In my house, Eli games on the family TV. It sits in our sunroom, the place we all hang out. So, while I have zero interest in his computer games, I spend plenty of time watching him play. Writing, mid-sentence, I’ll look up from my computer, thinking, searching for the proper word, to find Eli … Continue reading The things I don’t understand about Fortnite.
Parenting
Regrets, I’ve had a few
Everyone’s tired. Everyone’s grumpy. We're all exhausted. We pulled in last night at 9:30 after our whirlwind tour of North Carolina colleges. We live in Pennsylvania. It’s practically a southern state compared to New England states like New Hampshire or Vermont, but our winter suits none of us. Especially Sophie. She’s a high school junior, … Continue reading Regrets, I’ve had a few
Scramble
“That looks disgusting.” I was home for lunch. For the third time this winter, my work closed because of a snowstorm. Today’s was a pretty good one. By eleven o’clock we had four inches of fluffy snow. Looking out the window, a somewhat opaque veil added an inch or two each hour. Home for lunch … Continue reading Scramble
Dad-Jokes
“What an adorable little house!” This was Fiona’s friend talking. They came over to babysit Sophie. Eli wasn’t born yet. It was a long time ago; Eli’s now thirteen. Actually, only Fiona came over to babysit, we told her she could bring a friend. It was close to Sophie’s bedtime. My adorable little house was … Continue reading Dad-Jokes
Grand Theft Auto
When I walked into the house, Eli was knocking over a liquor store. He was a man of color, twenty-five years old, and wearing the style of t-shirt I associate with men who fought in World War Two. Popularly it’s known as a wife-beater, but I can’t in good conscious propagate that name without comment. … Continue reading Grand Theft Auto
My Spot
On Saturday, he woke up sick. Not sick in a way worth blogging about: no visits to the E.R., no uncontrollable vomiting, no diarrhea, he didn’t even have a fever. He was stuffed up, congested. He moved from bed to the corner of the couch, the spot where I always sit, next to the ceiling … Continue reading My Spot
Censored by Decency
Gone are the days when I wake up an hour early to write. Long gone. This morning I was up at 5:15. That early alarm setting allows forty-five minutes of quiet self-care—coffee, news, cereal—before my kids grudgingly get out of bed. They require constant and sometimes not-so-gentle nudging towards door to start their school day. … Continue reading Censored by Decency
Resolve #2
Verb: Decide firmly on a course of action. Noun: Firm determination to do something. I’ve written about resolve before—last time, the noun not the verb. On this thirty-first day of the last month of 2018, an errant thunderstorm serves to remind me that climate change is real, it’s here, and it’s messing with the natural order … Continue reading Resolve #2
Appropriating Christmas
I grew up Christian. Not Evangelical, born-again, relationship-with-God Christian. I went to church, I attended Sunday school, but each week when I headed home for my Sunday lunch of sardine and onion sandwiches with my New York City father, I checked my faith at the chapel door. Being Christian was unimportant to me during the … Continue reading Appropriating Christmas
YouTube
Sophie and Eli stream YouTube on their phones—their version of Saturday morning cartoons. It’s 9:00am, they just woke up; I don’t know what time they go to bed. I can’t get a straight answer out of either of them. I’m asleep by ten each night. They stare at their five-inch screens and stifle a laugh … Continue reading YouTube
Twilight
The sun already set, not below the horizon, but behind the cauliflower clouds, a halo hanging just above the earth. Orange-brown light bled through the thin spots like an iodine stain and rimmed the crest with a subtle ember glow. The entrance to my trail shrouded by the gloom. I was late, too late. Helping … Continue reading Twilight
Water Bottle
“It doesn’t matter what object you pick. You just have to tell a story.” Eli was freaking out. His first homework assignment of the year: write a personal essay. My thought: “Finally, an assignment I can help with.” When my kids get stuck on their math homework, they’re on their own. Eli’s seventh grade curriculum … Continue reading Water Bottle
The Fireworks Edition
Independence Day in America. We blow shit up. Ask any American about our Fourth of July traditions, and they’ll tell you ‘fireworks.’ Or maybe ‘beer and fireworks.’ It’s all very patriotic. Especially the beer, assuming that it’s American beer. I haven’t learned yet if Trump is applying tariffs to foreign beer, but American beer is … Continue reading The Fireworks Edition
Emerging insect-borne infectious diseases.
King Ben's Grandma tagged me to participate in 3.2.1. Quote Me. I swore I would never participate in one of these blog games again, but now look: I'm all in. So here are the rules: Thank the selector (Thanks Grandma) Post 2 quotes for the dedicated Topic of the Day Select 3 bloggers to take part … Continue reading Emerging insect-borne infectious diseases.
Transforming Mom
Mothers’ Day: a topic deserving some real estate on my blog, thoughts about mom. But not my mom, Decades ago, she got sick, and then she got sicker. She’s been dead for thirty-three years. I’ve already written about her, twice. Pornography About Death Today, I’m writing about Tristan’s mom, I’m writing about Elyse. Elyse isn’t … Continue reading Transforming Mom
Kids’ Day
“Why do you want that picture so badly?” This is Jess, I work with her. I’ve lined up this shot at least seven times. It’s of the vendor-booth across from ours. Every time I’m ready to snap the picture, the wind blows and flips one or both of the signs sideways. I put down my … Continue reading Kids’ Day
Violence
It’s the same fight every time. Once, twice per year, depending on how frequently we get together. Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. Fight is too strong a word. Argument; disagreement; squabble—one of those might be a better fit. These are the holidays that bring Susan’s family together. Her sister lives in Maine, her brother in Massachusetts. Susan’s … Continue reading Violence
My Turn
We’ve dodged a bullet, hundreds of times. My kids are teenagers. Well one of them is; the other one is twelve. So not a teen, but almost. And for all these years, they’ve been the least scheduled kids I know—they’re not committed every afternoon and evening. Not on team sports. Not in church youth groups. … Continue reading My Turn
Etymology, Idioms & Blogs
Hit the ground running… have I done this? Not really. Consider this idiom: A parachuting reference? Jumping off a train? Out of a car? I googled the etymology and found “It may come from troops dropped into a combat zone, from stowaways.” Ignoring the weird punctuation, I tried to find out what a ‘stowaway’ is. … Continue reading Etymology, Idioms & Blogs
Like Watching Ice Melt
I'm not writing much these days. Over the past month I've been enrolled in thirteen hours per week of domestic violence advocacy training for work. On top of that, the Olympics are on. This is the one time every other year that our TV is turned on for any distracting length of time. Waiting for … Continue reading Like Watching Ice Melt
The Other Stuff 