About This Blog
Welcome to my blog. I'm Anne-Marie Nichols, a 40-something WAHM to Nathan, 6, and Lucie, 3. I've been married 12 years to their dad Paul, a scientist. When I'm not doing the mommy thing, I'm a freelance writer, and vice president of the board of directors for a Colorado public charter school. In my spare time I like to sleep, eat, read, and decorate cakes.
I created this online journal to share some entertaining and insightful stories from my own experiences as a writer, domestic engineer, and mom. I encourage you to share this blog with your friends, and hopefully it will spark some lively discussions on issues we can all relate to. Enjoy!
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Nov 10 2008
Rainy day dad
What a weird weekend. While we have the occasional afternoon or early evening thunderstorm, it never rains all day let alone all weekend. What is this, Seattle? From about noon on Saturday until the beginning of the work week, it never stopped raining. Paul, who had planned on two full days of golfing, was only able to play one afternoon in the light drizzle. He left for an early Sunday t-time, but turned back after his golf buddy called to say that the greens were flooded.
Too rainy to do any yard work, Paul hung out with the children the whole day. First they had a leisurely breakfast. Nathan requested a round of Sunshine Toast. I'm always willing to oblige as it's so easy to make and so very yummy, too.
Afterwards, Paul and the kids sprawled themselves all over our long sectional couch and watched a little PGA golf on TV. Then Paul got the itch to cook a fancy dinner, something he loves to do when he's not too busy on the weekends.
Besides his odd question to me, "Can you ever have too many oysters?" (to which I replied, "Oh, no!") I had no idea what he was up to. All I knew was that he absconded the Cajun cookbook a publisher sent me to review and that his elaborate plans necessitated a trip to the grocery store. I handed him my grocery list as well, hoping that he'd be able to save me a trip later this week. With a small detour to the hair salon to get Nathan a much needed trim -- a way cool flattop like dad's -- Paul and the kids grocery shopped. (Later he told me the children were very well behaved. I was shocked, but found out that Lucie rode in the cart while Nathan pushed. Daddy knows it's always a good idea to keep the warring factions apart.)
They came home, put the groceries away, and retired to the living room to watch more PGA golf and nap on the floor and couch. Meanwhile I spent the day in my room doing a mass mailing to all my book clients, preparing for a home show, and blogging. Before I knew it, it was dinner time. Paul prepared a delicious soup with oysters as big as poached eggs. While the kids supped on mac and cheese, Paul and I had a gourmet Cajun feast.
Everyone's happy when daddy stays home.
Oct 24 2008
Our other family
We're preparing to go to a friend's wedding in Vegas this week. It's the first time we're leaving the kids with a non-family member for more than a day. I'm excited to go, but a little anxious about leaving them, too.
Nathan and Lucie are staying with my friend Linda, who works in the office at their school. Linda has two daughters -- Ashley, who was in Nathan's homeroom last year, and McKenzie, who is a kindergartner.
The nice thing about leaving them with Linda, besides that she has girls around my kids' age, is that she's used to the whole allergy thing. However, her family's allergies are completely opposite of Lucie's, so I've jokingly told Linda that Lucie will be fine on just bananas, popsicles, and Oreos for a few days. We had a good laugh at that, knowing how challenging food allergies can be.
Linda has a unique childcare arrangement at school. McKenzie attends afternoon kindergarten but hangs out with the preschool class in the morning and with one of the preschool teachers at lunch when her mom's working. Lucie will have a similar arrangement or will hang out in Linda's office all day when I'm gone.
I was a bit nervous that Linda was going to get in trouble with her boss, the principal. So I told him what was up, and he said that was fine. In fact, he came across as looking forward to having Lucie hanging out in school all day. I don't know why I was nervous about it, because Lucie's been hanging around at school and with the principal and his family for over two years now.
That's the nice thing about starting a charter school. You become close with your fellow board members as well as the office staff, teachers and administration. Because of the challenges we've faced, we've become a very tight knit bunch.
So I really have nothing to worry about this week. Nathan and Lucie will be staying with family members after all.
Oct 23 2008
Put that on my tab
On Tuesdays, Nathan has golf league for about three hours, depending on when the coach decides when the little kids need to get out of the heat. Since league is followed immediately by a trip to the speech therapist, I make sure that Nathan has something to eat at the club house.
Knowing that the pros and staff look out for the little kids, I let Nathan have a soda and hot dog by himself or with his friend Michael after they finish their round. (He'll call me to pick him up after he eats.) It's nice to give him that sense of freedom while knowing he's in a very safe environment.
Sometimes I give him cash or I'll prepay and give him the receipt. One morning, when I had no cash, I was paying by credit card. The lady at the counter offered to start a tab for Nathan so I didn't have to pay each week. I told her that since I had to come to pay greens fees each time, it wasn't a big deal to prepay for his food, too.
A six-year-old with a tab? I could see Nathan now. "Hey guys, the root beers are on me!"
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