My daughters are growing up. In fits and starts, perhaps. But mostly starts. I find that their recent forward momentum is simultaneously exciting and bittersweet. I haven’t sorted out where I stand in their evolution from child to tween and from tween to teen, but I’m not always as happy about it as I think I should be. Aren’t good parents always supposed rejoice in their children’s self-actualization and maturation? Am I being selfish in wanting to arrest their development for a few years? To stop time in order to collect as many hugs and as much laughter as I can before they no longer want to hug us and laugh with us?
Making Time for Mission Creep
How do you make time? I thought I’d be making a lot of time after I quit my job last year. Hell, I’d be freeing up at least 60 hours a week to do lots of things. Making time to raise my kids, making time to train a puppy, making time to whip myself into shape, making time to take on some consulting gigs, making time to write…
The Third Child I Never Thought I’d Have
No, I am not pregnant (that factory closed 8.75 years ago). My third child’s name is Truffle. And he’s technically not a child but a canine. But like Chloe and Sophie, he demands much of my time, attention and affection.
If you had asked me a couple of years ago whether I’d ever write about a dog in a loving and maternal way, I would have laughed you out of my house. But look who’s eating crow now.
Sharing My Bed With Sophie
I thought it was over. The days of Sophie joining me in my bed while her Papa was traveling. Snoring on his pillows. Kicking me in the middle of the night. Rolling over into my ribs.
My Sophie will be nine years old in a few months and the last few times my husband was away, she didn’t ask to sleep in my bed. And I didn’t invite her. I’m not sure why I didn’t ask her. I didn’t really think to ask her, I suppose. And since she didn’t ask, I assumed she wasn’t interested.
Tips on Traveling with a Teen
As Chloe exclaimed several dozen times during our recent trip together, “London is awesome!” Indeed, London was awesome. But London isn’t awesome simply by virtue of the fact that it exists. Our trip was great in Chloe’s eyes because she experienced almost everything she wanted to experience. Which had everything to do with research and planning before we boarded the plane.
So, for those of you who would like to take a special parent-child trip with your teenager, here are some tips to ensure your experience is as memorable as ours.
I May Be Castrated, But I Am Still Super Truffle
WARNING!
Today’s post is NSFW (for those of you who are behind on your Internet jargon, that means “not safe for work”). So if you’re reading this while at your desk, stop now and wait until you get home. Otherwise, you may get fired.
Continue reading I May Be Castrated, But I Am Still Super Truffle
An Unvarnished View of Mother’s Day
I love my kids. More than anything. I really, really do. But I really don’t care for Mother’s Day. Call me crazy, but every year, I wake up on the second Sunday of May with unrealistically high expectations that involve my being treated like a queen (albeit of a very small kingdom). That fantasy has now officially been quashed.
Samuel Beckett, Eat Your Heart Out
One of Sophie’s electives in school this term is playwriting. She is one of two children in her class (yes, that’s correct, one of two kids – up to you to decide whether that’s wonderful or a silly waste of teacher resources. I confess to wavering between the two). Sophie loves her teacher. For the past several weeks, they have been writing a short play that they are going to perform for their parents on Friday.
Looking Back on 20 Years of Marriage
When I went to France in 1989 to study abroad, I never expected to meet my future husband there, let alone meet him the first day I arrived. And yet that’s exactly what happened. For the next five years, we survived many obstacles: one year of trans-Atlantic separation, another 18 months commuting between Paris and Talloires in the French Alps, and perhaps most crucially of all, a couple of years cohabitating in a 200 sq. ft. studio apartment without a TV (much to my grandparents’ horror and dismay). We married in 1994 when we were 25 years old. Today marks the milestone of our 20th wedding anniversary.
Fare Thee Well, London
Our wonderful exploration of London comes to an end tomorrow. The time passed too quickly, as time so teasingly does when one is one vacation. It’s been a fantastic trip. Mostly because I was able to spend so much quality time with Chloe and to enjoy the city through her observant and wry lens. I’ll write more about the mother-daughter aspect of the trip in my next blog post, once we’ve returned home. In the meantime, here are some final highlights. And for anyone considering a similar trip to London or Paris with their kids, I’m available to create custom itineraries for a modest fee – feel free to spread the word (my anal-retentive attention to detail ensures you won’t be disappointed).