Travelingjenny

Navigating the hilly terrain of motherhood

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  • Thank goodness it’s the 21st century!

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    A friend recently sent me an article from a 1955 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, entitled: “The good wife’s guide.” This seems to have been intended as a sort of primer on how a housewife should behave upon her husband’s arrival home from work. Clearly, I would have been an absolutely terrible wife in 1955:

    *Have dinner ready. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs.
    Actually, dinner is the carrot that I dangle in front of him so that he actually comes home right after work. Besides, I need him to keep his energy up so that he can help me keep my sanity for another two hours until the girls go to bed.

    *Gather up schoolbooks, toys, papers etc then run a dustcloth over the tables.
    Excuse me, a dustcloth?? I’m pretty sure I don’t have one of those.

    *Prepare the children. They are little treasures… Minimize all noise.
    Sorry, it is simply impossible to keep the “little treasures” quiet as they literally bounce off the walls, and sometimes off each other, and whine excessively about how hungry they are.

    *Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
    If I do that, he won’t be able to actually hear me (see above).

    *Be happy to see him.
    No problem there. I am always ECSTATIC to see him walk through the door. In fact, I can hardly contain the urge to give him a bear hug and dance a happy jig before I push him aside and run out the door to my car for a fast getaway.

    *Remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.
    While I find his work endlessly fascinating, I cannot even imagine a parallel universe where a discussion about marketing to truckers is more important than a discussion about why there are Band-Aids stuck to the floor.

    *Remember, he is the master of the house… You have no right to question him.
    Sorry people, I think we all know who the master of the house is. And even though she’s only four, she doesn’t like to be questioned, either.

  • Fun at the children’s museum

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    Tess loved the children’s museum. However, we apparently forgot to tell her that you are not really supposed to eat pretend food (doesn’t anyone ever feed that kid?). And Grace, who decided a while back that she would like to become a veterinarian, has already started learning the tricks of the trade. This will certainly come in handy once we get our chickens.

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  • Funky hat

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    I am making a conscious effort to let Grace make her own decisions whenever possible, and it’s fun to see her little (actually, big) personality emerge. She is very into choosing her own outfit, which means that she wears tights and a skirt or dress every day. Grace loves funky tights, preferably with stripes and polka dots, and as colorful as possible. She also loves hats. The other day, her Nana was showing her some hats she had knitted for a fundraiser, and Grace immediately came across one that she just had to have. It’s a very sweet hat, and looks adorable on her. Especially at the doctor’s office, where she was wearing nothing but tights and her knit hat while the nurse gave her shots. She screamed bloody murder, but she sure looked cute!

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  • Mah-my

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    Tess loves Maggie. More importantly, she maintains a respectful distance from our gentle, but child-apprehensive dog. When Grace was a toddler, she would run full force at Maggie, climb on her, and whack her in the head. So naturally, the poor dog is a bit wary of small children. But Tess has never done anything to offend her, and usually admires her from afar, exclaiming “Mah-my!” and laughing when she does something funny. The other day, Maggie was sleeping in the living room, and Tess brought her bone to her, carrying it all the way from the dining room. Tess was very proud of herself. Later, she was petting Maggie (pounding her gently, actually), and Maggie didn’t even walk away – she even sniffed at Tess’s sweet little face. So I am hoping that Tess turns out to be a dog lover like her parents – Grace is still asking me nearly every day if she can have a kitty when she turns six (seriously, where did she come from??).

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  • Martin Luther King Jr. Day

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    Grace: Why am I not going to school tomorrow?

    Me: Because it’s Martin Luther King Jr. day.

    Grace: What is Martin King Luther Jr. day?

    Me: It is a day when we remember Martin Luther King Jr. and all of the important things he said. He talked about how important peace is, and how all people should love each other.

    Grace: I don’t remember what he said.

    Me: That’s okay, honey, he died before I was born even, and someday you’ll learn all about him at school.

    Grace: Why did he die?

    Me: Honey, the important thing is to think about peace and friendship, and loving all people.

    Grace: Why am I not going to school tomorrow?

    I like to call these “circular” conversations. Sometimes Grace really seems like she gets what I am talking about, and other times I feel like I’m talking to a rock. In this case, it was a little of both – a few minutes later she started ‘writing’ a story about Martin Luther King Jr. Mostly, the story had to do with the fact that he died (and is buried in a cemetery), but she also mentioned something about teaching the city about peace. So next time I feel like I’m wasting my breath, I’ll remind myself that I never know what’s actually getting through to her.

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  • What sisters do together

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    Grace and Tess are playing so well together lately. Part of the reason for this is that Tess is very easygoing and willing to please – so she eagerly takes part in Grace’s shenanigans. She is a willing participant in games of throw-cans-of-clay-down-the-stairs, or balancing-on-tupperware, or running-in-circles-around-Mommy, or let’s-pull-each-other-in-the-suitcase. Or, my personal favorite, a game I like to call “babushka bottoms.” All of the adorable shenanigans pictured here took place on a single day at the end of December. Nope, there’s never a dull moment at our house!

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  • What big sister does to little sister

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    Tess loves her big sister, and thinks she’s really cool. Grace clearly uses this to her advantage.

    However, Tess is also not afraid to let her big sister know when she has hit her limit and is no longer willing to cooperate with Grace’s antics. I am very thankful for this.

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  • More writing

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    Grace has been working diligently on her writing skills. Almost every day, she asks us to write down words for her, then she copies them. And sometimes, like on this particular day, she simply has us spell out words, and she writes them as we spell. In the photo above, along with “Grace”, “Tess” and “Adam”, you can see “Maggie” written out – backwards, and partially upside down – but legible! (And hey, where’s the love for Mommy?!)

  • Gracie blogs: Snowy day

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    Once upon a time Grace had to go to school. When they got to the booth, the man said there was no school because of the snow. James was the only one at school because he had to do work. Nana was only ten miles away [?]. Daddy took Grace to Nana’s house. They played together. When the clock rang, Mommy and Tess came to Nana’s house and they all played together. Then Grace was bouncing off the walls and they left. And they lived happily ever after.

    And from that day forward, on snowy days, Mommy always checked the school cancellations before sending Gracie off to school.

  • Singing Daddy

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    Tess recently decided that it is more fun to toss her food off the tray than it is to actually eat the food. We take this to mean that she is no longer hungry, so we take away her food and remove her from her seat. Then she attempts to climb up onto my lap, to eat off of my plate – making it very difficult for me to finish my meal. So now, as soon as she begins to toss her food, we simply remove her tray, but we do not let her out of her seat. This results in lots of pathetic howling and jammering. The other night, in an attempt to distract her, Adam started to sing: “Every little thing, is gonna be all right…” To which Tess replied: “All done, Daddy, all done.”

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