This afternoon my mother-in-law stopped in and we got on the subject of one of her sons hauling milk in a tanker truck — one of those stainless, cylindrical, highway monsters. Apparently he can only carry milk destined to become cheese and not the drinking kind. To haul milk for drinking requires some kind of [...]

Son: Mom, can I have your calculator? Wife: Uh… The pink one? Son: No, the grayish one. He imitates holding something about the size of a brick in his hands. Wife: Why? Son: Because I want it. Ha! She shrugs. Wife: Okay. Sure. Son: Yay! The Boy toddles off to find the calculator. Me: I [...]

The chalky, sweet smell of baby powder. Soft, delicate skin and contented cooing. A baby looks up at you with complete trust, and when you look back into those beautiful, innocent eyes, you feel so much love that your heart aches. Your devotion is total. The light odor of socks and urine from a three-year-old [...]

Son: Swords are better than axes. Me: Ok. Son: And axes are better than trees. Dad, are axes better than trees? Me: Well, it depends on context. You can’t really say which is better without an example of what you’re trying to do with it. Axes can chop down trees. But you can burn the [...]

The Boy likes preschool. But he does not like going to preschool. He pouts when we drop him off and then, no matter how happy he is or how much fun he had, he’ll pout again when we pick him up. After school, it only takes a few seconds for him to remember that he’s [...]

I can never be sure when they’ll strike. When I’m washing the dishes, when I’m asleep, whether we’re having a tea party or wrestling, whether I’m the monster or the hero, whether it’s me vs. the kids or we’re on the same team, without fail, someone, at some point will attempt, in the most painful [...]

We went out for a rare treat recently: dinner without the kids. We never go out without the kids. Maybe once or twice a year since we acquired them. I don’t know what rare alignment of the planets happened, but we hired a sitter and met a bunch of friends at a place called Chomp [...]

I rolled out a new design for site a couple of days ago. I only tweaked it a little and changed the banner. You might need to hit refresh a couple of times to load the new stylesheet.