Red flag alert. Red flag alert. When your 11-year old tells you that her friends like having sleepover parties at your house, the alarms should go off in your head.
A Beautiful Weekend in Ithaca
Celebrating my cousin’s marriage on Lake Cayuga by eating, drinking, making merry and skipping rocks.
To Eat the Ice Cream You Have to Freeze It
Chloe tried to make ice cream for dessert this evening. Unfortunately, however, she’ll need to try again.
She encountered three hurdles that conspired to doom the effort:
Change Is Upon Us
Six months ago, I learned that our wonderful babysitter was planning to retire. For six months, I tried not to think about it. But all the effort I put into trying not to think about it made me think about it even more.
Subliminal Messaging
OK, not really so subliminal. This is what was waiting for me when I went to Sophie’s back-to-school night this evening.
We Are Despicable Parents
Sophie doesn’t like being told ‘no.’ She detests losing at games. She hates it when we don’t pay exclusive attention to her. But most of all, she loathes it when she tasks us with selecting a bedtime book and we choose one that doesn’t meet her expectations. The list of perceived and real slights could go on forever, but I’ll save more examples for a future post.
First Day of School in Pictures
Here is Chloe, the 6th grader. In a perfect illustration of her straddling both child and teen, she asked Papa and me to accompany her to the bus this morning. The request was surprising and endearing. About 2/3 of the way there, however, the bubble burst. We noticed the crowd of kids waiting for the bus. And the parents were nowhere to be found. When Chloe saw this, she immediately turned to us and turned us around, physically pushing us back in the direction of the house. I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time.
Latch Key Chloe
Today was a big day for Chloe. We went to the hardware store for her very own key to the family homestead. She took an inordinate amount of time to choose her key, because unlike when I was a kid, keys now have designs.
A Few Final Observations About Our Vacation
Boogie boarding in the ocean is as fun in 2012 as it was in 2010 (credit to Echo and the Bunnymen’s “Seven Seas” for the accompanying music).
Continue reading A Few Final Observations About Our Vacation
History’s the Bomb!
After a couple of weeks at the beach, we’re now immersing ourselves in revolutionary history at Williamsburg.