David has taken almost zero naps since he turned three. We still go through the motions, though, every day. After lunch we read a book, turn off the light, close the blackout shades, and I cover him with his blankets just the way he likes it — white blanket first, then green blanket. I give him
Can you tell what Mary Virginia is chewing on? It’s an onion. A raw onion. It’s the raw onion I stashed under her crib to try to heal her ear infection. She found it and walked around the house gnawing on it. Mary Virginia loves raw onions. Every time I slice an onion, she cries
David has had a total of two “haircuts” in his life, but he has never had a legitimate capital-H Haircut. This summer his hair got a little long and shaggy, which we thought was cool, except that he had a very important gig as a ring bearer and I wasn’t ok with him walking down
Tom recently had to replace one of the poles for our clothesline, and after the project we had a wheelbarrow full of dirt and gravel in our back yard. And. Well, my kids would sleep out here if I’d let them. David asked me if he could put water in the mud. This kid just
The other night I snuck into Mary Virginia’s room and put a half an onion under her crib. I didn’t tell Tom because I knew he’d think I was crazy. And, ok, I thought it was a little crazy, too. It’s just that she’s been fussy and pulling on her ears and, by now, all
I have so many questions about the idyllic 1950s housewife. Is the Betty Draper housewife a myth? Or when husbands came home from work, did their wives really greet them at the door with a kiss wearing heels and lipstick? And then did they all sit down to dinner in their tidy home, with their
Last Wednesday I mostly slept through the night. I woke up completely hung over from all that sleep, but not at all refreshed. Turns out, one night of sleep does not make up waking up at least twice a night for nearly twelve months and the occasional night of nearly no sleep at all. (Starting
We’ve been sick a lot. We’ve been sick so much that I’m even tired of writing about it. Ear infection, flu, fever, blah, blah, blah. We’ve caught every cold, and virus except for one. We have not gotten the stomach bug. All our friends and family have gotten the stomach bug, and we’ve stood like sentinels in
I take my kids to the grocery store about once a week, and it might be the errand that has been most wildly affected by having children. I dread going to the grocery store; every part of it, from making the list to putting the groceries away. And then there’s the actual shopping. Do you know
Last week Mary Virginia was pummeled with a small fever that turned into a big fever that turned into the sort of fever that bulldozes your backyard to build a strip mall. That sort of fever. You’re probably getting tired of hearing about us getting sick. You and me both. All Mary Virginia wanted was