I'm The BEST Mommy

Sometimes when your daughter is refusing to fall asleep for her nap despite being thoroughly worn out, it's not because she's a punk. Sometimes it's because YOU'RE the punk who forgot to feed her lunch.

To MVKB: Months Sixteen and Seventeen

Maren...

Let's start with some mushy stuff, shall we? In the past two months, we've had some sweet moments. Well, I had some sweet moments with you that you had no idea were happening because you were 16 or 17 months old. Like Halloween. It just melted all my insides to see you participating in American childhood like that. Then there was the day we went for a stroll and you discovered dandelions. You walked around the grassy area, picking each one, shaking all the seeds off, and saying, "whoa." I made lots of wishes for you that day.

You sing now. To yourself, mostly. And to this one song by M.I.A....you'll pipe up from back in your car seat and say, "baby...baby...baby," over and over after she sings it. These mysterious toddler tunes waft through the house while you play. They're soft and high pitched and they make me stop whatever I'm doing so I can soak up all the cuteness to be recalled later when you're screaming for no reason. You seem to find a well-timed shriek to be more effective than actually communicating what you want, and I'm still trying to figure out how to help you realize that it's not. (WORDS!)

But most of the day you're a peaceful kid. I let you play alone a lot because when I join you, it's hard to resist the urge to squeeze you and kiss your cheeks. And you can't stand it. You'd rather look at books, stack blocks, and move toys from one room to another. The other day you transferred a whole box of dominoes from the living room to your room one at a time. And...AND...this is the best thing: you LOVE chairs. As much as I do! I'm so happy that all the little ones I've been collecting for you weren't for nothing. I'll go into your room and find you just chillin' on a chair, singing to yourself....or standing on one to turn the lights on and off.

Just so you know, you're the only kid I've ever met who hates coloring, the only kid I've ever met who will chow down on pad thai and curry but hates plain bread, and the only kid I've ever known who is loved this much by me....all the time, every day.

Love...Mom

Like The Other Side Of The Pillow: Pillows

Mmmmm....contrast makes me weak in the knees. Flowers and fuss next to a black and white grid? Perfect.

Flashback Friday: Magic Eye and Frosted Tips

Hey Golden Grahams....the 90s called.....they want their cereal box back.

I Need Your Help

Apparently I'm a person who can't pick her own media. So go here to help me make this life-altering decision. Please and thank you.

It's a Free Country

I got these heels for myself for Christmas, but...well, I'm an adult, and I say I can open my presents whenever I want.

Girl Magenta

I have a Friend....with a capital F. Now, all of you are dear to me because you read what I write, and that's really an honor. But this Friend saved me from drowning in a self that wasn't quite right, so.....yeah.

My Friend is brilliant and poetic and uninhibited. She teaches me to be those things. I think we're the same at the core even though we're really different from each other, and that's the sort of friend I needed. And there she was.

She talks fast, and I talk fast, and we cover so much ground and go all in circles and connect topics and stories. And we move on. Then we come back to stuff. And it's ok to ask questions without answers. And nothing is fixed at all, but it seems so much better anyway. It makes more sense. We become more than our neuroses for a short time. Is that what friendship is for everyone?

It's a good thing we weren't sisters because then we'd have the same crazies, and then neither of us would be able to see the end of the maze. We had to wait until now to be sisters....sisters who accidentally dyed their hair the same color.

So. Thanks, Friend. For everything.

Too Many?

living room: 6 chairs, 2 stools

family/dining room: 25 chairs, 2 stools

*

*If anyone is interested, I know where you can get more of the plastic (seafoam green or pink) and fiberglass (gray, peach, light blue, seafoam) ones for super, super cheap. Vintage chairs!

I Like Free Stuff

You know how huge flower headbands are, well, huge right now? There's a better way! And my friend Katie has found it. If you like her stuff as much as I do, hop on over to the giveaway on her blog, and maybe you'll find one in your mailbox one of these days. And maybe you'll pass out because her baby is so cute.

Like The Other Side Of The Pillow: Colors

Soulmates and Soul Food

I've finally met someone whose sack lunches as a child involved as much wheat bread, as many vegetables, as few juice boxes, and as little sugar (ie, tradeable goods) as mine did. It makes you a special kind of obsessed with treats and string cheese.

Also? Please start saving your pennies now so you can go to Communal. Please. It's a beautiful place with delicious, honest food.

Forgetting The Words To Your Favorite Song

I got lost in files of old pictures today--a fairly melancholy thing to do. They reminded me of how I used to be: thin and sandy-haired and childless with lots of breakable and dangerous items near the ground in my house. And I could tell I got more sleep when those pictures were taken because the skin under my eyes looked a lot better than it does now. Every night was date night, and Simon and I took lots of pictures of ourselves with our cheeks pressed together (and his eyes half closed...every time).

People make me feel like I'm supposed to miss those things--to mourn for the smooth stomach that had never grown life, to ache for spontaneity and sick days and meals not torn into small pieces. How can you not?

But.

There's still time in my life for houseplants on the floor and glass vases on side tables and more school and more sleep and more nights out. It's such a short season that involves desperately trying to interpret a toddler's imploring eyes and whines. There will be so many days when I won't be discovering a tiny human hiding in the the evening sun behind the curtains. So I think.....I think I love this time. I love my life today and yesterday and tomorrow....even when it's scattered or boring or exhausting or confusing......because I can't let the past or the future disturb what I have in this moment with this little girl who calls for us in the morning and knows we will come for her and help her through the day. That's what my now is for, and the past can't even compare.

Molly's Not So Bright

I know it's blurry, but can you see the date on that sign? Doesn't it just make you want to patronize this business? It was established in the >>>*FUTURE*<<< (spirit fingers).

Through-a-Lens Thursday

Like The Other Side Of The Pillow: Curtains

I heart Alexander Girard.

Remember that post about things I love? And those random color posts I've been doing? I hope it's ok with you if I just go ahead and make it a series....a series of things (colors, housewares, people. etc) I think are cool....because I just KNOW you are all concerned with what I think is cool, right?