Dear Miss M

Dear Miss M*,
Last night I got your letter. It's nice to hear that a girl about town is thinking of me. I practically stalk you. Your instragram feed is one of my favorites and don't you think you could blog a little more often (insert motherly guilt-inducing face)?  Oh I hope that you do move here.  I would love to know that you are close.  Your experience of New York will be so different than mine.  I am jealous to think of what yours will look like.  Your experience is going to involve hole-in-the-wall restaurants and shows of bands that I've never heard of.  Ohhh.  And dating.  Ahhh, to be young, employed, single and attractive in this place. Maybe, through your eyes, I can learn to love the city a little better.  I don't yet.  It's just a big city.  Sure there's great public transportation and museums and a million trendy bakeries and restaurants that are good but overrated (Levain and Shake Shack I'm looking at you).  I just haven't seen the spark yet.

That's not really true. I do love the rough people who are scruffy and grouchy on the surface but really have hearts of gold. I also love the accents.  And the fact that I have never seen my landlord when he is not wearing a velour running suit.

There are a few things you should know.  I am going to make you meet us in Central Park and go to the petting zoo with us. Afterward we will go out to eat.  When my children start acting out and throwing things on the ground I will look at the other patrons and roll my eyes and act like "can you believe that she is just letting her kids run wild like this?"  At these lunches I will also ask for all the lurid details of your life.  You will tell me about the concerts and the first kisses but please, could you please linger and dwell on how last Saturday you stayed in bed until 10:30, then you walked to the bagel shop for an egg sandwich and promptly returned to your apartment where you spent the entire day watching movies on the futon and reading the most recent NYT book review?  Please? Every single one of my fantasies these days revolves around an ambien, a room with black-out shades and 24 hours.

And when you come here I think you should stay with me for a couple of days.  We have a futon.  And we could take the train into the city and look at places to rent.

Think about it.
I miss you and would love to sit and talk with you right now
Loves
S

PS.  I will make you framed prints from this book which you can replace when the city grows on you.  I'll do the same. (and maybe we can dedicate some time to stalking Joanna Goddard because I stole these pictures from her blog and heck, she lives in the city too)

*Nothing says classy lady like publicly responding to a personal letter.  What can I say?  That's the way I roll.

Book Club: Bring Up the Bodies

Ugggg.

I can't tell if I am just over Henry and Ann or if this was not a great book.  I suppose I have to assume that the former is the case as I keep seeing it on "Best of 2012" lists.  But uggg.  I had a hard time finishing it.  I did find myself reading with my phone next to me so that refer to wikipedia whenever I needed.  I also found myself thinking about and feeling sorry for a populace ruled by someone who was truly crazy.  Depending on your political affiliation you might think that Bill Clinton was crazy or George W. Bush but really, these guys have nothing on Henry.  According to Wikipedia (where I get all my facts) they suspect that he truly was crazy.  That he suffered a traumatic brain injury that changed his personality and there was nothing anyone could do.  He was the supreme leader appointed by God and God would not allow him to make bad decisions.  Scary.

I'm currently reading

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking.  I'm finding it fascinating.  I feel comfortable with my own introverted tendencies but someone suggested this to me because she and I are both raising children with introverted tendencies.  This book doesn't talk (yet: I'm only 100 pages in) about how to nurture children who are introverts but I'm learning really fascinating things that I feel like will help me as a parent of someone who likes to have quiet time in her room after her friends come over to play.

I also checked out The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton from the library last week on the suggestion of a girl with whom I went to college. She is really smart but edgier* than I am.  I'll report back when I finish.

*I know what you're thinking. How could anyone be edgier than I am?  After all, one of the people with whom I share a bedroom did wear these rocking guitar jammies to bed last night.  

And... he'll probably wear them all day too (don't mind the boogers smeered all over his face in this picture.  I swear my kids have the cold that will not go away.  We've had it since Christmas).

And a double guitar jammie pic just for good measure.

Validation

This video is perhaps greatest thing that Youtube has ever brought to the public eye.



Yesterday I texted the hubbs around 3:30 and said, "Today is one of those days where I haven't had enough interaction with people who aren't screaming demands at me.   Please plan on a game night."  The hubbs is one of those good people who listens and worries when I say things like that so last night after the kids were in bed and the dishes were done we played board games. Then we snuggled on the couch and the hubbs just let me talk.  And I did.  A lot.  I talked about how hard it is to spend a whole day working very diligently at something that shows no immediate rewards and that I don't get to share with anyone.  And I told him silly things that only I know about our kids (like how Noah likes to be breathed on.  If he's fidgety and fussy and you hold him so that the breath coming out of your nose hits the top of his head he calms down). But mostly I just continued to talk about how hard it is to spend a whole day working very diligently at something that shows no immediate rewards and that I don't get to share with anyone (over and over).  

The rest of the world may find it amusing when I tell them that now when Claire yells out a demand and I say, "is that way of asking going to help you get what you want?" She puts her hands on her hips and says, "Do you think Please would help?" but the rest of the world doesn't recognize it as a major victory and an outcome of a little work and whole lot of patience on my part.

Where does a stay at home mom find validation?  In how her kids turn out?  No. In the number of hours she spends planning learning activities?  No.  In her method of discipline or scheduling or the number of hours of TV her kids watch?  No.  In the number of tantrums her kids throw per day? I certainly hope not or I am doomed.

I don't really know the answer.  \

*that* mom

Oh yes.  I have become that mom.

A friend gave us a coloring book and this morning as Claire and I were coloring I couldn't help but give Jasmine a little more clothing.  And increase the size of her waist.

An honest question

Do any of you who live with small people between the ages of say, 2 and maybe 4, ever feel like you're living under a totalitarian dictatorship with a tyrant leader who is neither benevolent or enlightened?




Really? Me neither. I was just wondering

The Pinning Mom

I didn't want to love pinterest but I do.  When my mom was here a couple of weeks ago she asked me what Pinterest was and I tried to explain it to her.  I explained how it's a virtual pinboard where you can store things you like.  I then proceeded to show her all of the hilarious quotes that I've pinned and we laughed until we couldn't breath.

Pinterest makes me a better mom.  I don't spend more than 10-20 minutes there every day but it really does inspire me to do fun things with my kids.  I look at those pictures of what mom's are doing with their kids and I think, "I could do that."

This was a totally fun bath paint activity where you mix baking soda with bath paint and then spray it with vinegar.

Let the eye bombing begin!

Sorting diapers.  So we're white trash but we're practicing sorting.

If any of you moms are looking for an awesome person to follow on Pinterest my friend Jen pins awesome educational things to do with your kids and you should follow this board of hers.

The Way We Were

This week my grandmother (who has been dead for 30 years) would have been 103. In honor of the occasion my very thoughtful older brother sent out several pictures. I was 3 when my grandmother died so I don't really remember her. I remember that her house was full of afghans, candy and piles of stuff. I have looked at the pictures again and again. I love the hair and the smiles but mostly I love the way that the little kids in these pictures now look just like people who are holding them.

When the hubbs saw the picture of my grandma and my dad he said, "what a great picture of your little brother." (for the record my little brother does not wear glasses like that)