When I’m not at Home raising our daughters, I work as a Stagehand. These days I work pretty much exclusively as a Truck Loader. We empty the trucks in the morning and we reload them at night, after the performance. For the most part I like my job. Loaders work in small teams of four. We’ve been working together for a long time, there’s a lot of trust. We know how the other thinks and moves, hence not much talk…
The mind of a seven year old is a delightful and maddening thing. They understand stories, but not plot. They understand game rules, but don’t bother thinking about the long term effects of those rules. Their approach to creating order from chaos is to add more chaos. I think they see it as a full-circle sort of concept—just keep piling it on! I watch Lyd getting mired in rules and plot twists that are convoluted, shape-shifting and they move in…
One of the greatest things about parenting is simply watching them growing and learning and discovering the delights and wonders of life. The heartbreaking side of that is knowing that they will also be discovering the flip side of those delights and wonders, like rejection, bullying and not always winning. It can be a struggle to stay on that fine line of preparing her for life’s disappointments without casting a negative light on life itself. This is a particular issue…
“Maybe I can run the girls out to my parents place, you can be left alone to pack undisturbed. Then we take off?” “That sounds wonderful! Before you go downstairs, do I look okay in this dress?” (Does she look okay in that dress)… “Our twelfth anniversary is coming up.” “Good God! It’s been Twelve years already?” “Daddy? Regina is climbing on top of the couch again.” “Daddy? Wydia hit me” “Regina! It’s time to sit on the potty!” “No!”…