A few months before Mary’s birthday, she started planning her party. I generally don’t start making actual plans for her birthday until after Thomas’s birthday, but this year I made an exception. Mary is the youngest in her class, and she has been positively hungry to turn six for a long time. (She’s actually the third youngest.
On the morning of Mary’s sixth birthday I woke up, made Mary cry, went for a run, came back and surprised her with cinnamon rolls and a gift I’d been excited about for weeks. WEEEEEE! Having kids is a wild ride! Perhaps that is an odd way to start a birthday letter. Mary will probably
Often when I’m getting ready, Mary will wander into the bathroom to be with me. She asks if she can be fancy, too, so I lift her onto the vanity and hand her a makeup brush or lip gloss wand. She gazes into the mirror quietly, studying her reflection. The corners of her mouth lift
A few weeks ago, before spring break, I got an email from Mary’s teacher. Whenever Mary’s teacher writes us emails she does this thing where the subject line of the email is just the kid’s name. So every now and then I get an email, subject “Mary” and every single time I panic. My blood
Mary has been wanting to do the monkey bars at school. She never mentioned it to me, she kept it to herself. It was her own, personal, quiet goal. She had wanted to try, but she hadn’t tried yet. She hadn’t even climbed the ladder. There were plenty of very valid excuses — David broke his
What’s a little girl’s favorite part of a father-daughter dance? Gloating to her brothers that she’s going to a dance and they aren’t Fighting with Mommy about what makeup is appropriate for a 5-year old (Answer: no makeup. Be glad that you’re getting lip gloss. ) Having a special night with your daddy. We’ll never
Playing Santa is, without a doubt, one of the most fun gigs I’ve ever had. Shopping, wrapping, imagining the joy when they open the gift. It is all so very wonderful. Sometime in November, Tom’s mom, Peggy, called me from Costco. She was shopping, and there was one MaryEllen American Girl doll left. Should she
“Mommy?” Mary asked me one afternoon. “Does this mean ‘I love you’?” I looked up and Mary was standing in front of me, holding up her middle finger. I was startled, but I decided to play it cool and figure out what terrible influence in her life taught her this inappropriate gesture. “Why are you
Recently Mary has become obsessed with letters and writing. I credit this newfound hobby to kindergarten and her phenomenally creative and motivating teacher. I also credit it to Mary deciding she wants to know letters, because Mary does not learn things that she does not want to learn. Not for her phenomenally creative and motivating
I was a chaperone for Mary’s class trip to the pumpkin patch this year. It was my first time chaperoning an elementary school field trip — in my kids’ school you have to express interest in chaperoning, and the teacher picks volunteers out of a hat. I was not selected to go to the zoo,