This morning, I was seriously proud of myself. By 7:10 a.m., all three kids were (mostly) fed, (mostly) dressed, and buckled into the car. We swung by a friend’s house to pick up their son for carpooling. By 7:40 a.m., I had deposited two kindergarteners to the correct classroom door. Within 20 minutes, the remaining twosome and I drove back across town to pick up my preschooler’s pal for carpooling, stopping ever so briefly for a potential episode of carsickness. {Read More}
Tired, a.k.a. dirty pavement love.
September 17, 2015 By 5 Comments
Sometimes you have a great blog post planned… Like, really great… But along the way stuff gets in the way, so you find yourself overwhelmed, overtired, over-caffeinated, and under-appreciated at the pity party called Low Ebbing, Table for 1. (Check, please.) So when your youngest takes an unexpectedly awesome midday nap while your middling decides she wants to work on a project in her room- alone- during the hour before your eldest needs to be fetched from school, you take {Read More}
Nora went to kindergarten: An adjustment tale.
September 10, 2015 By Leave a Comment
I like to think that I’ve done a good job this week, what with the beginning of kindergarten and all. As in- I allowed Nora to go and she’s currently there as we type and, to the best of my knowledge, I’ll be okay with her going again (for the next 12 years). It’s weird: I’ve definitely found myself missing her at odd moments of the day, and staring at my phone while being incredibly certain that the school will call with {Read More}
The first “family” trip without my Dad.
August 13, 2015 By Leave a Comment
At the end of Bon Voyage, Pittsfield week came Howdy ho, Cape Cod week. (Listen, some of us know how to “summer,” amiright?) Even though my family is sporadically far-flung and the majority of us have established households, it felt really good to spend our vacation in the spot that my Dad adored (and made us promise to visit this August), spread his ashes in the part of the ocean he loved best, and be together for reasons neither funereal nor {Read More}
Hugging your hometown goodbye.
August 10, 2015 By 2 Comments
Hey, Chicago, we’re back! Super pleased to announce that we were successful in both 15-hour, Midwest-to-East Coast jaunts. (The latter is especially impressive, since the return trip should’ve tacked on an extra three hours to the drive due to its even further East starting point.) Some people are just crazy intense drivers. Some of those people are my husband. So. For today’s post, I’m going to include those pix on my “Farewell, Pittsfield” tour. Keeping in mind that there’s no {Read More}
First Father’s Day without him, a.k.a. Hiding out in the records.
June 22, 2015 By 3 Comments
Possessions are not people. They do not have the power to physically, truly, replace a person nor bring him back nor make things good again. And keeping every object that someone you loved once loved is not a sustainable, good, or fair practice for any party involved. I know this. I’ve told myself this. I remind myself that I know that I told myself this. That said, I own a goodly portion of my Dad’s record collection. Like, hundreds. And {Read More}
Dating My Three Year-Old.
May 28, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Not to be outdone by her big sister’s Wild Night Out (much like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride but with fewer instances of public vomiting), Susannah decided it was her turn to use one of the Get Out of Jail/Bedtime Prep Free- er, Mother’s Day gift cards last night. Actually, she totally forgot she had given me a gift card at all until I asked if she wanted to have a special date with me. “Sure! That sounds great!” I told {Read More}
That’s Why I Married You.
May 21, 2015 By 4 Comments
Hey P.J., Happy anniversary! Almost. We’re almost at 7 years- and I know how much you love your little mathly technicalities- so I’ll wait until this Sunday to say this to your face. (This is a big concession, which I know you know, being as I dig celebrating my birthday from May 6th until July 6th. Birthday “month” really only depends on when you start and when you end, right? Don’t answer that.) Another thing I know we both know {Read More}
