My kingdom for a camera.

I read an article several years ago about a man and his camera. I have forgotten the source, but the gist of what he wrote has stayed with me. He described how hard he had worked over the years to capture his kids' various events on film. (Back when people still used film.) He talked about how he would sometimes arrive early for a program to stake out the best spot for his tripod and how he once h…

• Posted 2 mon. ago.

Why I'm here

I remember when I asked for a morning off work to attend the closing on my first house. Several co-workers expressed shock that they didn't even know I had been house-hunting. It seemed odd to them that I had been able to come into work day after day without sharing the minutiae of the process, while it hadn't really occurred to me that others might care to hear about it.

• Posted 2 mon. ago.

Are they twins

I have whined mentioned in the past that going out in public with twins tends to garner a lot of attention.  Mostly from people who ask, "Are they twins?"  Even though the question got old to me quite a while ago, I have tried to cut everyone some slack.  I figured it was just small talk.  Those who stopped to gawk at my cute babies wanted to have something to say.  I can appreciate…

• Posted 2 mon. ago.

On Boys and Girls

• Posted 2 mon. ago.

The singularity of cereal

It was red.  When I first noticed it, I didn’t know what it was or how it came to be inside the jug of milk.  I quickly figured out that it was a piece of cereal, Trix to be specific. As a parent, I’m used to things not always being exactly as I would like.  I don’t get to stay in bed all night.  I sit in the smelly section at Burger King.  Sometimes my church clothes…

• Posted 3 mon. ago.

Practicing patience

The word love usually conjures up some pretty pictures – hearts and weddings and snuggling against the cheek of your new baby. And while the feeling of love does bring warm fuzzies, the action of it can be less pleasant. Sometimes loving someone means cleaning the toilet even when it’s not your turn. Sometimes it means holding down a frightened toddler while an MRI whirls and bangs ar…

• Posted 3 mon. ago.

The Zoo: After

My ankles are sore.  That’s right, my ankles.  Because these are apparently the muscles you use when you spend several hours pushing a stroller uphill.  It turns out that all of the paths at the N.C. Zoo are uphill.  That’s right, all of them.  I know this isn’t really possible, but it feels possible when you’re pushing a heavy stroller.

• Posted 3 mon. ago.

The Zoo: Before

My three-year-old daughter recently discovered that she has finally gotten tall enough to reach the light switches in our house.  She was very excited about the growth spurt and she looked at me and said, “I must be four now!” Sometimes these moments of growth in our kids seem sudden, like turning on a light.  And other times, not so much.  J has been signed up for preschool sin…

• Posted 3 mon. ago.

To bus or not to bus

There are some areas in my life about which I am not terribly confident.  Is anyone going to enjoy what I write here?  Is that first sentence screwy?  Does that really save money in the long run?  Does this shirt disguise the fact that I’ve had four children?  Will I ever figure out how to make my hair look good?  Sometimes I can’t get out of my own head.

• Posted 3 mon. ago.

A Milestone

Ten years.  As of this weekend, that’s how long my husband and I have been married.  It turns out that ten years is not the eternity it sounded like when I was a kid.  In fact, it’s gone by pretty quickly.  Together we have faced a couple of job changes, our first house, our first home owners’ association, the births of four children and one rather insane dog, appropriat…

• Posted 4 mon. ago.