At my house we appreciate a good bad school picture. For me it was always the “Grump Bucket” picture from Kathy Brown’s Preschool. I remember the day well. I was three. It was picture day. Pastel patterned overalls. Cindy Brady pigtails. We’re outside and there’s a crowd of parents cheering…
During the first weekend of October, I set-out on a highly anticipated girls weekend in Santa Fe, New Mexico. After almost a year of planning, the reunion of my high school besties has finally arrived. It begins early on a Thursday morning. It’s a fitful night’s sleep. I wake in…
Yesterday we set out on our annual October pumpkin patch expedition. Over my weekend in Santa Fe, which I’ll write more about later, I gathered a few recommendations from some trusted resources. We decided to stop in Davenport for breakfast. I have been a lifelong devotee of the former Davenport…
The very next Wednesday, after I had written about our magical walk to the first day of school, Nate and Jake and I set-off to kindergarten. About five minutes in, this is what happened: I think you could hear him yelling from five blocks away. I’m not really sure how…
A few weeks ago James decided to declare a weekly routine he aptly named Taco Tuesday. He was excited about it, so I was excited about it. It seemed to also coincide with the discovery of a miraculous new product brought to us by “Tortilla Land.” I’m told these ingenious…
Our little Nate is going through a “phase.” He has generally been known as the agreeable one. The generous one. The child quick to reason, to apologize, to accept “no” as an acceptable answer and to keep on going. If we had one remotely “flexible” child, it was Nate. But…
As some people know, I grew up in the boondocks, the mountains, what we affectionately called “BFE” when out of adult earshot. School buses and big indoor schools with stone steps and cafeterias were the providence of movies and Beverly Hills 90210. Walking to school? Something people did in the…
If I ever write a book, I’ve decided to title it, Ketchup is Not an Entrée. A quick Google search has turned up zero results. How is that even possible? Now I just need an actual book…
So we read the preschool outbreak notice, gather up our possibly infested trio of puppies, and take the boys home. We go about our usual business, but I feel itchy. Despite the fact that I’m sure there is some sort of gestation period, for a week I find my scalp…
At 5pm the day before school starts, they post the class lists in the front window of the office. I still remember my days at Happy Valley. The excitement of going by the school to look at the class list to find out your teacher and classmates. I remember seeing…