 'Whenever I go to Aunt Becky’s she gives me more LEGOs because she loves me sooo much!'”

 

(He is right about me loving him soooo much!)

 

He worked really hard on this one, I was told.

That brings us to Dan, a difficult guy to shop for. He likes practical things, not gag gifts. 

 

As he says, "I don't like gifts that are funny for one day and then never get used again. It's a waste of money and resources." 

For example, upon seeing a picture of some family members in matching Christmas pajamas, I told Dan I needed to buy him some of those. This did not go over well.

 

I suppose I agree with him from an economic and an environmental standpoint though.

Of course, he doesn't mind getting video games, puzzles, or other fanboy toys (mostly Star Wars).

 

Dan had been having so much fun building LEGOs with our nephew. He looked kind of sad when he couldn't help put together LEGOs this year. 

So . . . I bought Dan a set of LEGOs for Christmas, Star Wars LEGOs to be exact. 

 

About a week later, I don't remember the context, but Dan made some comment about not wanting LEGOs. (He probably thought it was impractical.)

But he must have forgotten about that Christmas morning. When he opened his gift, he exclaimed, "It's an X-Wing Fighter!" 

 

He looked at the box a little closer and gasped, "It's Poe Dameron's X-Wing Fighter!"

 

I texted my sister-in-law, "Uncle Dan got LEGOs for Christmas too."

 

As I was texting her, he called out from the living room, "Wow! It shoots things too!"

 

Of course, I like to get toys on Christmas too. This year, I asked for the Holiday Barbie because I thought she looked like Belle.

 

Faithful readers might remember I was Belle once upon a time . . . in my pre-middle age days.

 

 

Oh, and we started watching the second season of The Mandalorian this Christmas. Do you see a (very Star Wars) theme here?

#nospoilers

 

 

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.

Duggan Family (Socially Distanced) Christmas Letter 2020

Greetings from Dan and Becky Duggan! We hope you are staying safe and healthy.

Well . . . 2020 . . . What can I say? This year has certainly had its challenges. I almost decided against writing a Duggan Christmas Letter this year. I didn’t write one last year due to my busy holiday music schedule, but—boy—I did NOT know what the following year had in store for us.

Then I looked through my pictures from the year, and I realized we (and by we, I mean “I”) need to be reminded of the positives. That is not to negate the struggles and, in some cases, tragedy we have faced within our families and our communities over the past year. You are all in my thoughts. ♥️

Because I didn’t write a 2019 Christmas letter, I didn’t get a chance to tell you about the wonderful opportunity I had to tour Europe with our Cathedral Choir under the direction of Dr. Paul Aitken in June 2019.

And early in 2020, Dan and I had some fun playing in the snow.

Our school district shut down in March, the week before my 5th and 6th grade students were set to perform their annual spring musical. 

Dan, still a software engineer at HP, has been working from home ever since. I started hosting singalongs for my students and anyone else who wanted to join on Facebook Live. 

The year of working remote and virtual music was born. (By the way, recording yourself singing is WAY more stressful than performing in front of a live audience!)

However, I did perform in one live production. In June, I reprised the role of Florence Vassy in Chess, a role I also portrayed in 2015. It was a different experience this time around with temp checks, socially distanced, masked audiences, and a self-quarantine of two weeks afterward. I was grateful for the opportunity to perform live musical theater one more time before taking a year (or longer) off.  

One of my favorite things to do this summer was explore Idaho’s great outdoors with my brother, Steve, and his family, Kali, Desmond, and Benny. We went hiking with them around the Twin Falls area and celebrated Desmond’s fifth birthday at the Boise Zoo. Dan and I also did some biking and hiking day trips throughout the summer.

Dan and I wish you all the best this holiday season. We hope you have a chance at a nice, cozy Christmas and a Happy (here’s hoping) New Year!

Love,
Becky and Dan

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.

Gratitude From the Mouths of Babes

Before Thanksgiving break, I asked my students to list what they were thankful for (which we then played on sticks as a rhythmic ostinato—music nerd stuff).

 

 

As we completed this exercise, I realized that my students' gratitude had not been hampered by a pandemic. 

 

"These kids show so much appreciation for the things in their lives," I thought. "Adults could learn a lot about true thanksgiving from these children."

 

So, adults, here is today's lesson in gratitude, straight from the mouths of babes.

 

 

Mrs Duggan: List two to four things you are thankful for this year.

 

Students:  

• I’m thankful for a roof over my head.
• For the best school.
• For the teachers and specials.
• I’m also thankful for friends and family.
• My pets, for being there.
• Clothing.
• I am thankful for the food on the table each night.
• FRIENDS for getting me through all this and being there for me.
• Music.
• Hospitals.
• That I'm safe.
• That I can enjoy the small and free pleasures of life.
• For my grandma's Corvette. Do you know what a Corvette is, Mrs. Duggan?   
  

Then one stormy, rainy day before the break, it was announced the kids would be having indoor recess for the day. Some of my first graders groaned.  

 

"I don't mind the rain," one little boy said "because after the rain, you get to see the rainbow."  

 

Life Lesson #454: Don't forget to look for the rainbow . . . 

 

 For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.

Madam Vice President!

 

 

My husband, Dan, was uncharacteristically anxious in the days leading up to and following the presidential election. I was anxious too, but that is my regular state-of-being. 

 

Both of us felt as though there was a lot at stake this time around. In some ways, especially in the wake of our nation's horrendous pandemic statistics, we felt as though it was a matter of life and death. 

The Saturday after the election, the presidential race had not been called, and Dan and I went for a run on the city Greenbelt. I put my phone on Do Not Disturb, so I could enjoy my time in nature. (I have been using my Do Not Disturb setting often . . . for mental health reasons.)

 

At the end of the jog, as I was stretching and not checking my phone, I heard Dan gasp. 

 

“Biden won! It's been called!” 

 

I turned my notifications on, and my screen blew up (figuratively) with texts from family members, friends, and headlines from reputable news outlets.

 

"We're back in Paris Climate Accord! We're back in the WHO!" I exclaimed. "We're going to get the Coronavirus under control!" 

“Maybe I should have waited until we were in the car . . " Dan said.

 

“I don’t care that we’re standing in a red neighborhood! Dreamers won’t be deported! DACA might be expanded! Other countries will like us again!"

 

Then the big realizations hit:

 

"No more Betsy Devos! Jill Biden is pro-public education! WE HAVE A FEMALE VICE PRESIDENT!” 

 

A fisherman appeared on the hill next to the river. I shut my mouth.

 

"What did you see?" he asked. 

 

"Biden won," Dan replied.

 

"That's it then," he sighed and walked back to his fishing spot.

"That was relatively uneventful. Maybe everyone else will take it that well," I hissed at Dan.

"Don't count it."

Of course, we all know how that turned out.

 

Aside from that initial outburst, I did not find myself celebrating as much as others. I actually cried quite a bit that Saturday. I cried tears of relief after witnessing four years of fear mongering and vitriol and hero worship of a seemingly amoral human being. 

 

I also cried tears of joy after a lifetime of watching women inch closer to U.S. presidency, only to be denied, while women across the globe have been elected as national and world leaders for decades.

 

 

As a little girl, I woke up every morning to a plaque on my bedroom wall that read, "Girls Can Do Anything."

 

I grew up listening to—and wearing out—Free to Be, You and Me on vinyl, hot pink album cover. I could probably still sing most of the songs by heart.

All of these things were courtesy of my mother. 

 

My mother introduced me to the writings of Gloria Steinem and Betty Freidan. She had me read The Cinderella Complex as a teen.

 

When Geraldine Ferraro ran with Walter Mondale on the Democrat ticket in 1984, my Republican mother admitted it would be cool to see a woman that close to the presidency.

 

(Personally, I didn’t feel that way about Sarah Palin in 2008. John McCain was a stand-up guy, and I truly respected him. But Palin was the first sign the crazy had arrived and could actually amass a substantial gun-toting base.)

I wish my mother was alive to see this.

I'm not sure she would have voted for a Democrat, but I'm 99.9% sure Trump would not have gotten her vote either. My mother did not appreciate misogyny or grammatically incorrect sentences.

 

 

On Sunday, I announced, “I’m wearing my NASA shirt in honor of science being a thing again!”

 

Everything is still in chaos. Although there might be some lingering denial by the time this post is published, this much is true:

 

We have our first female vice president-elect, as well as our first Black and South Asian vice president-elect.

And she is speaking!

 

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.

A Very COVID Halloween

So . . . this Halloween was different. Halloween seems like such a weird holiday anyway, one in which we encourage kids to go to strangers' houses and beg for candy. 

 

Normally, we DON'T want children to take candy from the man in the white van, but I guess Halloween doesn't count?

 

Still, my husband, Dan, and I have always handed out candy to the kiddos, and we're nice strangers. Our neighborhood is a pretty popular place for trick-or-treaters, and we enjoy checking out the costumes every year. 

.

The Halloweens of our past

 

"Kids have way better costumes nowadays than we did," Dan says every year.

Children of the '80s will recall that our store-bought costumes consisted of what amounted to a trash bag worn over the body and a flimsy plastic mask. You may also recall the big razor-blades-in-your-candy scare. I seem to remember our hospital would even X-ray children's candy. As a child of this era and a child of a somewhat overprotective mother, I was never allowed to trick-or-treat traditionally.

 

This year, since we're in the middle of a pandemic and everything, Dan and I decided not to hand out candy. We decided not to do anything.

 

A lot of people got creative and built candy chutes and ziplines or set up a station with pre-wrapped baggies, but that seemed like way too much work. 

 

 

 

Photo from The Today Show

Fun fact: I will only do Halloween if it doesn't inconvenience me.

During the early afternoon of Halloween, I thought we might be on the receiving end of more pranks this year. 

 

"Kids don't have anything to do this year except prank people," I said to Dan. 

 

A kid in a big grass camouflage costume, apparently called a "Ghillie Suit," ran up to our front door, rang our bell, and waved at the camera. Then he lay in our lawn for a bit.

 

Dan stared at him from the front window, and the kid ran off eventually. It was kind of hilarious.

 

We did have a few trick-or-treaters show up around 7:00. They rang the doorbell even though we had the blinds closed, and we didn’t have the porch light on. At that point, we turned off our interior lights as well.

 

"Their lights are off too," we heard a little girl say.

 

The boy stared into our camera for a few seconds.

“There's people inside. I don't think they're opening it up though," he said, and then they left.

 

"I seriously don’t want to spend all night, sitting in the dark in my own house," I grumbled.

 

But that's what we ended up doing.

After the trick-or-treater incident, I made a sign. It was so dark by the time I posted it, I'm not sure anyone could read it.

 

All in all, the neighborhood seemed quiet this year. Every once in a while, we heard a few kids go by. 

 

We did miss seeing the kids in costume this year.

 

I did see some cute costumes though. 

 

My school created a video of our students dressed up for Halloween. And we got into the Halloween spirit in the music room, of course.

A few trick-or-treaters walked by our house that night, and Dan and I were able to check out their costumes from the dark in our office. Now that I put that in print, we sound a little creepy.

And if you missed seeing cute kids dressed up for Halloween in this blog post, here are my adorable nephews in their Dan-approved super hero costumes. 

 

 Now Dan and I are off to buy ourselves a bag of discounted Halloween candy.

 

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.

Funny Kids . . . Even In Masks

 

 

I would like to go on record and say I have major reservations about teaching in person, especially now that our county has been moved to the "red" category.

I would also like to state that I support the teachers in our neighboring district that are making tough choices regarding "sick out" days while at the same time receiving loads of negative sentiment from the usual suspects. (We are in Idaho, after all.)

In recent weeks, I have also been the subject of hurtful online comments from complete strangers regarding a picture that circulated of me wearing the proper PPE as our district reopened to in-person learning. 

 

I feel for you, my fellow educators.

 

By the time this blog post publishes, I am not even sure what format my job will have taken, but as of now, I am teaching an in-person A/B schedule four days a week. My classes consist of thirty-minute sessions of, for the most part, ten students, meaning I see over four hundred kids a week.

 

Despite my reservations about the safety of my students, my colleagues, and myself, I still love seeing the kids. 

I collected some of my favorite moments as a mode of self-care, occasionally focusing on the funny stuff to take my mind off of the more worrisome aspects. This isn't, by any means, meant to make light of the situation we are in right now.

 

My nephew started kindergarten this year. The town his family lives in started school in person at the beginning of the year. (They have since moved to a hybrid model). 

 

I was trying to get a sense of what other music teachers were doing in class, especially when the science has discouraged singing and the sharing of instruments. 

 

So I consulted the five-year-old.

 

"She has more than one instrument . . . like . . . one hundred. [We wore] baggy gloves. [The instrument] had a metal ball, and you hit it with your hand, and it made a rattly . . . l-l-l-l-l . . ." 

 

He shook his head around as he made a rattle noise.

(BTW: It turns out he played a vibraslap.)

 

 

A couple of weeks later, I was seeing my students in person for the first time. I had worked with all of them online, but, especially for the kindergartners, this was the first time many of them were meeting me in the flesh.

 

As my first group of full day kindergartners walked to music, I could hear snippets of their conversation.

 

"Mrs. Duggan is sooo fun!!!!" 

 

"I wonder how Copy Cat is doing?"

 

(Copy Cat is more popular than I am. Also, he decides if the classes earn stars for their behavior.)

 

Now when they come to music, one little girl always asks, "How is it going over there, Copy Cat?"

 

Another little student gasps every time I greet them at the door, as though she hasn't seen me in years (even though she's only five) and yells, "HI MRS DUGGAN!!!!" 

 

My celebrity status from only seeing me online hasn't worn off yet. I'm basically a Tik Tok star.

 

 

One first grader spent an entire music class spinning around in circles. That was awesome.

Another shook his hips during an entire song, no matter what the instructions were. The song said, "Clap your hands," and he shook his hips. Then it said, "Flap your wings," and he shook his hips.

 

 

This last one doesn't seem super safe, but I haven't figured out a way to stop it . . . 

 

I have caught more than a few little ones pulling their masks down to pick their noses. And then they eat it. 

 

Yep. #truestory 

 

Some things never change.

 

But kids, seriously:

 

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.