It was Christmas Eve, “I just want to look at them one more time” she said as I put on my pajamas. We crept into the girls’ room. Regina had rolled out of her blanket, I watched Annie tuck the blanket back around her. Reg barely stirred. I watched her then turn around and stroke a lock of hair out of Lyd’s face, she haphazardly swatted at Annie’s hand and rolled over, she never stopped snoring. We stood back and…
Yesterday I had a major parenting breakthrough! At least I think I did (I’m starting to rethink my use of that last exclamation point) Once upon a time getting Lyd to get ready for school was an exhausting exercise that resulted in barely avoiding the futility train on a daily basis. It was maddening! Telling her to speed up caused her tempo to drop by 60%. I’m amazed her voice didn’t deepen along with the slow-down. Sometimes I really do…
Annie was in the kitchen canning. This meant I was on daughter duty. It’s a lot like being a soccer goalie. The girls are represented as the soccer balls, and the goal is the kitchen. I post myself in front of the kitchen entrance and I just keep throwing them back into play. After a while their fascination with whatever Annie is doing dies out and they make themselves content in the living room. This gives me a chance to…
Last year Annie and I took the girls to the School Book Fair. We went in there planning on buying two books, knowing we would buy three books. We’re pushovers when it comes to books. Decisions were made, Annie took them up for checkout. When this happened, Lyd suddenly grew desperate to grab… Just. One. More. Thing. She held up a Halloween-Sized package of red licorice. I rolled my eyes, counted to ten, and became weak. “Fine.” I said, “Run…
Late last week we put our Christmas Tree up. In a way, I think our tree tells the story of us. It’s not a serene or regal thing with white lights and perfectly placed ornaments. It’s not about to make the cover of some domestic living magazine. It has multi-colored lights and some beautiful ornaments along with some quirky ornaments that were purchased simply because they cracked us up. Then there are the monstrosities, the ones that are crudely crafted…
As we were heading Home from Thanksgiving weekend, my phone beeped, it was a text from Dad. “Huh.” I said. “What’s up?” Annie asked. “Dad texted me, he wants me to give him a call when it’s convenient. I’ll give him a call after we’re home, unpacked and settled.” “What do you think he wants?” “Winter Is Coming.” “Ha Ha.” Game of Thrones reference aside, for northerners this is a real thing. When the first taste of the cold season…
I sometimes wonder what my thoughts would have been if pre-parent me were to be given a glimpse of modern me. What would he be thinking? He, (pre-parent me) would witness me (modern me) taking out the trash: “What’s with the long tubular blue-tinted trash bag?” He thought. I stopped and looked at him with a wry smile, “This is poop!” “Did you just read my mind?” “I didn’t need to. You are me. I just know what you’re thinking.”…
Minivan Conversations Vol I Lydia had goats on her mind, “Did you know that goats make milk?” Annie replied, “Yes I did know that.” “We could own a goat, and we won’t have to buy milk again. We could also make cheese with the milk.” “I know that too. Good idea!” “And the goat could eat the grass so that you won’t have to mow grass.” I spoke to Annie, “I’ve said it a few times, I’ll say it again,…
incident-report It was nearly 2:30 in the morning. I was in a deep sleep (well a “parental” deep sleep, not very deep). The baby monitor was making a sound—it was Regina. “Ugh.” I thought, “Is Reg trying to wake everyone because she’s awake?” No. She sounded upset. “Another nightmare” I thought, “She’s been having bad dreams ever since we watched that Harry Potter movie. Better go reset her.” With a groan I began rolling out of bed. She cried again….
In case anyone hasn’t heard, Bob Ross’s show, Beauty is Everywhere, is now on Netflix. I have some wonderful memories of his programs. They were so deceptive. Seriously, think about it—It’s a guy, painting. But then you start watching, and watching some more. Suddenly your coffee mug is empty, it needs to get refilled, but you can’t get up to refill it. Why? Because you HAVE to see how he makes the clouds look so freaking fluffy! Suddenly an hour…