Noah is now four years old. Last year, I sent him to 3K at a preschool – for many reasons. It was quite lovely. This year, he is doing 4K at home – for many reasons. It will be lovely. Dear God please let it be lovely. We’re four weeks in, but that first week […]
On Independent Study.
Ali has a lot of free time compared to most children her age. She’s nearly nine and in the third grade, which is prime time to be besieged with the first loads of homework. But since we homeschool, she escapes this fate. I am never one to tell people that they should homeschool, nor do […]
Epic Camping: The Downs.
Read Part One and Part Two here. Yesterday, I showed you the beautiful moments of our camping trip. Today, I unweave the rest of the story. As I mentioned in my first post, Chris and I have never tent-camped with children – we used to do it pre-kids, but not since – the whole waking […]
The Great Questioning.
Ninety-three percent of the relationship between a mother and her children is comprised of answering questions. The same questions. Over and over and over. They never tell you that in the parenting books. Or at the hospital. “This is how you change a diaper…and here’s how you get them to latch on…and you need to […]
Little Ditty about Charles and Kathleen.
Meet Charles and Kathleen. They live in bowl wrapped in a Kid’s Menu. Luxurious by snail standards. Charles was the second new member of our household (pictured on the stick-like object). He joined our family in the early summer, when he was found washed up on the sidewalk after a recent downpour. The adoption of […]
The Fabric of America.
Ali asked me to play with her the other day. I agreed, as I was feeling a moment of Mommy Guilt over the fact that I am not the best playing-Mommy that ever was (actually I’m terrible at just sitting down and playing with my kids – I much prefer cuddling or reading or hiking […]
Arranged Marriage By Stealth.
We’re not monsters – we aren’t picking our kid’s spouses for them. We actually have several potential options for each child. (But we want them to stay within those possibilities we’ve picked out for them. Which is completely reasonable.) In fact, so reasonable that Ali has agreed with us on the Number One pick we’ve […]
Infusion Lost in Translation.
My fruit-infused water obsession has grown tremendously since I last posted about it. I ordered two more water bottles, carry one with me almost all the time, and now refuse to drink Dasani or Aquafina even if it costs an impressively expensive $1.79 at the gas station. Pah. Water that tastes slightly of cucumber is […]
Under Lock and Key.
Ali spent an entire Saturday morning planning and creating an extraordinarily intricate blanket fort. Like Fort Knox itself, her construction boasted of all of the necessary building components to create the highest security possible – chairs, every blanket in the house, random objects like hammocks and toys to fill in the gaps left by the […]
Summers are For Kids.
Our summer thus far has been the most fascinating family paradox. While Chris and I have been wrestling with it in a most epic fashion, the kids have literally had The Best Summer Of Their Lives. I had surgery = The kids got ten days of fabulous playdates with different friends every. single. day. Then […]