A couple years ago, as I was loading Sophie into the van after a morning of half-day kindergarten, two men approached me. Their car had run out of gas on 27 and they wondered if I would give them a ride to a gas station. I believe most people are good and kind. I give […]
I love this season of innocence. Even when it’s not so jolly. This weekend we cut down our Christmas tree and I was reminded of the look on Owen’s face in a picture I took last December, a picture I now love. I was reminded of how hard things were mid-December, last year. How un-jolly […]
• He discovered he had hair on his arms (Owen). • The framed picture on his bedside table shows him wearing long sleeves and long pants, but he wants to be wearing short sleeves and shorts—in the picture (James). • Snow got into his mitten (Owen). • Only half the puppy tattoo stuck to her hand […]
As a writer mom I’m much more likely to tell you about the time I had to carry both screaming boys out of Joseph-Beth, one under each arm, while fellow book shoppers shook their heads than I am about the time everyone sat quietly at a restaurant. I believe stories of my parenting mistakes and […]
My husband loves Reddit. This morning, he told me about a thread and he said it was one of the saddest things he’s ever read. The question was,”What is your favourite ‘technically correct’ fact?” Someone responded: “At some point in your childhood, your parents put you down and never picked you up again.” We had […]
This gem was from May. Blame Sophie. But gosh that was a fun afternoon. A really, really, really fun afternoon. And it’s sometimes nice to remember those fun afternoons after evenings like tonight. Evenings in which my dear, hardworking husband didn’t come home until 6:40pm and instead of finding dinner on the table found me, […]
Found this gem in the bathroom tonight. DrDE tlow = DIRTY TOWEL “Parenthood: That state of being better chaperoned than you were before marriage.” —Marcelene Cox
I could have renewed my driver’s license this morning, while the kids were at school. But I had editing to do and I love my quiet/coffee/home-alone time. Plus, I thought, the kids would get a kick out of helping me on the errand. I could teach them about licenses and the responsibility that comes with […]
I’m at my wit’s end. Owen is completely trained—day and night. James James James! No. 1, great. No. 2, refuses. He hides and then comes to us, hands covering his eyes and whispers what he’s done. We have tried e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. For months. Many, many months. We’ve tried charts—three different charts—each with different goals and rewards. […]
This morning James ran into our bedroom in a flurry, ripped open the blinds and screamed, “IT’S MORNING TIME!”. He then turned on the radio, switched on the lights, jumped on top of me and yelled, “GET UP, LAZY BONES!”. And it wasn’t just this morning. It’s every morning. Boundless energy, that boy has—boundless. “No […]
![The kiddos at First Unitarian Church are collecting books for students at South Avondale School to help fill the free bookstore our church sets up at the school regularly. If you have gently used or new books you'd like to donate, please let me know and I’ll come by and pick them up! We mostly need Pre-K/K (board books, concept books [ABCs, shapes], not lots of large hardcover picture books), early readers, early chapter books and blank journals. Because of the importance of children seeing mirrors of themselves in these books, diversity is key. Thanks!!](https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/vp/1b0de463b3b6651ce328e04c69eefb61/5DAF8772/t51.2885-15/e35/p320x320/65600510_490323258372040_2015424398939439067_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent.cdninstagram.com "The kiddos at First Unitarian Church are collecting books for students at South Avondale School to help fill the free bookstore our church sets up at the school regularly. If you have gently used or new books you'd like to donate, please let me know and I’ll come by and pick them up! We mostly need Pre-K/K (board books, concept books [ABCs, shapes], not lots of large hardcover picture books), early readers, early chapter books and blank journals. Because of the importance of children seeing mirrors of themselves in these books, diversity is key. Thanks!!")
