Shrinking in the Distance: My Kids Are Growing Up and Away

The day after Christmas, we enjoyed a short winter reprieve. Temperatures soared. With my 13-year-old’s brand-new drone fully charged, we headed to the park, where he could fly it in wide open spaces without worrying about entangling his new toy in wires or treetops. All of the pre-Christmas bustle had ceased and for once, we didn’t have holiday travel plans. Our visit to the park was sheer fun.

I took this picture of my children chasing after the drone in the distance. From our vantage atop a hill (at this time of year, it could as easily be the sled riding hill), they seemed so small. My oldest is only a few inches shorter than me, but in this picture, he might as well be the size of his three-year-old brother. Continue reading

Seven Quick Takes

Seven Quick Takes Friday

Child-Wrangling Olympics Edition

Promotions for the upcoming Summer Olympics are beginning to appear, and while some may be excited for the return of golf to the worldwide sporting events, I’ve noted the gaping chasm where parental competition should be. Let’s face it, most of us slogging through day jobs, home maintenance, and child rearing have little time or energy left for Olympic-caliber competition. Schlepping through the grocery store and scrubbing the toilet are taxing enough. Sadly, our society ignores the skills honed during those years when mothers and fathers nurture and safeguard their wily, wiry offspring on minimal sleep and some combination of coffee, wine, and adrenaline bursts. Should parenting be incorporated into the next Olympics, these are my recommended events. (This post enhanced by simultaneously listening to the Chariots of Fire theme music.) Continue reading

Top 10 Tuesday: Top 10 Favorite Children’s Books

We’ve clocked  a lot of hours with children’s books around here. Our shelves are filled to capacity with books for kids, some classic, some modern, some treasures and some trash. These books have withstood being read hundreds of times and are still loved. Not just by the kids, but by me.

Little girl reading

Big chair, little girl, tiny book.

So, to mark Children’s Book Week, here are ten of our favorites. These are the first ten I thought of, but there are others. (Skippyjon Jones books by Judy Schachner come to mind for their clever storytelling and the sheer pleasure of reading them aloud.) Continue reading