Tag: parenting
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The Backpack
Should I keep this? Marie Kondo whispered, “Tidy up!” in my ear as I studied the small, missile-shaped backpack. There were a few tears along the bottom, a grommet was missing. A long-forgotten zip-tie still prevented worn zipper from falling open and allowing the heavy oxygen tank inside to tumble out and put a…
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Captain’s Log: Baby’s First Flight
Tuesday, 7/11/2023, Nashville Airport 2:08 pm I wasn’t anxious about this until we popped open the back of my sister’s van. It’s not the actual flying that concerns me. The Baby is almost chronically un-anxious, as in, he is not anxious even when he probably should be, like when he tries to drown himself by…
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Groundhog Day
Life has felt oppressively the same lately. Don’t get me wrong. Everyone’s doing comparatively well. No one is seizing tens of times a day and losing critical developmental skills like sand in a sand timer or telling their sweet, first-year 5th-grade teacher to “Suck my mother fucking dick”. So…comparatively well. My friend Rachel said she…
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Adventures in Ableism: “Is he a dog?”
(BIG OLD ASTERISK RIGHT HERE AT THE BEGINNING: My proximity to disability is almost negligible. I parent a child with disabilities. I do not have any disabilities myself. I only know what I can observe and what happens to me within earshot of The Baby. My hope in sharing these stories is not that you…
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The Honeysuckle Vine
The other morning, The Kid and I were on our morning walk with Baby and dog in tow. The dog had stopped to poop so The Baby and I paused on the sidewalk in one of the Top Three Most Interesting Yards on our street. For some reason, three artsy hippy families bought houses in…
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We are but kites
On a whim, I picked up a plastic kite for The Kid on my shopping trip to Kroger last Friday. It was my first in person trip to any store in several weeks and The Kid and I had begun to feel the quarantine crunch. If you had asked me in January whether both The…
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For When You Are an Imperfect Parent
You. Hey, you! Psssst, yeah, you- the dejected-looking woman with damp spit-up drying down the length of your right arm and swollen eyes from crying periodically throughout the day. Congratulations! You made it to bedtime. Take a breather, sister. Sit down, stay awhile. Let’s not mince words. Today was rough for a multitude of reasons.…
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I’m Back and I Have a Roomba
When you last heard from me, I left you with the news that whatever curse has befallen the Wise Family was slowly picking off members of my family days before Christmas. I’m happy to report that both Alex and the Kid recovered. After Christmas, we were supposed to go to my hometown to visit my…
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A Plague Be Upon Us
Captains Log, 12/23/2019 A plague lurks here. It all started back in October, ye see, my old man and I tried to take a weekend trip to Kentucky and the weather delayed our vessel so long that we had to cancel. Then, ye see, we had plans to meet halfway between this here homestead and…
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Baby’s First Birthday Invitation
At the beginning of May, I took the Baby up to a local school to do an evaluation for special needs pre-K. The therapists weren’t quite ready yet so we had to wait in the hallway. He got restless so I let him slide out of his stroller and crawl around on the floor. A…
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Please Excuse My Absence
My sister had twins in January and I had the opportunity to meet my nephews a few weekends ago. I went to Nashville with the mindset that I was going there to help, to relieve some of the pressure that having two newborns brings. I think I did that but…I’m still recovering. That shit was…
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Great Guest. Reasonably Clean: A Travel Blog
“When are we ever going to use this?” I remember thinking that about Greek mythology stories. Now, remember this was high school Beth and I was likely wearing my too-tight shirt that had tie-dye JESUS FREAK emblazoned across my chest and I found pagan theology distasteful. I probably even judgmentally snuck my pocket Bible out…