A RealFamilies RealFun Blog

May 20 2009

Happy anniversary

Category: Just Me

A few years ago, I remember receiving a package from my mother-in-law.  Wondering why she was sending us a gift, I suddenly realized it was our wedding anniversary -- the day before. I called Paul at work to wish him a happy anniversary. We both laughed, blaming our absentmindedness on having a not-sleeping-through-the-night infant.

But really it was us. Paul and I have a mental block about our marriage date. We know the month, but the date and year continue to baffle us. I have no explanation, but am glad we both have anniversary amnesia instead of just one of us.

Before I started writing this, I wrote my guess at our wedding date on a scrap piece of paper. Pulling out the marriage certificate, I see I was a day and a year off. After almost 12 years of marriage, seems I'm getting better at remembering it. Not.

 

May 19 2009

The ultimate

Category: Kids & Growing Up

Yesterday, I nearly fell out of the car laughing when I saw Nathan's girlfriend hug him goodbye. (Yes, he calls her his girlfriend, but to Nathan that means she's his best female friend.)

Nearly a year older, several inches taller, and about 10 pounds heavier, Maddie gave Nathan a big bear hug and lifted his skinny body off the ground. Wondering about the school's "no public displays of affection" policy, I figured it was OK to lift up your boyfriend and give him a hug in the school's pick up lane. (Get it? Pick up lane? Never mind...)

I'm amused at Nathan's choice of girlfriends. Like his old man, he's attracted to tall blonds and intelligent, older women. True to form, Nathan also has a major crush on Mae, his 12-year-old babysitter who's blond, taller than me, and one of the smartest kids at his school.

Unlike his dad, who somehow ended up marrying a short, fairly smart, older woman who hasn't seen her natural hair color since high school, Nathan's already found his ultimate woman. The kid learns fast.

 

May 18 2009

She's the crafty one, not me

Category: At Home

Having fond memories of my mom teaching me to watercolor, as a new parent I looked forward to doing arts and crafts with my children. I envisioned hours spent quietly drawing, or wearing artist's smocks and painting at easels. I even created a crafts drawer in my dining room hutch, filled with coloring books, crayons, stickers, and markers. Then Nathan ruined my mommy art fantasy. To him, crafts are like chores, best to be avoided or done half-heartedly. He has as much patience coloring as he does making his bed.

Paul's had a much better time getting Nathan to do crafts. They've made elaborate homemade Valentine's Day cards for me and Nathan's teachers. Granted, he's starved for male attention and would do just about anything for his dad, including using glitter paint and gluing lace on to paper hearts.

Lucie's the family artist. Being a self-starter, she gets paper and crayons out on her own and raids the hutch drawer, making sure to restock her backpack with stickers and markers. I try to encourage her as much as possible, keeping the diaper bag filled with crayons and paper, so we can doodle together at all the meetings I drag her to.

Even so, my heart's not into doing crafts. Maybe it's my failed attempts with Nathan. More likely it's because I'm still burnt out from my four years of art school -- back in the '80s. There's a reason I'm a writer and not a graphic designer -- doing art is just not my thing any more, no matter how much I wish it were.

However, I'm not worried about Lucie suffering from crafts deprivation. My friend Julie puts together a craft project for the kids at our mom's club monthly meeting. She's the one who forces me to sit down with Lucie and patiently do art projects with her. Today, we created a flower out of a Popsicle stick, markers, glue, and foam cutouts. Then we stuck it in a plastic cup filled with dirt and flower seeds.

The dirt's been shaken and stirred so often, that I'll be shocked if the snapdragons bloom. Although I happily put in my monthly craft duty, I'm looking forward to when preschool begins and I can turn over the craft duties to Lucie's teachers. Boy, if my art teachers could see me now.