London Eli Scout
What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake
-
keep clicking. please.
I can’t deny it. I get pretty stoked when someone asks me to write about the things I normally write about on my blog on their blog. I like Nikkie. I like her writing. And what I like best about it is this . . . her honesty. Her vulnerability. Her clear desire to chase after God despite all the past that could keep her running in another direction. Her family looks a little bit like ours – a handful of kids, a mix of adoption and natural birth. And that’s what I wrote about for her today. Family. It starts a little something like this . . . …
-
The Leaf Song
A few days ago we were heading out on some routine errands. London hopped into the car with two pieces of rolled up construction paper in her hand. “Mom, do you ever like to write songs?” she asked me. “Sure,” I told her. “That’s fun to do. Do you make up songs too?” London admitted that she did and added, “I make up new words to tunes I have already heard and they mostly sound like this” and then she hummed a melody. She pushed her orange construction papers to me. “This one I made up to sound like this.” And she sung it for me. London said she wrote…
-
what did you learn today?
“Did you learn anything at school today?” someone recently asked my second grader. The second grader who is my student. The second grader that I taught that very day. The second grader that I hope learned something from my teaching. “No,” Scout replied. Inside, I cringed a little. (Or maybe a lot.) This isn’t the first time this has happened. And I am always anxious to step in and justify. Explain. Yes – you did, I want to offer. Remember learning about shadows? And the book you read all by yourself and the two sentences you wrote correctly and the picture you drew to go along with it? Remember history,…
-
Sometimes Being A Parent Makes You Say Bizarre Things
Kevin said the silliest thing the other day. He was sitting at his desk (read: an old kitchen table set up in our bedroom) and looking through the doorway at Piper Finn and London. He sighed. And that’s when Crazy exited his mouth. “Man, Lacey. We need to have some more kids.” I am sure I gasped. Dropped something. And suffered a neck injury as my head spun off my shoulders. “Whuh?” Yes. That is the sound most closely resembling the noise I made. “WHY?” I asked incredulously. (Obviously incredulously. I mean – come on. More kids? We have six of them already.) “Just look at them. They’re growing up…
-
Truth Better Than Fiction: An Example
File this under Random Weird Absolutely Unsolicited Confessions. Bergen: “Mom. One day this summer when we were at the pool we all took turns eating London’s skin.” Me: “Which part of her skin?” Bergen: “Her toes.” Me: “Why?” Bergen: “Because London said it was like gum.” Me: “Did it taste like gum?” Bergen: “No. It didn’t taste like anything.”
Keep Reading . . .
hi.
mid-week rambling.
evening thoughts or why I can’t get it together this month
-
A Little Like Me
My children say some crazy things. Out of nowhere, Mosely commented, “Wouldn’t it be weird if a witch came here right now and turned Bergen into a dog?” (Where’s that kid learning about witches and how powerful does she think they are?) Or Bergen wondering out loud, “Wouldn’t it be funny if all shoes were made out of sausages?” And I actually like to hear these bizarre-o statements escape their lips. Because I like laughing. But it’s the sweet, unexpectedly kind and thoughtful comments that really shape my heart. Brushing Scout’s much-longer-than-I-realized hair, I began telling her how much her current seven-year-old self resembled my former seven-year-old self. (It’s uncanny,…
-
A Ponytail: More Than Meets The Eye
It’s just a hair -do. You know? But then again it isn’t. It’s so much more. So much more. I keep seeing her grow up through silly bands and hair styles and not holding my hand when we walk by summer staffers and giving me hugs when she thinks I just need them and making peace with her siblings or trying to earn money to save for a zhu zhu pet or writing things down or reading directions alone or reading all of Alice in Wonderland all by herself to her siblings at night while they are in bed. She used to have the cutest little girl haircut. But when…
-
Seven is Sweet
Oh Seven. You are fun. When you turn 7 here we set out the treasured Special Special Day Plate. And you get to eat your meal upon that plate. And you get to choose the meal. No matter what you want. We will all eat it. Even if you pick macaroni & meat with a side of mashed potatoes and an additional side of peas. You also get to watch Dad decorate your cake. And you get away with being a bit rowdy and having icing squirted inside your mouth. And maybe you even get a little help cleaning that icing from your face. You also get to decide what…
-
happiness. wisdom.
At the end of this school year it seems that London’s reading skills have finally taken off. She reads everything. All the time. Beckett wore a shirt that had an arrow and said “He did it”. London cracked up and whispered to me, “Mom, I think Beck’s shirt is perfect because it says he did it. And he probably did.” There was a sign hanging in Sally’s laundry nook. “Hey Mommy,” London announced. “I think this sign might be wrong. It says ‘farm’ then ‘dairy’ but it probably should read ‘dairy farm’.” And forget spelling any secrets out loud any longer. “What? It’s bed time?” Or “Hey everybody –…
-
Can Someone Please Define Normal?
Yesterday was a normal day. I have a lot of those. I’ll just go ahead and highlight three examples of events or conversations that contributed to the normalness of the day. Just three, mind you. Three examples of normal. (Except maybe I am not entirely sure what normal means anymore. That’s possible. Indeed – probable.) Example One: Disclaimer: Some of my children may be rapidly approaching the age when I can no longer share these stories unless I use an alias for them. So we had better all enjoy this while it lasts.) Piper Finn and Otto Fox were napping. Riley was reading a book. (Wait – that can’t be…
-
before my very eyes.
I think I am watching my little Scout get older with every silly band she adds to the collection on her wrist.
-
The Dentist
Last week we experienced what I will call A Terrible Dental Experience. And all because of my former arch nemesis – fear. But this time it wasn’t my fear. It was London’s fear. (Is the same principle about sins of the father passed to the son true for sins of the mother passed to the daughter?) Because this kid looks like me. (I wish I could locate photographic evidence. You would be convinced. I’ll start looking. I promise.) And, in this area at least, this kid acts like me. Although I feel sorry that she looks like me – teenage years were not kind to my sense of self in…
-
Soccer – Let the Games Begin!
The season has started. In all its glory. (Okay, there really is not much glory – but the kids sure look cute in their uniforms, Riley is a great assistant coach and Piper is a pretty effective cheerleader.) We’re just at the beginning of the season but it’s funny already. There’s the I-expected-this-but-not-from-you – Hawkeye. He pretty much just wants to drink the water from his cool new officially-sanctioned-by-his-soccer-team water bottle. “Berg, don’t you want to play?” I ask. He answers, “Mommy, I think you should write my whole name, B-E-R-G-E-N, on my water bottle instead of just the B you already wrote.” While everyone is running after the ball…
