“Ok, baby, it’s time for your surgery.” I said to Amelia’s doll as I sat down, donned my reading glasses and threaded pink thread onto my sewing needle. “I promise it won’t hurt a bit.” Amelia peered over my shoulder as I stitched the slit along the seam where the tag had been torn off. …
Earth Moving
“Amelia dug up a worm,” Thomas announced as I turned from pushing Timothy and Ezra in the swings to be sure my mulch bed was still intact. They knelt in front of their toy excavators, eyes trained on something between them that I could not see. “Are you sure it’s a worm?” I asked, wary …
Hellbent on Destruction
“Tell me what you know about Daniel and the lions,” Amelia prompted in her best Ms. Sheila voice as she held up Ezra’s story Bible for me to see. As soon as she joined Thomas for monthly Little Learners classes at the zoo, Amelia quickly adopted the teacher role when she is pretending. She was …
Want or Need
With a pair grandsons tottering into the twos at roughly the same time, my daughters have each determined to nix nap time when at all possible. Some days, naps are still essential but days are measured on a case by case basis. Four children under five is more manageable when the weather is mild and …
Cast Off
Fair weather and longer afternoons means lots of outdoor play for the grandkids. Boat rides in the evening after dinner at Lolly and Poppy’s are a special treat. It has been so windy of late that only recently did we dust off the cobwebs for a sunset cruise. Last year, Timothy and Ezra, both pre-walkers, …
Give and Take
I am an oldest child as is my husband. I am constantly reminding Amelia and Thomas that we have this in common by sharing stories from my own childhood. As their younger siblings have come into their own and want only to be with the big kids doing exactly what they’re doing, I’ve tried to …
Surrendered
Ezra went down for his nap like clockwork and I’ll be honest, I was amazed. The long anticipated move is underway. After only two weeks on the market, the offer came and with it, a ten day closing. No one is ever truly prepared for a move. Packing up your entire household, even after only …
Clingy
Sick babies want to be held even after they are on the mend. The comfort of their mother’s arms soothes much of what they cannot control, making the effects of the germ at least bearable. Ezra introduced the stomach bug to his family last week on Thursday. By Sunday night, his dad succumbed and Amelia …
It’s All There
“Forty-three, forty four, forty-five, oh no! Two are missing! We need to go on a zoo animal hunt. Our turtle and our lion are missing.” Amelia was climbing all over the bed where her mom was trying to change Ezra. I was doing the daily zoo animal headcount as the kids prepared to head home. …
Butting Heads
I wedged Timothy and Ezra, dressed in warm layers and puffy jackets into blue car, the two seater push car we have used for zoo trips since the grands outgrew strollers. Trekking across the parking lot and moving quickly from place to place sometimes means the younger ones need a lift but hoisting these solid …
A Fitting Reply 