Six, as a child, seems like such a big deal. You think you are so grown-up and out in the world. Move over baby-ish five! Enter SIX! Land of lost teeth, riding the bus, reading your own books, learning to tell time and wishing more than ever for a room of your own. At least in TD's case. … [Read more...]
How did we go from this relatively tame hair to this insane but incredibly cute mess in just three years?!Happy third birthday TD! It's hard to believe that just three years ago you were placed in my arms for me to hold and love forever. You looked up at me with those big eyes and you felt so warm. I remember thinking, "Well, of course you look like that. I always knew you would." But the hair? No. I could have never seen that coming. You are a loud, squealing risk taker like your father and a born nurturer like your Nana. You are sensitive and mercurial like your Momma. You instigate with glee and can be quite sneaky like me too. Am I allowed to say I'm proud of that or will it just encourage you further? I love you little girl. You are quite possibly the sweetest, sunniest being I know. … [Read more...]
Obsess much? Oh yes, she does. TD has taken a strong liking to one particular candidate. So much so that two weeks ago when the back of Obama's head (the back!) was on the cover of Newsweek she said, "Is that Barack Obama?" If TV time is desperately needed (I am nine months large after all) and nothing kid-friendly is on? She will happily watch the 24/7 paid advertisement the Obama campaign is running here in our state. She knows his voice from a radio spot and can pick him out no matter where she is. She might even have a career in politics if we could get that hair under control. She is already placing blame on the runner up in our house, the dog Lex. Today, she claimed, "Lex peed on my bed last night." Sounds like a Watergate style break-in in the making despite the dog having … [Read more...]
What fresh hell is this? I must have asked myself this question more than once last night. We are dealing with something new here and I don't know what it is, but it scares me. After a Sunday filled with a whiny, non-napping toddler who seemed on the verge of a complete meltdown/revolt. Her totalitarian regime was going full-tilt in her mind as she marched about the house screaming orders to her less than cooperative minions. OK her one "minion", the dog. The dog who looked just as freaked as us by this evil twist of events. Sure. Sometimes the kid doesn't nap. Sometimes. And it's not fun but screaming in terror at night? That's new. I felt like we were back at the six months mark or something and we can't find the dog. I fear the worst.7:30 p.m.- Bedtime. She goes down seemingly easy. … [Read more...]
We are a house full of women, four of us and then the dog. Yet our vocabulary is all about men. I have a tendency to say, "Man!" when I'm frustrated. At least it's not "Man, alive!" anymore. Thanks years of evangelical schooling where you couldn't even say the word, 'man', without adding something about life to the ending.The Comedian has been walking around the house over a year now exclaiming, "Aww..maaaan!" when things don't go her way. She then hangs in her head in Charlie Brown-like hang doggedness.Now we are in a whole new territory in vocabulary courtesy of the Tiny Dictator. "Mannit!"When she drops something. When she spills something. When she falls or gets frustrated, it's "Mannit!"I think we are starting a new trend, Mannit! … [Read more...]
Nine years ago H and I let a man we had met only five minutes before marry us at the Paris hotel in front of sixty-five or so of our closest friends and family. We toasted with champagne, danced the night away and then bid them all good night as we took a long walk from Caesar's Palace back to our hotel in our wedding finery. It's a memory I lovingly look back on every year. A few years ago I wrote this little tribute to us and while we have added in two more kids, still have that snake-bitten, scar-faced insane dog that no one pets anymore and still have a Tiny Dictator on our hands we are still in love despite midnight fights, feedings and more.H, it hardly seems possible that we have been married for nine years and gone through so much. I love you more today than … [Read more...]
Starting the day with one eye barely cracked open and a Tiny Dictator already whining right into your ear is not the best way to start one's day, much less the week.One of the parts about parenting that I loathe the most is 'Mean Mommy'. Immediately having to become 'Mean Mommy' before I have even placed a foot on the bedroom floor never mind had my morning coffee is not going to win you any prizes. Yet, here we are another start to a day beginning with crying. I still don't know what she was so upset about. I never could get it out of her.I wrote about the whining a few months back. I was at a loss, as was H. The day after I wrote that post TD miraculously turned herself around. We breathed a sigh of relief that the terrible phase was over and moved on … [Read more...]
Now, I know I am clearly a Lady Gaga freak, but the Tiny Dictator has become a tad obsessed. Who am I kidding? Dictators are never a 'tad' anything. All I get all day long is one request, "Momma! I want Lady Gaga. The bad Lady Gaga! The bad Lady Gaga LOUD!"So, here is what I see about a bazillion times a day. Apparently dictators also like to try their hand at break dancing. … [Read more...]
You know what's a great way to start a day? First, take a baby that has been blissfully sleeping through the night for the past week and allow them to wake you up every two hours. Said baby is not content at just seeing you enter her room but instead glares at you, flails her arms about and screams as if to say, "Hey, Feedbag! Hustle! Feedbag, Hustle!" Second, add in a Tiny Dictator who awakens at 4:45 a.m. to wet the bed. More screaming and hot tears ensue and just as H, who thankfully got up to take care of that hot mess of problems, crashes back into bed the dog throws up rather loudly into her crate right next to you. The smell permeates the room in about 2.5 seconds and you realize you have no choice but to start the day.The laundry monster you spent all day slaying the day … [Read more...]
To say it was love at first sight would be a massive understatement. The words ESPN and phrase, "Are you going to be a bitch all night?" were some of the first he said to me. He was a frat boy/soon-to-be Marine who arrived at my door with Bud Light beer cans shoved in his khaki pants pockets. And those pants? They didn't match his beige vest.I was not impressed.Then, over phone calls, not so average first dates of midnight showings of 'The Big Lebowski' (Lord knows I love a good weasel in a bathtub scene), actual theatre screenings of my favorite film 'Gone with the Wind' accompanied by my most adored meal out - diner grilled cheese with a milkshake (Yes, really.), he began to impress me.He moved my furniture for me. Drove me to and from the airport. He cooked me dinner more than a few … [Read more...]