wordplay | Entries tagged with kids

We got the kids' school backpacks for this year - O wanted green again, of course, but the interesting one is that A chose blue, which represents a significant departure from her previous all-pink-all-the-time policy. O's baby favorite color was red, but he switched over to green sometime in his toddlerhood; A has held onto her baby pink for much longer but seems ready to let it go a little now.

I realize this is probably only REALLY interesting to me, invested and absorbed as I am in all the minutiae of their personhood, but these days I am feeling very acutely and personally the fact that holy shit, we made people! Ten years ago this summer, we bought our first little house in Austin, pulled down really ugly flocked wallpaper and put textured wallcovering over some truly hideous paneling while drinking a lot of Shiner Bock, had a whole series of great housewarming parties (more Shiner Bock), and then decided that hey, we could have a baby if we wanted to! And hey, we wanted to!

Ten hot and steamy summers later and we've sold that house, bought and sold another, moved 1500 miles, made a lot more money, gained a lot more pounds, and watched the kids grow from a really cool idea into bonafide little people who argue, piss me off, genuinely love us and each other, express opinions, set goals and scheme to achieve them. And they have favorite colors that change sometimes. I don't know why that pleases me so very much, but it really does.

And in ten more summers, O will have just graduated high school, and I'll be packing him for college or gap year. I wonder what color towels and backpacks we'll be buying.

My mom's been here this weekend and we've all been eating a lot of pinto beans which, omg, yum. I figured out why my mom's are better than mine - she uses about twice as much bacon drippings as I do. I am country enough to always keep bacon drippings (because, yeah, that vege period? SO OVER in my life!) on hand and use them for things like cooking beans and for my cornbread, which is pretty damned good even if I AM a city girl and use all-clad instead of cast iron. I'm pretty conscious of fat; it's an important part of a lot of flavor profiles and so I'm not exactly scared of it but I do think that whatever you use should do a lot of work for flavor, and bacon drippings are amazing for this. So, you know, no wonder hers are better than mine - I'm more conservative with both fat and salt and she's just NOT.

Today is my daughter's fourth birthday. She's such a wonderful girl - she's smart as a whip and has such a sunny disposition and such a kind heart. I know it's sappy as hell but she's special in a way I never have been and never could be, and she has a gift for making the people around her feel better, lighter, happier, just by being there. I have no idea where it came from, this lovely spirit she has, but I cling to it and dread its loss. She had a nice party today, and there will be another one at her school tomorrow. Her birthday marks the beginning of fall for us and so from here to the end of the year things will be busy in the best way, with all kinds of wonderful things to look forward to. I'm just insane enough to look forward to all of it, even though I know we'll be exhausted by January.

(P.S. One of the dads at her birthday party was wearing a Pastafarian t-shirt. Joy joy joy.)

Current Mood: loved
Current Music: "Miracle Drug" - A.C. Newman

A has a habit I'm afraid she may have picked up from her mom - long, rambly tirades.

The tail end of tonight's, reported via yell from the bathroom:

"So grownups don't know everything. Even George Bush! Today, when I was at school, my teacher wiped my bottom! So maybe you should tell George Bush that, because he really doesn't know everything."

. . . Yeah, I don't know. We couldn't figure it out either. But is it a good sign when even the three-year-old has contempt for Bush's intelligence level?

Current Mood: amused

My son's best friend is over for the afternoon. Overheard from O's room:

E: Your mom is so nice.
O: Yeah, my mom is pretty great, isn't she? She's the best mom in the world.
E: My mom's not that great.
*pause*
O: I'm not sure your mom would like to hear that.

Isn't that awesome? And do you see how compassionate my boy is? *cuddles the boy* (And, really, E's mom is a perfectly nice woman.)

I'm about to leave the full-time stay-at-home mommy business behind for the foreseeable future, and it's a great feeling to leave the job with good reviews.

Current Mood: cheerful

I am walking again! Well, really more hobbling and limping, but I'll take it. I still don't really feel comfortable leaving the house, but at least I'm not quite so stuck in one place, which is good as I have been bored out of my skull.

M. took the kids to see the Orioles get completely spanked by the Blue Jays yesterday afternoon, the highlight of which is that the kids got to run the bases at Camden Yards after the game. I hate that I missed it, because apparently A. looks fabulous on Jumbotron. I realized yesterday morning that this is something of a golden age of our family - all members are present and accounted for, and both children have moved pretty firmly into childhood - our kids are almost 4 and almost 7 and there are no more babies living here. It's so exciting and I'm so happy to be here - I really want to enjoy the years between now and when teenagerdom hits. I feel very conscious right now of how quickly time is passing and there is a bit of a panic to enjoy every moment.

Other stuff:

+ *crosses fingers and toes for

jlh*
+ So many flisties looking for work right now! *crosses fingers and toes for y'all, too*
+ The meme post is now crazy out of control. I'm gonna have to cut it off.
+ Every time GWB gives a press conference, my horror that half the country thought this man was capable of leading us is renewed. I mean, beyond just being a smirky ass, he's an idiot, and that's a powerfully offputting combination. My poor country. *cuddles the USA* ETA: OMG. He just LIES! Did you know that the tax cuts have worked? And that the economy is now officially stimulated? And that the deficit has been reduced faster than anticipated? What REALITY is this? *is outraged*
+ Which reminds me, actually, that I had a dream last night in which Helen Thomas was caught on videotape making weird noises to try to drown out some of the president's answers and there was one of those 2 day MSNBC/Fox/Daily Show scandals and I was dismayed for her. Let's take a moment - I am dreaming about the White House press corps. It is entirely possible that I am broken on some fundamental level.
+ I have big lifestyle changes coming, and there will be LJ changes to accomodate those. Namely, I think I HAVE to cut my flist, and I'm not sure how radical those cuts will be. You've got first shot at defriending.

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: blah blah blah stay the course *BLERGH*

Finally got around to watching Sateda. I haven't read anyone else's thoughts, so I'm likely repeating stuff here.

(1) Rodney, when he says, "That's my ass!", that vowel there at the beginning of the word 'ass'? Beautiful token of the Canadian shift!

( Read more... )

Also, two moments of random kid cuteness:

(1) Today we were listening to a CD with some Great Big Sea songs on it, and A asked me why he wanted to throw that kitty around. There was general confusion and blinking, there was recuing of the CD, until I was able to clarify that the song in question was "Boat Like Gideon Brown" which, oddly, kind of DOES sound like "throw that kitty around", especially if you're 4, I guess.

(2) Tonight O got irritated and yelled for someone to attend to him in his bedroom like the young master he is. When M arrived on the scene, O copped a 'tude and said, "One, you forgot to put my music on repeat. Two, my covers are on the floor and I'm getting cold." Gotta give it up for a pissed off 6-year-old with enough clarity of mind to state his complaints so elegantly, and I guess the bulleted list approach to conversation must be hereditary.

...like getting puked on by the three year old. She had a nightmare and got herself ALL worked up and I have no idea where that child got that hair-trigger gag reflex *ignores peanut gallery*, but once again I was suddenly topless and wiping down a half-asleep toddler while Marc changed the bed.

So, yeah. My life is so glamorous. *reaches for Hennessy*

I'll post about TWH tomorrow, I think, but one observation for now. I've done a lot of road tripping in the last 2 months, crossing 12 states and driving all the way from Houston TX to Salem MA. USAmericans, I know that we have a complicated relationship with our country, its attitudes and its government, and I know that we don't really do nationalism all that well, and I think that those things are healthy and good and appropriate. But whatever else it may be, this country is just fucking gorgeous. I drove through the swamps in deep summer when they were sleepy and the cypresses were heavy with moss and then today the leaves were just really starting to turn for real; the difference from just last Wednesday was noticeable. We have such a lovely thing here, so rich and complicated and varied and beautiful and just amazing. I was going to fangirl the planet in this post, but then I read about the earthquakes (I've been so out of touch) and that seemed inappropriate because she can be such a bitch, so let me just have a moment of awe, then. Wow.