My favorite thing about writing for Alpha Mom is the occasional, drive-by, years-after-the-original-post which is always---and I do mean ALWAYS---someone who wants to tell me that I'm an insult to humanity and irrevocably screwing up my children. You have to have a pretty thick skin if you put yourself out there (which is something I didn't always have, true) but the random general "U SUCK!" comments don't even count. I find myself wondering what makes a person think "This is very important that I tell this person how displeasing and wrong I find them. I shall do it right now, for it cannot...
Summer is firmly upon us, and I am enjoying all of my unexpected down time. HAAAA. You know, in-between the driving lessons, ferrying children to and fro, working on a few different projects for the school (damn my need to be "helpful" and "participatory"), gardening, sort of working, various visits and engagements, and trying to keep everyone alive (which turns out to be harder than I think it's going to be, all the time). We had houseguests who brought their two dogs, and do it was DOGAPALOOZA here for a couple of days, and after they left, Duncan seemed REALLY tired, which, fine, I guess...
I don't think I ever posted about taking Chickadee to get her learner's permit. We did it well ahead of when we let her start driving---much to her chagrin, because we are simply The Worst---and I guess it seemed like sort of a non-event? The most entertaining part was that it was a twofer---our Bonus Kid at the time who was about half a step above being an orphan also came along for permit-ing due to a lack of actual parental units willing to do the honors, and theoretically you have to be a relative to take a minor to the DMV for this stuff, so when asked if said kid was my child, I smiled...
Chickadee is in the process of deciding which colleges she wants to apply to. This is exciting, but also just plain WEIRD, not to mention a little scary. (I mean, for me. Probably for her, too, but I don't presume to speak for her.) By this time next year, we'll know where she's headed. That means I have just one year left to teach her how to be a self-regulating semi-adult human being. AHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAOMG. (Hang on while I type the rest of this with my head between my knees.) Throw in the intrinsic differences between my kids when it comes to some areas of self-awareness and regulation, and...
Remember the old saying about how a kid's parents get dumber and dumber until the kid is an adult and then---magically---the parents start getting smart again? We're going through that right now, and I always thought it meant that hahaha, the kids would think I was dumb when really I wasn't, BUT NO, I've come to believe that I am truly losing brain cells as they get older. My poor kids, and their dumb ol' mom who can barely function anymore. For a while there, Monkey was very fond of declaring, "It's okay, I'm a doctor!" in response to any sort of doubting of his ability. This morphed into,...
Exactly eight years ago, right about now I was getting my hair done in preparation for taking another crack at the whole 'til-death-do-us-part thing. That feels simultaneously about a million years ago AND just a few weeks ago. Time is weird like that. As is his style, Otto swooped into the kitchen this morning with a small flourish and a big, "Happy Familyversary!" and an extremely thoughtful gift for me and a family gift for all of us. He is the BEST. (Did you know that the 8th anniversary is pottery? I got a beautiful piece and we're all going to a wheel class at a local studio next week...
The last time I tried to sell something on Craigslist, I received a slew of weirdo spammy responses about how "I come right now and pay you twice your asking price" followed by "and then you ship item to my little cousin in Upper Slobovia, yes?" and never anything that led even remotely close to an actual sale. I listed my item (a decent Yamaha student trumpet; anybody need a trumpet?) twice and had no luck either time. So when Otto declared he would list our old, peeling patio furniture on Craigslist and handle everything, I may have snickered to myself a bit. He listed it for twice what I...
All I could get Chickadee to tell me she wanted for her birthday was permission to install Snapchat. (Owing to an unfortunate bending of the house rules a few years ago, that particular app was off the table for a while, because I am a Giant Meaniepants.) I let her go the entire day without mentioning it, then downloaded it to her phone right before she went to bed that night. Then, of course, I had to install it, myself, and it was even more cringetastic than this: It got me thinking, though, that as inept as I am, it's always worth it to meet the kids wherever they are in terms of their...
I don't know if you knew this, but today is a very special holiday. Just in case we all suddenly fell and hit our heads and forgot, my darling daughter made sure to note it on the family calendar pretty much the moment we flipped over to April. That's right---Flerp Derp hopes you are all observing International Flerp Day today. (Translation: It's her birthday. Please to remit candy immediately.) So, I hope you're sitting down, because the scrappy little girl who was newly six years old when this blog started just turned 17. SEVENTEEN. I'm not really sure how that happened, quite frankly,...
