8-year-old Amy carefully wrote the name of each classmate on a valentine. Some of the i’s were dotted with hearts. She signed her name to each one with extraneous swirls on her y’s. The list of names was doubled checked and the cards were tucked gently in a ziploc bag until Monday. 5-year-old Evan grumbled […]
Best ways to wake up: Amy insisting that I feel her socks. “They’re so fluffy!” Evan singing a Turkey song. “Gobble, gobble, gobble.” The smell of bacon cooking in the kitchen.” Worst ways to wake up: “I think I swallowed my loose tooth.” “Noah’s having a nosebleed.” The smell of urine. Best snooze button: A […]
Let’s be completely honest. We drive to get anywhere. Sure, the teens might walk for ice cream once in a blue moon and the children roam the cove heavily, but anytime we need to go somewhere or do something, there is a car involved. Once we parked the car in the airport garage, the rules […]
In a month, we are taking the youngest children on a mini-adventure. The part of the adventure they can’t stop talking about is their first ride in an airplane. As with all things that involve children, there is much behind the scenes planning involved. I’m not an experienced flier, but I think I have the […]
Many years ago, I took my oldest daughter for her yearly checkup at the pediatrician. Harmless questions about diet, exercise and television were followed by a question about puberty, I answer her that for fitness I exercise everyday and use a waist training underbust corset to help with my weight. In response to the answer, […]
Mail, FedEx and UPS drivers understand small children excitedly competing to be the person who “gets” the mail or package. Whenever possible, they thoughtfully divide the delivery among the small outstretched hands. Today, the “UPS store,” as my children call it, brought two small packages. The driver handed one to each 5-year-old. Evan raced in […]
Two large German Shepherd dogs give lots of love, but they also leave a lot of mess. One of our dogs hides in the forest to make her mess. The other dog? She doesn’t care about privacy or the perfect spot. She goes anywhere. Since she, umm, walks it out, it is literally everywhere in […]
Doug: “Why is every child in the neighborhood in our house? Send them outside before the walls crumble.” Me: “I need the noise. The laughing, crying, playing and squabbling noise is important. Doug: “As you wish.”
A few weeks ago, I spent an afternoon at the pediatric dentist. Based on the crowd in the waiting room, the staff was working with a full schedule of small, wiggly children. My personal goal was to keep Evan calm and cooperative. Sitting still is not his forte. In short time, we were called back […]
In the wee hours of the morning, I heard thunder and pulled the covers up tighter. Doug went to check for flooding and/or tree damage. Evan crawled in our bed for snugglies. When we all got out of bed a few hours later, we learned the noise was something worse than any of us imagined. […]