Chloe has decided that she enjoys cooking and wants to cook more. Needless to say, I find that incredibly amusing. Not because I think she’d be a bad cook. Quite the contrary – we all know that when Chloe puts her mind to it, she can master anything.
Nanny and Poppy paid us a visit last night, recounting for posterity, via DVD, their lives. How Poppy came to the US from Russia in 1929, how they met as teenagers, how Nanny as a young girl worked to help support her family, how their happiest day was the day Poppy returned home from World War II, how Poppy lost a few thousand dollars playing blackjack with the Shah of Iran. Oh, the stories.
Our new next-door neighbors have a 2-year old girl. So as not to infringe on their privacy, let’s call her Amelia, as in Amelia Earhart, because she is an adventurer. She frequently comes to our house to visit. By herself. She’s even wandered into our house on occasion. She’s very cute. The first time she came to visit us, I thought it was because she coveted the play set in our backyard.
My ears are the most abused part of my body. I experienced this epiphany yesterday when Chloe was talking to my right ear and Sophie was talking to my left ear. My 43-year old ears can’t take it anymore. The simultaneous cacophony has ruined my stereo-sound.
Sophie does not like to be told she’s wrong. As the end of the school year approaches, Sophie is sick of homework.
My girls blame me for everything. Is that normal? Three days before Mother’s Day, no less? Here’s a representative sampling of the shit I get blamed for:
When I found out that Maurice Sendak died today, I was sad. I don’t tend to wallow in nostalgia when a famous person I’ve never met dies, but I made an exception in this case. Because when I heard the news, a little piece of the child left in me died with him.
Continue reading How Maurice Sendak Helped Define My Childhood
So, we’re at Smashburger for dinner and Chloe starts up with her 1,001 questions. Something she’s prone to do on at least a weekly basis. Tonight’s theme evolved into a discussion about religion.
Grammy had a great idea. Under the theory that we all learn something new each day, she’s encouraging the girls to keep track of their accumulated knowledge.
The other night, our beloved babysitter, Esperanza, announced that she was planning to retire in October. I knew the day would eventually arrive, but I still cried when she told me. We lovingly refer to her as the girls’ second grandmother.