February 18, 2008

I am eating Thin Mints while the kids play outside

We’ve been working on Henry’s science project today, because that’s what God intended days off for: the completion of school work. He’s writing a report about turtles. The teacher asked each kid to choose three animals, and then she assigned them each one, probably so there won’t be any repetition (because really, how many turtle reports does she REALLY want to read?). Henry’s suggestions were snakes, turtles, and Komodo Dragons; I was kind of hoping he would get assigned the Komodo Dragon, because how cool is THAT, but he got the turtles, which is fine.

But still! How COOL would the Komodo Dragon report have been? So totally cool.

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February 15, 2008

my lost week

This morning at breakfast, the boys had the following conversation:

Charlie: Henry, I drank SO MUCH last night. Did you SEE how much I DRANK?

Henry: Yeah, I drank a lot but not nearly as much as you.

Charlie: No, I totally drank more than you did.

Honestly, I thought they would be a little older before I had to overhear those kinds of exchanges, but I guess not. At least they aren’t talking about girls. Yet.

We had a lovely Valentine’s day dinner out, with the kids and Wade’s parents, because nothing says romance like eating barbecue with the entire family. The boys were very well behaved and only spilled one glass of water each on the nice white tablecloths.

And for the record, they were drinking milk and water. And Charlie did drink a lot. But he did not punch any paparazzi, although Henry did take his shoes off during dinner.

Can you tell I’ve been reading a lot of celebrity gossip lately?

I do not know how to account for the last week, although I appreciate all the emails with subject lines like “where the hell are you?” and “are you DEAD?!?” I am finally not sick (woo!) after a trip to Urgent Care and a SECOND course of antibiotics. I spent most of last weekend sleeping, including all of Sunday afternoon while my visiting mother cooked dinner for my in-laws. She also did some laundry and kept the kids from wandering away or breaking anything. Best. Mom. EVER. Seriously.

But other than the fact that my kids drank too much last night, nothing is really new. Wait, didn’t Britney Spears mother once say that EXACT SAME THING?!? And look where it got her.

February 7, 2008

the one thing that came after the other

Thank you all for your kind comments and e-mails about this post; I cannot tell you how much it helps to know that other parents are walking this same road. You are all the best. Really.

I would love to tell you that I have spent the last few days doing fun! things! but really it has just been one thing after another here, and it is wearing me out. I am still (STILL!) sick, which is just such a gigantic bummer I can’t even begin to think about it. From everything I am hearing, this is a badass virus that can hold on for three (THREE!) weeks, and I will just have to ride it out. Of course, I am past the two week mark now, so I should (SHOULD!) be on the upswing.

But still.

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February 4, 2008

what it’s like

This morning, as I was making the boys’ lunches in the very early morning quiet, I was thinking about a conversation that Wade and I have every so often, about how we feel like we are walking a fine line between wanting to help our kids, particularly Henry, fit in socially and not wanting to encourage them to grow up too fast. Wade always points out that one of his favorite things about Henry is that even now, at seven and a half, he still takes his stuffed buddies to bed with him every night, arranging them carefully in his bed. When Henry was sick, last week and the week before, he dragged his Elmo around with him for days, and would hug it lovingly and announce, “Elmo is my favorite stuffed friend.” We both find that deeply charming at the same time that we know he would certainly be mocked endlessly at school if his friends knew.

After I took the boys to school, I went to start some laundry, and wrapped up in Henry’s sheets was one of the stuffed friends, his bear Smash. The sheets have been in the laundry room for days, and the poor bear has just been there, waiting to be freed or washed. I put him on the table near my laptop.

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February 3, 2008

like a hole in my head

The last thing I need right now is another project; in fact, I am working to pare down and jettison everything that isn’t really really necessary in my everyday life. And yet, perhaps because of that, I found the idea of Jessica’s 30 Tiny Moments Flickr pool irresistible. And so I’m in.

Charlie and I sat together this morning and shared a scone and a cup of coffee. Okay, he had the scone and I had the coffee, but the point is that we just sat and chatted and were peaceful together, for a whole fifteen minutes or so. And at the end of our snack, when my coffee was nearly empty and his scone was just a pile of cinnamon-y crumbs, he held up his cup of water and said, “I want to do a French toast!” And we clinked our cups and said CHEERS! and SALUT! and then we went off to read stories and look at magazines for a while.

It was a good Sunday morning.

February 1, 2008

next up: Proust!

Wade: I finished reading War and Peace.

Me: Good for you.

Wade: Ask me how it was.

Me: How was it?

Wade: Meh.  It was fine.

Me: Weirdo.