“Years ago a couple came into [the French Laundry]. They said, “Thomas, this reminds me of –” and they gave a very emotional description of an experience they had at a restaurant in France. And it’s about the memories we have –at the end of the day it’s our memories that we hold near and dear to us.” –Thomas Keller That’s really it. Isn’t it? There can be as many reasons why people eat and why they cook as there…
“So…one of these days, soon, you’ll be graduating to sleeping in a big girl bed, just like Lydia!” “No.” replied Regina. “No?” I was incredulous. “What do you mean no? Your entire M.O. has been about growing up and out of your tiny little body. Getting out of the crib and into an actual bed is a pretty big part in this whole growing up thing.” “I Love my crib. I want my crib forever.” “Well…okay. For now. I’ll hold…
“Daddy?” “What’s up Hun?” “Can I get a fidget spinner?” She finally got around to asking for a fidget spinner. This question was a “when” issue, not an “if” issue. I knew this moment would come. I let loose with a resigned sigh and smiled. “You’ve earned the allowance. Sure.” “Yay!” I’ve been noticing these things, these fidget spinners on my news feeds for a while now. I think it has nearly run its course. Stage one: you see nothing…
I remember her first day of first grade. She wanted to make an impression that day–she wanted to wear her “gold” boots, they were a size too big but she was very proud of them. We all walked her to school that morning. Her aunt got her a backpack, a huge backpack with a garish purple (of course) design, her initials stitched in. She was so proud, so bold, she spoke in such platitudes of all the things she was…
Recently I stumbled across a Dad’s forum debate regarding two-piece bathing suits on little girls. For the most part, members were against them. Some made comments about the sexualization of children. Others posted about creepers and perverts who think horrible things. A couple opinions stated that there is absolutely no reason ever for a two piece bathing suit on a little girl. I don’t really believe in absolutes, and I tend to believe there is nearly always a function in…
On this Mother’s Day, I’m thinking about the news. Most news stories seem to be incredibly negative. Terrorist bombings, beheadings, shootings, hurtful remarks, all of it coming from hate. If you believed everything the news tells you, you’d guess the entire world is about to collapse in on itself–consumed by hate. I choose to not give these stories much attention. Sure, I’ll listen, watch, read enough to know what happened but then I walk away. Hatred is an emotion that…
Stay-At-Home parenting is unrelenting The hours of a Stagehand are moody and erratic Spring is the busy season. Spring is when “unrelenting” clashes with “moody and erratic”. This is the time of year where I find myself tired to the point where I begin thinking things like, “Am I looking at something real or is this a hallucination?” Due to my high volume of work, my domestic duties suffer, only doing half the laundry (despite what I desperately tell myself)…
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…