Category: family

Today was our last day at the beach, so we tried to soak it all in. Even though it was a little cold, the kids weren’t shy and happily zipped in and out of the water.

I always forget about kites. Chris doesn’t. He always has one in the back of his car, just in case he stumbles upon a windy day, which I think is far more fun than flares or a tire iron. He left a small kite for Neko, and she had such a ball flying it. The wind was perfect, so she barely had to let go, and the kite went sailing into the clouds. Shep even gave it a go.

It was bound to happen—a rainy day in the middle of our perfect weather. Of course, it’s my family’s first day here, so I had to swear up and down it was really sunny just 12 hours ago. Really.

We took the opportunity to hit the local children’s museum, which is maybe as big as a convenience store and chock full of homemade exhibits. It actually was kind of charming and the kids had a ball. Shep played DJ while Neko couldn’t get enough of these enormous teeth and toothbrush. If only she were as enthusiastic about brushing her own teeth.

In a brief break in the afternoon, all the kids jumped in the pool. Shep and Chris played bumper cars, Neko enjoyed having Bonnie all to herself, and Ellery and Alex sat on the sidelines discussing how silly these big people are for jumping in that freezing water.

The kids can’t reach the counter to brush their teeth, so we’ve been boosting them up to see properly. One night we started singing that Sesame Street song, “one of these things is not like the others” and it’s kind of become a nightly ritual.

The kids think this is hilarious because I’m the one who’s not like the others. I knew I should have ordered those pirate dog pajamas in my size.

It took us nearly nine hours, but we made it to Michigan. It was only supposed to be a six hour drive, but we made a stop at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. The good news: the dinosaur exhibit was great. Ben and Andrew should definitely make the trek. The bad news: they no longer accept reciprocal memberships. Boo.

Then there were a few other bathroom/nursing/food stops, so it tacked on some time. I have a feeling the way back will be much quicker. But the kids were troopers and we had no major incidents.

Except that Tom and I may have to go shopping for new sunglasses.

Neko pulled down the robots this morning, and suddenly we were in the midst of an amazing robot show. In the first photo, they are hidden behind the curtain. When the curtain came down, there was a play that involved the robots not being very nice to one another and one scaring the other. But I think they ended up being nice to each other with some sort of happily ever after.

Shep accompanied the play on harmonica.

Ellery slept through the whole thing.

In general, I think I’m a pretty fun mom. We do creative activities and bake and tell stories and explore. Yet, there are times when I turn a corner and I see Tom doing something with the kids that I never would have thought of, like having a pajama jam session or turning the playgym into a big fort, and I can’t imagine who our kids would be if he weren’t in their lives. I’ve always loved that he tends to flip the world off its axis and see it from some totally different perspective, and that’s how he parents, too.

I know he’s exhausted. Three kids, two dogs, and a wife who is convinced that it’s possible to squeeze 27 hours worth of stuff into a 24-hour day must be exhausting to live with. Yet, in the midst of it all, he musters up the reserve to cook and clean and play and work and run around with his screwdriver trying to put a dent in my on-going list of to-dos. And he does it with grace and patience. And he gives me way more back rubs than I give him, and he almost never complains about it.

Of course, when auditioning for the role of “father of my children”, he had a lot to live up to, as my own dad set quite a precedent. It was a generation where dads could do very little with their kids and still get high marks for their parenting. Instead, he made up stories and baked cookies and sang songs with his guitar. When my mom went back to school, I was proud to tell my friends that my dad did the laundry and almost always made dinner, an anomaly even in our liberal crowd.

I really wanted to write a much more eloquent thing about how amazing the two of them are and how lucky I am to have them in my lives, but I typed a bunch of things and nothing came out quite right. I have this tendency to not do things because I want to say just the right thing or do it in just the right way, and then I do it late or not at all. Which is stupid. And I don’t want this holiday to go by without saying thank you.

So thank you both for filling those Father shoes, day in and out, in the very best possible way.

When my aunt Chele moved to town with her kids, Garrett and Kendall, Kendall was just a baby. This little curly-haired munchkin who carried the Pooh characters tucked in her arms calling them, “My babies!” and assured you “I have nothing in my hands!” as she sped by with contraband hidden behind her back.

I lived in the Big City in those days, but during frequent visits home I got to peek in on them and watch as they got older and taller and wiser and suddenly one day they’re sitting at the table holding real, adult conversations and they passed me by in both height and shoe size.

The fabulous part about watching them grow up is that it gives me perspective with my own children. Although they’ve both been really spectacular kids, they each had some not-so-spectacular moments (as all kids do). And despite the fact that Chele sometimes looked as though she might hop on the next bus for Vegas, she made it through. And so did the kids. And now they’re these grown-up people who I genuinely like to hang out with.

So as we watched Kendall’s eighth grade graduation, with Garrett sitting all grown-up in the audience next to Chele, who didn’t spend even one day locked up in any sort of facility, it makes me think that maybe I really can do this parenting thing after all.

But just in case, I’m putting Chele’s number on speed-dial.

Best $30 we ever spent. Ever.

(Last photo by Neko.)

It’s popsicle season. (Showers followed soon after.)