You’re On Your Own
It’s a tent-pole requirement of parenting to always be comparing the lives of your kids to your own childhood. We point out the ways our children are more fortunate than us: “I didn’t get to go to Florida until I was 31. You’ve been there three times before you turned 9. Stop complaining!” We observe the changes in how parents…
Kid Notes
Some assorted Kid Notes that have been jotted down in recent weeks. This is totally unofficial, and I base it without knowing anything about the rest of the school, but I’m declaring my girls the Reading Champions of St. P’s. Second graders are given reading wheels during second semester they are required to complete. They contain 12 categories, with the…
Nine (The Second Time)
What birthday summed you up the best? I’m not saying your best birthday, or the most memorable one. I’m saying, which of your birthdays contained all the elements that, combined, explained the person you were/are? I ask that question because I believe yesterday was the most C. birthday of C.’s life. She was happy, crazy, giggly, and excited. She also…
The New Babysitting Rules
Allow me to admit something that may seem obvious to other parents out there, but which surprised me and may make you laugh at / mock me. As I’ve mentioned many times over the years, child care has never been an issue for us. S. comes from a large family, many of whom have lived near us, and thus we’ve…
Spring Break
I forget if I warned my loyal readers that I would be disappearing for over a week as we traveled south for spring break. Facebook friends know the deal, and hopefully the rest of you figured it out on your own. We are back, safe, tanned, and not entirely well-rested. I dropped the girls back at school about an…
Small School Benefits
M.’s volleyball team wrapped up their season over the past few days. Sunday, they played the only other undefeated team in their division. St. P’s won the first game easily, then struggled in the second and lost their first game of the year. I was running the scoreboard and both I and the mom next to me keeping the scorebook…
Kids
Some kid notes We’ve had a rash of lost teeth lately. L. lost three in just under two weeks, and is currently missing all four corner teeth. And then M. lost a tooth just before bedtime Wednesday. As I’ve related before, my Tooth Fairy game is off its peak of a few years back. One night for L., when I…
Christmas 2014
Well, I believe it was a fine Christmas at our house. As I type this at about 10:30 PM, Christmas night, the girls are all in bed snuggling with one new item or another. As I take my last listen to my favorite Christmas songs, I’ll share a few details of our holiday. Christmas Eve was a blur of trips…
Final Countdown
Happy Christmas Eve, eve! It feels like I should say, “Man, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas has really flown this year,” since I think I say that each year. But it’s especially true in these years when we’re on the short side of the holiday cycle. In those years where there are nearly five weeks between the holidays, I…
Holiday Cheer Notes
Nine days out, the holiday tension is getting thick at our house. Shortly after our tree went up, the girls began making presents for each other and putting them under the tree. They were mostly paintings and drawings, but everything was placed into a gift bag or wrapped in a box so they looked like any other gift. They decided…