Ten. Ten is two whole hands, two high fives and, when necessary, two clenched fists. Ten. Right now I’m listening to Lindsey Buckingham’s cover of the Stones’ “She Smiled Sweetly”- a song I put on your Spotify playlist shortly after you were born. (Wowzer, file THAT one under Tell Me You Were Born in the 2010s Without Telling Me You Were Born in the 2010s.) Susannah Mae, this song couldn’t be more you. You’ll take care of it. You’ll smile {Read More}
The story of the puppy.
October 25, 2020 By Leave a Comment
(Because if it’s not documented on the blog, do we really even have a puppy?) I grew up with not-quite-puppy dogs. My childhood was filled with slightly older rescues. Also dogs who were babies before I had entered the picture. And eventually my parents adopted a pup or two after I had exited the picture. P.J. had dogs, too, loyal family pets and veritable baskets full of shiny, licky, Golden Retrievers. But when we moved in together, we had cats. {Read More}
9: A post for Suzy, one of her very own.
October 4, 2020 By 1 Comment
(…Because when you’re the middlest middle who ever middled, “your very own” anything is cause for celebration.) 9: Dearest Susannah, Usually, I write you an open bloggy letter of sorts on your birthday. Usually, it’s filled with musings on the past year, hopes for the future, and high fives for our present. Usually, a year like the one we’ve had is not our “usual.” But wait- before I get completely ahead of myself- happy birthday, dear Suzy, happy birthday to {Read More}
Chicago to the Berkshires, Part 1: Goodbye, first home
July 16, 2020 By 2 Comments
(Today marks three weeks since we arrived at our new home in Massachusetts. More on THAT to come, because hoo boy. But for right now, a surprisingly/not super surprisingly hard one to write. I began this post the week before we moved but had to stop because…I had to stop. Stay tuned. Thanks in advance. Buckle up. Keep hydrating. And, you know, wear a mask.) An open letter to my home: Hey home, I know I’ve said some things in {Read More}
Ready or not…you’re eight.
October 4, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Ready? Susannah, the “ready or not” part is for me. Because it has never, ever been a question for you, my dear one. Today you are 8. Eight years old! In Suzy years that’s roughly 59 because, as everyone knows, you leaped- fully formed- from my brain like Athena. (Yep, that’s how c-sections work. Next question!) You’ve taught me so many things, my middlest child. Like, that you’re not really all that little anymore. Maybe you never really were? You {Read More}
On missing things.
September 9, 2019 By 2 Comments
Oh- hey there, friend. Did you miss me? I’ve definitely been missing this space. Which is a good, good thing. For a while there, I wasn’t missing it. It felt like yet another deadline, yet another thing I hadn’t done in any sort of timely manner, and yet another thing causing the ball of stress in my belly to poke me in the brain at 4am. (Isn’t that how your anatomy works?) So I spent the summer reading books. Good {Read More}
21 things my daughters need to see me do (often)
May 17, 2019 By 4 Comments
21 things my daughters need to see me do (often): My daughters need to see me apologize when I’ve truly, honestly messed up. To my husband, to my friends and, yep, to my kids. They also need to see me: Hold out- and push for- a real apology when someone else has really, truly messed up. (And thoroughly eradicate “no worries” from my vocabulary as an automatic argument-ender when there should legit be some “worries.”) (Stop saying/posting/pre-empting potentially upsetting/important conversations {Read More}
You Are. (A love letter to Susannah Mae.)
October 4, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Oh my Susannah sunshine. You are so much (and getting so much more by the day). And on this day, this awesome day… You are a hand on the hip, an eye roll comedic enough to keep you out of trouble, and a muttered aside that Vaudeville would’ve killed for. You are first in line for the mechanical bull– and a bolstering crossing of yourself followed by a whispered, “You’ve got this.” (And you did. And, in that moment, you {Read More}
