A is for Anna! T is for Thomas! S is for Smug!

A is for Anna! T is for Thomas! S is for Smug!

MOD Pizza, Starbucks, Richmond Lager, Surge Adventure Park. Know what they all have in common? They all have Anna’s letter — the letter A. I know this because Anna shouts enthusiastically whenever she sees her letter. “MOM! GUESS WHAT I SEE!” she shouts from the back seat, straining against her straps to make her point.

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The sweetest, wildest boy

The sweetest, wildest boy

I can’t tell if it’s happening more, or if I’m just noticing it more, but recently Thomas has been crawling into my lap a lot. He turns six tomorrow. More than I do with my other kids, I spend the week before Thomas’s birthday remembering the final days of my pregnancy. I remember each day

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Recurrent, unexplained strep — a memoir

Recurrent, unexplained strep — a memoir

In the past few months, several of my friends have sent me this article: This family’s repeated strep throat infections frustrated their doctors To save you the click, it’s about a family who kept getting strep throat over and over and over, and they couldn’t figure out why. Eventually they discover that their CAT was the

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One last hurrah

One last hurrah

This past week we decided to take a long weekend-ish and spend time with my family before “school” starts back up. Once again, the bizarre time-warp of 2020 snuck up on me, and what is, on one hand, “The Longest Summer Ever,” is also “Hold Up, It’s September?” We timed our trip to fall over

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What I hope my kids learn in the virtual classroom

What I hope my kids learn in the virtual classroom

Well, here we are. Summer is nearly over; we’re in the countdown to back-to-school for the strangest academic year ever. That’s a true statement, right? I’m pretty sure I can say that without fact-checking. School has never been so strange, uncertain, controversial, and wildly different from one district to the next. My kids’ school will

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The anti-coach

The anti-coach

NOTE:  I wrote this a few days ago — a glib post about running during the quarantine. I wrote it before running was added to the list of things that are dangerous to do while black. I’ve been running since I was 14 years old. That’s 23 years of running on country roads, in the city, suburbs,

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Will the azaleas still bloom?

Will the azaleas still bloom?

We celebrated two friends’ birthdays this week. They were both distant celebrations — gifts left in the driveway, and a drive-by “party.” My kids liked loved being a part of these celebrations, but they made the wheels start turning. “I’m glad my birthday is in the summer…” I heard someone say from the backseat on

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What I learned in speech therapy

What I learned in speech therapy

Anna calls David “DayDay.” She calls Mary “MayMay.” She calls Brigham “Ma,” and she knows the names of several neighborhood dogs. In an ultimate little sister power move, she doesn’t even attempt to say Thomas’s name. There are actually a lot of words Anna doesn’t attempt. She has a decent vocabulary, but she’s almost impossible

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Christmas magic

Christmas magic

This Christmas season has felt more hectic than any other I can remember. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I could do differently to remove some stress, and I’ve come to the conclusion that no matter what I do, it will be hectic. Of course, I’m the first to admit that I could use

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Sending my kids to school in the age of active shooters

Sending my kids to school in the age of active shooters

Yesterday Anna, my 22-month old, was throwing a tantrum. She threw herself onto the floor, curled her body over her knees with her forehead pressed to the carpet, and wailed. “Look!” Mary exclaimed. “Anna is doing a lockdown drill!” David and Mary laughed and laughed at the absurdity of a lockdown drill! At home! Ha!

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A family bike ride: Kriegers do hard things!

A family bike ride: Kriegers do hard things!

Last weekend Tom’s grandmother’s neighborhood had a little carnival with a petting zoo, face painting, balloons, and vendors passing out plastic trinkets. Actually, “carnival” might be overstating the event. But since my kids haven’t really been to a true carnival, we’re sticking with it. Carnival or not, this sort of thing is a kid paradise,

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Buckle fracture

Buckle fracture

My little Anna-bird with a broken wing. Ok, that was a little dramatic. Sorry. A more accurate description would be: my 16-month old (who has a penchant for climbing) with a buckle fracture. But that doesn’t have quite the same ring. When I posted a photo of Anna with a cast, several people said they hoped

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Same, same, same, same

Same, same, same, same

This summer Anna blew through baby clothes sizes so fast I could barely keep up. 6-9 months, 9-12 months, 12-18 months. “Hmmm, this can’t be right,” I thought when shimmying a pair of 2T leggings on my 11-month old baby. I kept a very weather-inappropriate fleece sleeper in Anna’s drawer all summer because I wanted

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So long, sweet summer

So long, sweet summer

The calendar says it’s fall but it was 90 degrees outside today and my kids swam in the pool. It’s hot, humid, the leaves are all on the trees, but it does feel like fall in one very key way: we’ve been sick for the past five weeks. This is Thomas doing jumping jacks to

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The clothes our kids wear

The clothes our kids wear

This morning one of my kids went to school wearing clothes that were mismatched, a tad too big and, frankly, tacky. But the clothes were in good condition and seasonally appropriate, so I’ll allow it. Several years ago I stopped apologizing for my kids’ clothes. “He dressed himself!” I’d explain, embarrassed by clothes that don’t

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Brave Mary

Brave Mary

This summer will go down in history as the summer that Mary looked her fear in the eye, balled it up, and stomped on it. She became confident on her bike, is a completely independent swimmer, and went to summer camp all by herself. These are huge accomplishments for a little girl. Mary and I

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