Many of my friends have written about their “Mom of the Year” (not) awards, and I thought I’d toss my own story out there. It’s incredibly hilarious now, and in fact I barely remember anything about it because it was such a little blip, but it really could have turned out badly. In retrospect, I view it in my head like part of some 80s sitcom: all’s well that ends well. J was just a toddler of two. I do remember that. I remember that I was home with the boys but I can’t remember if Jim was home. Wow, this is a great story. I don’t remember what I…
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He Didn’t Mean “We” In The Royal Sense, But At The End, I Did.
I am thrilled to report that, without any sort of prodding from me, the younger boy–who is a high school freshman this year–asked on Monday if it would be okay for him to stay after school on Wednesday for a German Club meeting. “Absolutely!” I said, excited because he was interested in an extra-curricular activity on his own as well as, well, it’s German Club…and you know how I feel about that. (No? Click here.) Yesterday morning before he left for school, I told him I’d pick him up at 3:30, an hour after school was finished, unless he let me know that German Club was going to take longer…
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Bittersweet.
Note: This post is part of Fatherhood Friday at Dad Blogs, where all the cool kids are hanging out. (Moms are welcome over there!) I *might* even have a column called “Teen Angst” there. Welcome to my visitors from DB; thanks for stopping in! As I left to walk the dog the other day, I noticed that the mail truck had just stopped at my house. I grabbed the mail and discovered that the younger boy received his freshman schedule. Both of my “babies” will be in high school this year. I can’t believe it. I put the mail in the garage and Roxie and I set off on our…
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There’s Just No Getting Rid of the Elephant in the Room.
If you know me at all, you know that I take scads of pictures. I’m no talented photographer like my sister, but if you are at the same event or outing as me, you can rest assured that my face will be behind my little old 6.1 MP digital camera*. It’s great for documenting family history, but I often find myself reflecting, as I’m snapping pictures, on the fact that having my face behind a camera so often really does take the focus (no pun intended) away from truly enjoying that moment with my family. It’s almost like I’m momentarily an outsider, looking in. There is no greater example of…
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Us Against Them.
Note: This post is part of Fatherhood Friday at Dad Blogs, where all the cool kids are hanging out. (Moms are welcome over there!) Welcome to my visitors from DB; thanks for stopping in! Parents have to work as a team. It should be a natural thing; after all, you start out as a team before the kids come along, right? For many people, the arrival of children decimates the marital team or, much worse, creates different teams that pit a parent and a child against the other parent. Thank goodness, Jim and I have always, without fail, been on the same team. We adamantly adhere to the Bill Cosby…