Training

Posted: December 3, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Little Women | 2 Comments

June has hit the magic age where she wants to use the toilet and she’s old enough to learn. I’d love to get her out of diapers, soon – but I have no idea how to potty train her! Any suggestions? Remember that I’m low on energy lately, so if you have a method that requires very little involvement on my part, you’re the winner. (Let me clarify: an effective method.)

Yardwork

Posted: November 30, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: War and Peace | 4 Comments

A few weeks ago, most of the leaves were still on our big chestnut tree. Then there was a big windstorm, which knocked about half of them off, followed by a foot of snow, which made raking impossible. The other half of the leaves fell on top of the snow a day or two before we left for vacation.

Of course, by the time we got back, the lawn was completely covered in leaves. I mean, really, the chestnut tree is huge. But it’s been tricky to find a time to rake, since I have no fence to contain two kids and a dog. I had to leave them to their own devices for a while.

Yesterday brought beautiful weather and June went down for a nap without any diaper incidents, so I sat Evan (and the dog) down with some Netflix and headed out to rake. It went more quickly than I expected, but the sheer number of leaves and size of my yard (not to mention my inexperience with raking leaves) meant it was a 2-hour endeavor. And then what to do with all those leaf piles? I generously let the kids jump in one to their hearts’ content, and a neighbor came by offering to park his trailer by the tree so I could dump all the leaves in – and he’d take them to the city facility when I was done. Maybe that was the generous thing. Jarom took over when he got home, and now the lawn just needs a good mowing.

If only I had a lawnmower.

P.S. I had a book club last night, so Jarom’s friend came over to keep him company. Many kids together = no sleep, and when I got home at 11:30, Evan had just barely passed out on the couch, and June fought sleep for another half hour. Then she got up at 7 this morning. Is there a refund or something I’m eligible for today?

Home

Posted: November 29, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Bartleby the Scrivener | Leave a comment

We’ve been in our house for 5 months now. I still love it! Some days the house is tidier, some days it’s toddler-ier. But it always feels like home.

When I was packing to move, I got rid of TONS of stuff. Given that we have 400+ more square feet here than in our basement, it wasn’t strictly necessary, but less is better. I often think we own too much, even though we’ve gotten rid of more since moving in. (Although we have added more furniture – but donated lots of toys, books, and random clutter.) Whenever it gets messy – rather, when the mess gets to be overwhelming – I consider donating everything we own. Except some clothes. And all of my books. And a few toys.

I’ve been slowly hiding the kids’ toys in my closet over the past month. They notice if I take a big box out of their rooms, but so far there’ve been no complaints about the disappearing toys. Despite having removed almost all of the small- and medium-sized stuff, there is still destruction in our house by noon. Fortunately, it seldom gets so out-of-hand that it takes very long to clean up.

Whenever I sleep at someone else’s house, or in a hotel, it feels distinctly like I’m visiting. But where we live is comfortable, whether it’s in a basement or a charming little house. I’d hoped that the first few days here would be magical in some way – but I think the same old, same old comfort of home is best.

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