Another evening petting a stranger’s dog

“Do you want to go?”“No.”“You’ll have fun. You’re going.” “I’m a teacher. My partner is a principal.”“I’m a software engineer.”“Same.”“Same.”Everyone connects to a hivemind and simultaneously turn toward me: “What do YOU do?”“I’m just a mom.”<- stunned silence ->“How nice for you.” “That was fun. I don’t know why you didn’t want to go.”

Nostalgia for what

Every year on this day, the ‘America was love and brotherhood on 9/12/01’ memes get plastered on social media. I can understand people who were children on 9/11 thinking this. The adults saying it need to do some serious reflection about how they experienced the day and weeks after 3000 people were murdered on live […]

Anniversary post mortem

Didn’t get a self esteem enhancing tattoo. Didn’t get to admire the Tattoo Con artists like a live art museum. No surprise tickets to a book convention. The entirety of our anniversary celebration was me reading a book while the husband juggled with scary clowns. A guy dressed like a 13-y-o going trick or treating […]

thank you, villagers

I joke about my disinterest in sports, but I really do feel bad that neither the husband nor I can help the youngest child with his basketball skills. Today, not one, but two different adults in two different locations witnessed his basketball play and stepped up to gently teach him. You both made my mascara […]

Hell is other drivers

I like driving. I don’t like other drivers. It’s the main reason I disagree with the girl teen’s insistence that I be the person who gives her driving lessons. “Don’t trust any other driver on the road. They’re likely to do anything at any time.” I don’t want her to have my hangups with driving. […]

Best customer treatment

Between the husband’s keyboard building/collecting and the oldest child’s woodcraft hobby, the mail carrier totes packages to our door every week. Last week, the mail carrier told the youngest child that we are his best customer. The child and his father found that much funnier than I did. The youngest child expected his new school […]