“Mom, but it’s the holidays! Why do you have to work?” Sophie whined as we drove to the salon to have her curls trimmed. I had just announced that I’d need to put in a few hours of writing every morning between Christmas and New Year’s.
Category Archives: Chief Mom Officer Musings
Tell Me Why – a Curmudgeon’s Lament
Call me Curmudgeon. (Along with ‘serendipity,’ ‘curmudgeon’ happens to be one of my favorite words in the English language. I adore the word’s peculiar blend of letters.) You’d think that with a December birthday and the upcoming holidays, I’d be full of good cheer. Well, bah humbug…
14 – 9 = 5 & Never the Twain Shall Meet
Chloe and Sophie are almost five years apart. This was not an intentional spread, but I don’t regret it. Between the difference in their ages and the differences in their personalities, there’s never a dull moment, which is by turns often amusing and occasionally appalling.
Selling Sophie Short
Sophie’s teachers recently gave us a priceless gift: “Sophie is a wonderful kid and such a hard-working student. Have you had her tested for the special math and language arts electives?” they asked during her recent parent-teacher conference.
On Light Bulbs and Big Bird
I miss the days of the simple incandescent light bulb. Especially now that we’ve changed the clocks and have to endure darkened skies at 4:30 pm.
The photo above is a view of our dining room chandelier. As we sat down to dinner last night, my husband looked up at the light fixture hanging above us and exclaimed, “All of the bulbs are different!” Then he laughed maniacally.
No More Monkey Business
I scanned the clothes in my closet and realized that I had nothing to wear. A friend had invited me to an event she organized for her new employer – one of those corporate breakfasts that purportedly allows you to enjoy the best of two worlds: network with a great group of people and absorb words of wisdom from an esteemed group of panelists, and still get to your desk job at a decent hour.
Which is all well and good when you normally wake up at the crack of dawn to go to work, but challenging when you no longer need to wake up at the crack of dawn to go to work. Happy that my friend thought of me and grateful for the invitation, I convinced myself that the event would be good for me – you never know who might require freelance writing services. The girls were off from school and I enlisted Chloe to babysit Sophie. I rolled out of bed and hustled to get ready because I was already running late. And that’s when I opened my closet doors and froze.
Invasion of the Stuffed Animals
Sophie’s bedroom is overrun by stuffed animals. At last count, approximately 95 inanimate creatures graced her bed, her floor and her shelves. When Sophie goes to sleep, she scrunches herself into a ball so she can fit into a corner on her bed. She doesn’t want to disturb the furry friends that surround her.
Bonding with My Brother in Weird Austin
My brother and I are 2 1/2 years apart. I’m the oldest. I’ve always been the most serious. The worrier. The good kid who never got into any trouble. The thinks-too-much-about-everything sister. My brother has always been the happy-go-lucky sibling. The most relaxed. The kid everyone liked. The kid who did a lot of dumb things but somehow rarely got caught.
I suppose, then, it’s no surprise that he eventually ended up in laid-back Austin and I ended up living a few miles from eternally amped-up New York City. Our personalities match the places we call home.
What Autumn Means to Me
When Nine is Simply Nine
Sophie celebrates her ninth birthday tomorrow. To mark the occasion, it would be easy to spew out the usual platitudes about her annual milestone – how I love her, how she enriches our life, how she’s metamorphosing before our very eyes.
Instead, I’ve spent the past couple of days contemplating how refreshing it is that, in Sophie’s world, nine is simply nine. Sophie is still very much a child, you see. In her mannerisms, in her speaking, in her hobbies, in her unpredictable mood swings. Unlike Chloe at nine, Sophie isn’t yet too jaded or too mature for her own good.