Category Archives: Treasures from the Archives

Be Still My Beating Heart

Not because our sunroom is finished, but because Chloe and Sophie were ARGUING over the mop.  Yes, my two cleaning-averse daughters who complain every time we ask them to pick up after themselves, were fighting for turns with the mop.  Granted, they were more hindrance then help as they “cleaned,” but I’ve never seen so much excitement for a chore as I did this morning.
My husband would argue that the most startling sight this morning wasn’t the girls mopping the floor of the rebuilt room, rather it was his wife’s mopping the floor of the rebuilt room.  He even has the incriminating video to prove it.  Which will never make its way onto this blog.  Let’s just say that it’s evident from the incriminating video that the girls inherited their lack of cleaning skills from their mother.
Thanks to the extraordinary group effort, for now, the sunroom is the cleanest room in the house.  This will last until tomorrow, once we’ve started to move back into it.  But for now, you can admire it in all of its virgin glory, as we’ve been doing all day.

TGIF

Sophie survived her first week of school!  And she liked it, we think.  No complaints on Thursday and next week she’ll experience her first class trip on a school bus.  She is, of course, very excited about that and was very keen on knowing whether or not it is going to be a big school bus or a little school bus.

Chloe has started Harry Potter all over again.  However, she remarked this evening that she’d rather have a more Nancy Drew books, or the 3rd book in the Sisters Grimm series.  For those of you reading this blog who are wondering what to get her for her upcoming birthday, there you go.  She’s read the first 14 Nancy Drew books.  It’s crazy how much she’s been reading.
I’m glad this week is over.  It was a long week, and a somewhat stressful one at work.  There’s definitely a sense of anxiety in the air – everywhere.  I’m looking forward to the weekend.  First item on the agenda:  moving back into the sunroom.  It’s finished (except for the outside stucco, which will be taken care of once the weather gets warmer) and it looks great.  Believe it or not, my husband chose the color and he was right.  He and color don’t really get along, so it was surprising, to say the least.  Second item on the agenda:  buy Chloe her birthday present (a Nintendo DS).  Third item on the agenda:  get a manicure.  And on Sunday, a trip to the museum sounds appealing…

Hope for Tomorrow

It’s been there for a few months now.  This feeling, despite the endless bad news, that come Tuesday things will start to turn around.  The economy sucks, we’re still fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan is a mess, bin Laden is still alive, Pakistan and India are one terrorist attack away from trying to annihilate one another, Israel and Hamas are at war, North Korea may have weaponized plutonium…and yet, and yet…

Continue reading Hope for Tomorrow

Peace and Quiet

My husband left with the girls earlier this afternoon to drop Chloe off at mom’s for an overnight stay.  For a glorious hour, I was alone in the house.  It was quiet.  I lay in bed and watched a movie, without interruption of any kind.

When he returned with Sophie, she was sleeping.  And she slept and slept, until about 6 pm.  She woke up cranky, but it didn’t last very long.  And after days of the girls going at each other, it’s been nice to enjoy several hours of peace.  
This is a photo of Sophie playing with her special Fisher-Price computer keyboard.  She’s “learning” to draw letters and is always very proud whenever the image she traces appears on the screen.  She’s very excited to start school on Tuesday, as are we.  She chose a backpack at Target yesterday, and try as we might, we were unable to convince her to stay away from the pink Disney princess model.  I’m learning to choose my battles, but Sophie is quickly turning this “Pink Me Not” blog into “Pink Me Most of the Time.”  C’est la vie.

The Misadventures of Chloe

Before I begin, this a photo of Chloe with our beloved babysitter, who’s been with us for eight years.  Sophie decided to be camera-shy when I took the picture, but that’s ok.  We’ll get her another time.

Anyway, today we celebrated Chloe’s birthday (about two weeks in advance).  We took her, along with her best friend, to the Big Apple Circus.  And they had a terrific time.  But Chloe’s misadventures started a little bit before we left, and continued well into the evening.  Here’s a summary of her day:
(1) Help Mom put paint samples on the wall of the rebuilt sunroom.  While in the kitchen preparing the paint, attempt to open one of the jars and in doing so, splatter half of the contents all over the kitchen floor and cabinetry.
(2) Buy a souvenir cup at the circus and repeatedly drop it or kick it over, and in doing so, splash half of the contents all over the floor.  Luckily the cup was only filled with water.
(3) Share cotton candy with her friend.  Hold the bag from the wrong end, and drop the remaining treat on the floor.  Try to eat the “clean” side, but not before I grab it from her and hide it in my bag.
(4) Go to a local Italian restaurant for her birthday dinner, specifically chosen by Chloe because they offer good desserts.  Receive a lovely piece of Oreo cake, to be shared between Chloe and her friend.  After one bite, drop the plate (oops! broke the plate) and the cake on the floor.  
(5) Get a replacement piece of Oreo cake, which Papa splits evenly in two for Chloe and her friend.  Bring piece to the edge of the table and proceed to put more of the cake on her clothes than in her mouth.
I kid you not.  All of this really happened between the hours of 2:30 pm and 8:30 pm today.  The only thing that didn’t happen, which happens fairly regularly, is that Chloe didn’t spill any milk.  Are all 8-year olds like this?

Overdrive


Our girls were at it again tonight – raising the decibel level to bloodcurdling levels and not always because they were fighting.  I think they’re doing it now because they know that we’ll react to it. 
And when we react, they have us right where they want us.  Sputtering, barely coherent parents with bug eyes and bursting headaches.  Ugh. Kids are so damn manipulative.
Whenever they act up, I dream of the day when Sophie and Chloe have children of their own. When our darling grandchildren drive my daughters to distraction.  And when my girls call us to complain about their children’s behavior, I’ll have a shit-eating grin on my face as I say (without much compassion at all), “Now you know what it was like for us!”

A New Room (Almost)

This image is now outdated.  The insulation has been installed and by the end of the week, we’ll have sheetrock on the walls.  Painting is scheduled to start next Monday.
And soon enough, we’ll have a new old sunroom.  Our living room will once again be free of the girls’ crap (it’s not all crap, but a lot of it is).  We’ll once again have a view of our fireplace, which is currently blocked by our TV.
And all of this for the cost of one year of private college tuition!  Or at least three VERY memorable vacations.  Or a new car.  I can go on and on, but it just depresses me when I think about it.  So I’m not going to think about it anymore.

I Have a Headache

I love my girls.  Really, I do.  But between Chloe’s screeching sound effects that prevent us from hearing ourselves think, and Sophie’s blood-curdling screams every time Chloe does something to offend her, I am going to quickly become a major contributor to Tylenol’s bottom line.

Unless the cacophony continues unabated, in which case I may need to graduate to prescription painkillers.  Or replace my two girls with a few more dwarf hamsters – who although incapable of giving hugs and kisses, are QUIET all of the time and a lot cheaper to raise.
As I write this, my husband is upstairs with the girls attempting to get them ready for bed.  But the girls are very good at ignoring us (not something I’m proud to admit, I might add).  As Sophie gets older, the bedtime routine gets more complicated.  And Chloe is incapable of doing what we ask her to do the first time around.  It takes at least several requests before she makes a move to comply, and when she does finally act, she channels snails.
Is there a union for parents?  I’d like to go on strike and demand improved working conditions.

Piggyback Ride

Chloe gives Sophie piggyback rides.  And now Sophie gives Gloup and Alubus piggyback rides.  

That said, the novelty of owning pets seems to have worn off a bit. I find myself reminding Chloe to play with the animals more often than I did in the beginning.  You know how it is – favorite Hannah Montana episode or parental (in this case, hamster) chores – which would you prefer if you were 8 years old?
I’m finding that the days are too short since we’ve adopted these two creatures.  In addition to the pre-hamster tasks (get ready for school, homework, set the dinner table, clean up after dinner, take the occasional bath, get ready for bed…), we now have to make sure Alubus and Gloup are hydrated, fed, cleaned, recreated…long live the hamsters.