I love this part of parenthood
Leta: Mom, are you afraid of anything? Me, carefully weighing my response: I’m terrified of heights. I get really scared when I look out the window in a tall building. Leta: You mean like, cliffs and mountains? Me: Yes, exactly. Leta: What about when you were a little girl? Me: When I was your age [...]
Fortissimo
A couple of weeks ago we finally got off our butts and enrolled Leta into piano lessons. We’ve been pretty hands off in terms of forcing Leta into activities, mainly because she would so rather be reading a book than kicking that stupid ball around the field, MOM. Well then, Leta, let me introduce you [...]
Grandmother, mother, daughter
Earlier this week I experienced one of my proudest moments as a parent, and I am being totally, unabashedly earnest when I talk about this. Like, this isn’t a post about Marlo making it through the day without injuring herself or breaking the law, although Universe, if you’re listening I’d gladly trade you one of [...]
We need an official clown car
Saturday afternoon my friend Cami and I took both girls to get some ice cream. It was an outing that required just the right amount of effort for a weekend afternoon: not too much like chasing a toddler around a park so that she doesn’t impale herself on a fence, not too little like falling [...]
More adventures in picky eating
“Mom, it’s Friday. We’re going out to eat tonight, right?” “Actually, your father and I are going on a date, so your cousin Meredith is coming over to babysit.” “BUT… BUT… WHAT WILL WE HAVE FOR DINNER?!” “Whoa, hey. You don’t have to worry about it. Meredith will fix you something you like.” “WHAT IF [...]
Because a trip to South Padre Island is out of the question
Leta’s spring break is coming up, and when Jon and I were brainstorming ideas about what to do he suggested we all go camping. In a tent. With Marlo. I told him that he might as well take a bat and hit me over the head, again and again, and then take me by the [...]
The second tooth
Last Thursday night we were all sitting around the dinner table talking when Jon noticed that Leta was fiddling with her loose tooth. The same loose tooth that he has threatened to yank for the last month, causing both her and me to run screaming into the other room where we crouch in the corner [...]
March madness
Sunday morning we resumed a ritual we practiced with Leta but gave up once Marlo came along. Because Marlo ruins everything. See how I just came right out and said that? Believe me, when she reads that fifteen years from now I guarantee you her feelings will not be hurt, and instead she will throw [...]
My favorite part of the day
About a week ago Leta was playing a game on one of our phones before school when I told her it was time to go get dressed. She set the phone on her lap and asked, “Can I resume playing this game when I’m done?” Um, excuse me, Doogie? I looked at Jon to see [...]
Newsletter: Month Eighty-Four
Dear Leta, Last week you turned seven years old. When you were born other parents told us to relish that time with you because in the blink of an eye you’d be seven or eight or nine like their own children. I asked those parents if their seven, eight, and nine-year-olds were sleeping, and when [...]
