The hardest part

The hardest part about adjusting to kindergarten is not the new routine. It’s not all the new kids and the new teacher (Ms. Weigel, whom David refers to as “Miss Waggle.”) It’s not remembering the backpack every day (although I confess that I forgot to check the backpack on Friday and therefore didn’t realize that [...]

School days, school days

My sweet, beautiful boy.  My David. Almost 6. Clinging to my leg for dear life, not noticing that all the other kindergartners are together in line and all the other parents are lined up against the wall.  ”But Mom, I want to stay home with you.”  (This boy who’s been in full-time care since he [...]

Take good care of my baby

Sometimes I’m a little slow on the uptake.
Margaret has been driving me crazy all weekend. Oppositional. Defiant. Whiny.  The worst of the “3″ behavior.
I was thisclose to selling her to the gypsies. And then I remembered.
She’s going to pre-school on Monday.  
And my independent, bossy, fearless, take-no-prisoners, smart-as-a-whip, you-build-it-and I’ll- knock it-down little girl is [...]

Everyone in this house needs to calm down

I actually uttered that phrase this morning.  Here’s a list of other things I said before 8:30 this morning:
1. You need to go find something to do.
2. Do you want me to put a kids’ show on?
3. We don’t crumple the New York Times.
4. Margaret, stop playing with my phone.
5. Yes, David, we can take [...]

Turning a corner

Yesterday was our first day at the pool.  (Not sure why the pools in Chicago don’t just open between June 15-Sept. 15, because there’s really no point in opening on Memorial Day. Ever.) 
And I realized that, for the first time in years, I didn’t have to run around trying to find the swim diaper and the [...]

Missing Emma

I miss Emma.  Standing-over-the kitchen-sink-weeping miss Emma.  Emma is in Ireland with her dad, her grandma, and her grandma’s brother and sister-in-law. (This is actually a much more fun group than the generational description would suggest.)  They left Friday and will be gone for almost two weeks.  Her dad’s been promising her a trip to [...]

Transitions, schmansitions, part deux

When it comes to transitions, David is his mother’s son (and his Pop’s grandson). He doesn’t like them. He wants things predictable, the same. No surprises.  No new things. And because he’s quite literal, he has certain expectations for how things are supposed to be.  And he doesn’t do well well things don’t work out [...]

Transitions, schmansitions

I’m grieving the impending loss of a family member.
Well, she’s technically not a family member. And she’s perfectly healthy. And she only lives a 1/2 block away, so it’s not like we’ll never see her again.
But in August, Margaret is leaving Joan, the daycare provider we’ve been with for four years, since before David turned [...]

Frick and frack

I love this photo of David and Margaret Ruth, taken by Margaret Anne at my brother Fred’s house at Easter:

Their body language says it all.  David, sweet, cautious,  tentative, holding back, holding on to the couch for support.
Margaret, smiling wide, arms raised as if she were on a roller coaster. Ready to take on the [...]

Enchanted Tea Parties – Not

Ever since I heard another mom being praised for the fact that she had Enchanted Tea Parties for her kids, I’ve been feeling guilty about the fact that I’ve never had an Enchanted Tea Party. I’m feeling guilty. A bad mom. For not having Enchanted Tea Parties.
Part of the reason I don’t have Enchanted Tea [...]