parenting

Seven Sentences for Sunday: The Parenting Lessons for Myself Edition

check-list

  1. When the kids are in public and behave so well that I just can’t believe it, I will never again rehash the experience with Adam (or anyone, for that matter), for that will only cement a meltdown at the nearest possible future moment.
  2. Having the Mayor around as a partner during Christmas time has countless benefits, not the least of which is his uncanny ability to remember to move Dobby the Elf into his daily hiding place—something I failed miserably at last year as he stayed in the same spot for 5 days straight and I blamed the children’s obvious misbehavior on his inability to take his eyes off them.
  3. 8 is a super cool age. It was for J and it’s working out so far for R. Just don’t tease her about having a pretend crush on Carrie Underwood or point out if she might be crying…No. Seriously. Don’t.
  4. R and I were exchanging favorites in her family journal. She asked me about my favorite book and when I wrote her, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” she responded with concern, “Your favorite book sounds sad…” Must. Remember. Their. P.O.V.
  5. This is the last year for Santa for J—she refused to tell me what she wants the big guy to bring her. She even went so far as to whisper in his ear when we went to see him this afternoon. Just a little test to see if he’s real.
  6. Lesson for The Mayor: No matter how solid your grounds are, never, I mean never, say Elsa is a brat and Anna is the one who everyone should like.
  7. Backup my pictures. I seem to have lost a ton of pictures that I had earmarked to scrapbook later—including all of J’s pictures that I took of her crossing the borders of the 37 states she’s visited. I see many more road trips in our future.

I love you all, some more than others.

Seven Sentences for Sunday: The Battle of Wits Edition

  1. I think I’m going to start asking my children to respond with “as you wish” to my requests. And if they don’t I’ll remind them “I’m no one to be trifled with…” Yes, I introduced them to The Princess Bride this weekend.
  2. I’d forgotten how many great lines are in The Princess Bride…perhaps my favorite line of all time is when Westley says, “Death cannot stop true love…all it can do is delay it for a while,” something I firmly believe.
  3. “Oh no! She didn’t stop, drop, and roll.”—Ez, upon watching Princess Buttercup’s skirt catch on fire in the Fire Swamp.
  4. With Christmas coming up, my schedule feels like Prince Humperdinck’s of late. “I’ve got my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I’m swamped.”
  5. “Wuv. Twue wuv…will follow you forever.”—the Impressive Clergyman has only an inkling of the truth as I have traveled the galaxies through time with mine.
  6. “Since the invention of the kiss, there have been five kisses that have been rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.”—quite possibly the best ending line of a book.
  7. “I didn’t like all the sword fighting…”—Ez; “It was really good,”—R; “Not at all what I expected. I can’t believe Westley was alive the whole time!”—J

I love you all, some more than others.

Off Tempo

It was a hectic day, to say the least, with J’s 5th grade skating party from 4-6 and Ez’s 1st grade reading night from 6-7. Since school let out at 3:10, we had precious little time to grab a snack and dinner before the evening’s events Mother-pulling-her-hairstarted.

The roller skating party went off without a hitch. Ez and R stumbled their way around the rink, while J took off, grooving on all four wheels to the latest Taylor Swift songs. All was well until it was time to go. Continue reading →