Learning Fair

After my recent stern lecture to winter, the snow on the first day of spring naturally led me to an extended metaphor. Why is Winter bullying into young Spring’s territory? Or, should I blame Spring? I mean, freakin’ assert yourself, don’t be a doormat! Winter’s not the boss of you! But luckily for you, gentle … [Read more…]

Orchids Aren’t Easy

The other day a friend came over for some chai and she chuckled at my pathetic orchid plant. My always-way-more-thoughtful-than-me sister* had brought the orchid along on my last visit, and it was quite beautiful. Was I intimidated, though? Yes. The orchid marketers tried to overcome my trepidation with a ginormous tag (still hanging) that … [Read more…]

Top o’ the Mornin’, etc.

As I was washing dinner dishes, M (who, after wavering, is not a believer at all anymore) said to me, “I hope the–ahem!–leprechauns come to our house tonight and make some sort of mischief like turning our toilet water green.” I sighed over the pan I was scrubbing. “I just don’t see that happening, M. … [Read more…]

Lazy Linking

I have to wake up early for a 7:30 am appointment, plus I’m just not feeling all bloggy tonight, so here are some random links that you might enjoy. I wrote about a bunch of old ads I found in my attic at All Over Albany. I think they’re pretty funny. Malta Mama reminds us … [Read more…]

Getting Kids to Eat Vegetables

At dinner tonight, 3 out of 4 members of the family love-love-loved the main dish. Alas, J wouldn’t even taste a smidgen. Her loss. She ended up eating bread and butter and grapes for dinner. You can’t win them all. So, I had food on my mind, and then I manipulated M into eating asparagus … [Read more…]

Just a Geeky Book Post

I’m in the middle of reading My Name is Mary Sutter, which is the selection for Schenectady County’s One County One Book Program. I’m enjoying it very much, thank you. Which is not a surprise, since I love-love-love historical fiction. And Mary’s from Albany, so I was thinking that I might spread the word and … [Read more…]

Recreational Retail

We had to buy a birthday gift and one of those big cardboard display boards. Plus, all three of us had gift cards burning holes in our pockets. So we all headed to Target. Because I’m just not as strong as Gaga. I think that I picked up the second-to-last display board in the entire … [Read more…]

Cookie Crisis Averted!

Every year I order Girl Scout Cookies from my neighbor and then I find out that Cute W’s ordered from coworkers’ kids, and next thing you know we have a lot of cookies. I know, I know: what’s the problem? Well, I just try to limit the number of completely irresistible items in my house. … [Read more…]

A Stern Lecture, Clearly Overdue

As parents, we try to be encouraging. We look for the best, and we try to accentuate the positive. Through our loving eyes, we might see things differently from, well, reality, and it can take time before we even realize that we’ve been wearing rose-colored glasses. Too late, we understand that our indulgent attitude has … [Read more…]

Kids Out and About

We’re having a slightly stressful movie night. Cute W remembered Time Bandits with great fondness, but J is finding it rather terrifying. Also, a lot of casual death. Of course, I can’t be one to cast stones, since I’d recommended the original Cheaper By the Dozen forgetting about a significant death at the end. That … [Read more…]