“Plushageddon” begins with a Gund Snuffles
I was en route to preschool pickup when I saw it in a pile of stuff marked FREE. A Gund Snuffles. I’d know that face anywhere. I actually stopped the car in the middle of the road, but then I…
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kiddos
Teaching children about hatred
I cannot remember how it came up. Maybe Kiddo#2 asked me what Nazis were. Maybe she wanted to know why countries just didn’t decide to have peace. She’s in fifth grade. By the time I was in fifth grade, we’d…
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Those cunning matchmakers
Kiddo#4 has discovered “leftovers.” I’m not sure why, but we’ve had several variants of this conversation: Kiddo#4: Is there any leftovers? Me: Um, I think so. Yeah, here are some green beans. Kiddo#4: YAY! And then he sits down and…
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you really should have expected that
I got a voice mail from the school. No, they didn’t need to talk to me, but they needed to let me know Kiddo#3 had been “picking up rocks” during recess. The message went on and on while I sat,…
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No, not bored for long
Guardian angels are matched to the personality of their charges. This isn’t a matter of doctrine or faith, but it’s pretty obvious to me at least that when God assigns an angel to take care of a human being for…
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how to drive Mom insane in one easy step
Time: ten minutes until the school bus Place: all over my house — Me: Is your bag packed? Kiddo#3: Um… Me: No, it’s completely empty. Go get your lunch bag. Kiddo#3: … Me: Do you have it? Kiddo#3: It’s not…
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in which Kiddo#3 hears a rude song
Sometimes your kids surprise you. While driving, I rotate through about thirteen radio stations whenever I dislike what’s playing, and I’m sure there are some songs my children have heard all of, but never more than four notes at a…
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Kiddo#3 gets a magic wand
Kiddo#3 went to summer camp this week for the first time, and he brought home (for me) a new understanding of how boys his age think. “Fritz has a magic wand,” he told me. Fritz has a different name, too,…
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Um…yeah! Go right ahead and do that!
Kiddo#2 asked me if we have ferns in our yard. Living in the swamp, it’s a good bet we have some of everything growing in our yard, so I told her I’d show her some when we got home. And…
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on being prepared
I was maybe twelve weeks pregnant with my second. As I stepped out of the shower, I heard in my head, What would you do if the baby had anencephaly? Looking back, the oddest part of this incident is that…
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