Books
-
Silent Sunday
-
Why I Shouldn’t Read Bedtime Stories when I’m Tired
The kidlings have amassed quite a collection of story books. Of course, I had quite a collection before they were even born, one way of clinging on to an old dream of being a children’s picture book illustrator. (These days I rarely sketch, and if Pea asks me to draw something for her, inevitably, it’s not what she wanted….so…) Anyhoo. Back to the books. We do have quite a few, and it’s a rather diverse lot. Boo, of course, has quite a few dedicated to airplanes, trucks, and trains, and a broad collection of “Sam” books. Pea has the usual amount of Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, and princess-related books. Curious George,…
-
Project We: Kindness (or, I Love It When My Kids Don’t Kill Each Other)
I love my children. They are very sweet, loving and kind. This is not just my own biased opinion – this has in fact been pointed out by their teachers at school. They show a compassion for other children that I think is beyond their years sometimes. Until it comes to each other. Why is it that siblings fight like cats and dogs? Why is it that my extremely tall, off-the-growth-chart son can be brought to tears by his 1.1 meter tall sister? (Ok, so when she sat on his head, it DID finally knock that bottom tooth out, so maybe I didn’t show the proper concern that I should…
-
Fried Chicken Honesty
So my Dad sent me a joke the other day, one that was cute and clean. {image by Keith Davis Young via we heart it} My Favorite Animal Our teacher asked us what our favorite animal was, and I said, “Fried chicken.” She said I wasn’t funny, but she couldn’t have been right, because everyone else in the class laughed. My parents told me to always be truthful and honest, and I am. Fried chicken is my favorite animal. I told my dad what happened, and he said my teacher was probably a member of PETA. He said they love animals very much. I do, too. Especially chicken, pork and…
-
Redemption in the form of a little Knight
Today is World Book Day, which means (if you are a parent) that you have likely spent last night the past few days scrambling around trying to find some sort of costume to reflect a character from your child’s chosen book. While I am a book lover, I suck at creating costumes. The mention of Halloween strikes fear in my heart, and not for the typical reasons. I resorted to my close friend, eBay and sorted out the situation early, only to discover that this year, the children needed to pick a character from a “traditional” or “classic” story. Would Cressida Cowell’s “How To Train Your Dragon” fall into this category?…
-
Puppy Love
Walking to the car with Pea last week, she looked at me and said, “I’m going to marry Huw.” Well, this was news to me. I thought she was going to marry Alfie when they grow up. I don’t know how much say Alfie had in this, so I’m not sure how he’ll feel about this new turn of events. I asked her “what about Alfie?” She thought a moment, shook her head, and said “I love Huw.” So you can imagine my surprise when she came out of school today with a handmade card…from Huw! (Which her big brother promptly scribbled on, so I can’t share its lovely cuteness.)…
-
By The Hair of the Dog
I’m not talking about hangover cures. I’m talking about Macy, our dog. I love my pup. She is happy, bouncy, energetic – and very, very affectionate. When I work on my laptop late at night, she curls up next to me. Sometimes her head rests on my leg. Sometimes, it is across my laptop until I stop to give her a belly rub. She follows me everywhere – chases my vacuum, gets underfoot when I do laundry – hoping to snag a yummy sock to chew – and so does her hair. But, if that’s the price I have to pay for having her around then so be it. I…
-
She’s Not Always a Princess, or, It’s Just Semantics.
One Sunday morning during the first few months we were married, the Hubs and I were sitting in church, watching the adorable little girl in the pew in front of us. She was hugging on her dad when she leaned back, her arms around his neck — and head-butted him. Hard. The Hubs grinned widely. “I want a little girl like that”. Flash forward to yesterday. *** Boo bursts into the room, sobbing. “Pea punched me!” I look at him dubiously. He stands about a foot taller than her, and outweighs her by about 20 pounds. “Why would she do that? Did she really do that?” From the playroom, I…
-
Finding a Warm Memory
I don’t get people who throw parties with the theme of “Christmas in July”. Don’t get me wrong – I love Christmas. I love parties. But seriously? What I don’t like is cold weather. I don’t like it at all, (and don’t give me that crap that I grew up in Chicago, so I should be used to it) and I sure as heck don’t want to be reminded of it when I’m (finally) warm, wearing short sleeves and have sandals on my feets. Basically, I’m one of those people who are cold ALL THE TIME. So here I am, huddled next to the puppy, under an afghan, teeth chattering…
-
Wordless Wednesday – and with a slipper for her pillow…