Month: June 2011

My Geoff says:

1. Scoot back. 2. Brush. 3. Bathe. 4. Show me your homework. 5. Unplug now. 6. Clean up this mess. 7. I love you.

Stormy sleeping

This is how we have slept for the past three nights. If this week’s weather is the new normal, then I am going to add a twin bed to our bedroom. The children and dogs can twirl, kick and *pee in our bed. Doug and I will snuggle in the twin bed. *There’s a very […]

storm cellar vs basement

My mother’s parents lived in Natchez Trace Park, just outside of Parsons, TN. We spent many weekends at my grandparents’ house to “help” with the farm. Every summer, my brothers and I would spend an entire week there while my mother reorganized every square inch of our bedrooms without us at home to interrupt. The […]

Reading

I don’t know what helped Tommy learn how to read. Since he had a ‘do worksheets or I’ll shrug’ teacher for Kindergarten, I know that he didn’t learn to read at school. At home, we did flashcard drills, watched a million hours of PBS, drew letters in shaving cream and wrote with chalk or crayons […]

Dog tales

When I sit down at my computer, the dogs consider it a challenge to become the objects of my attention. They sneak up and smack my mouse hand with their heads. They lick my elbows. They put their heads in my lap and make sad eyes. They lick my elbows. They toss their metal food […]

Still feral

Amy: “Mom! Evan’s on the trampoline.” Me: “Okay.” Amy: “He’s *naked.” Every window in the house is like a television whose channel can’t be changed, so I went to the trampoline channel/window. Tiny clothing was scattered on the ground in a pattern that could only be caused by tossing the clothing off of the trampoline. […]

How to: dust houseplants

1. While moving furniture to sweep, notice the dust on the leaves of a houseplant. 2. Spray furniture polish on an old shirt/new dust rag. 3. Beginning at the top of the plant, gently wipe the top surface of each leaf. 4. Discover dried splash of what appears to be the children’s gogurt. 5. Gently […]