I realize he gets short shrift in this blog. But that’s honestly because what the girls’ antics are a lit more interesting than his antics. He and I are just supporting characters in our children’s world.

Here’s what Chloe has to say about her Papa: “He’s a baldie. His eyebrows are really bushy compared to his head.”

Here’s what Sophie has to say about her Papa: “He’s silly and he’s silly. I call him ‘la la goo goo’ and most of the time I like him. He’s pretty. Papa is my favorite dad.”

There you have it. Concise and to the point. Love you, pops!

The time has flown by. It’s been almost 10 years since my father died. I still find it hard to believe that that he’s gone. In 2000, I was in my second year of law school. Chloe was a little more than a year away from being born. The Twin Towers were still standing and most of us had not yet heard of Al Qaeda. We weren’t at war. Our main concern was whether or not our computers would still work on January 1, 2000.

Since then, law school diploma, a few short years as a practicing lawyer, a new career in legal marketing, two home purchases, and most important, two beautiful children. It’s hard to imagine what life would be like without Chloe and Sophie. Aside from the random moments of “I wish I had a few minutes alone,” they bring me so much joy that I’m sometimes overwhelmed by the power of it. Earlier this evening, Sophie came up to me and looked at me with those big brown eyes of hers and planted an unsolicited kiss on my cheek, and I melted. My dear, sweet, happy Sophie. And when I watch Chloe buried in her books or playing word games, I’m transported back in time to my own childhood. I see so much of myself in her it’s uncanny.

Who knows what the next ten years will bring? What I do know is that when we celebrate the arrival of 2020, Chloe will be 18, Sophie will be 14, I’ll be 51 and my husband will be 50. Those numbers, in of themselves, are crazy enough. But I’ll stop projecting into the future. We still have 10 more years to go until then – what I hope will be 10 wonderful, fulfilling years.

Happy New Year, everyone!

She doesn’t want my seat. She doesn’t want Papa’s seat. She wants her sister’s seat. Chloe, who is like a 20-year old when it comes to certain things – like vocabulary – is still an 8-year old kid when it comes to her sister doing things to annoy her.

When Sophie set the table yesterday, she played musical seats with everyone except my husband. Chloe was upset that she had to seat in what had been Sophie’s seat for 4+ years. It took her way too long to get over it.

It was Chloe’s turn to set the table tonight. Not one to take any chances on some last-minute Sophie shenanigans with the seating arrangements, Chloe made herself a ‘reserved’ sign at her usual spot. Fortunately for Chloe, Sophie was too tired to care. But I don’t think the story is over yet, not by a long shot. Because Sophie has a long memory, and will gleefully remember the consternation on Chloe’s face when she had to switch spots. This saga is going to continue for a long time to come, I just know it.