Read the little blurby post I just wrote about guilt. It’s the resolve I needed for today’s cloudy spirit – an explanation of which I am just now diving into… GUILT. Kelsey, oh fabulous sitter provided by the heavens (and Craigslist circa 2007), is taking a few days on Cape Cod with her boyfriend and his family. I’m sure they are sequestered in separate bedrooms come nighttime, but having fun frolicking on the beach during the day. (Hmm, I’m not sure I should even imagine what happens when they AREN’T sequestered in separate rooms. I mean, she cares for my [...]
Read More in UncategorizedJuly 2009
July 30, 2009
So this is why I was feeling guilty
July 30, 2009
Turning that frown upside down
I’m much more ready to write when I’m grumpy. Why is that? On good days I just breeze on by, and the thought of supplying a new post for our few loyal readers is a chore not unlike the dishes or the laundry (and boy am I tired of talking and thinking about those two things). Today is a grump day. Guilt and anger day. For kicks I searched “guilt” on our site and there were 8 posts returned that had mention of “guilt.” Don’t you know that every single one of them was written by me? Not Jen. Me. [...]
Read More in Sarah WritesJuly 27, 2009
Parenting three: Whose needs come first?
I spend my days evaluating the needs of my three children and determining whose needs should come first. What’s the most urgent situation? Tending to the baby’s dirty diaper? Fetching a snack for my eternally hungry 5-year-old? Helping my 3-year-old in the bathroom? What do I need to do to keep the balance around here, to make sure that each child gets what s/he needs and that we all are happier for it? A few recent situations have included: 1. (S comes first.) Yesterday, I decided that it would be nice to take a walk with the kids after lunch. [...]
Read More in Favorites, Jen Writes, three kids, UncategorizedJuly 26, 2009
Post-Vacation Blues
Real life. Dishes that have become more than just necessity. Naptimes that are more than just convenient. Rules that have reappeared. Sighs that are heavier, deeper and more frequent. Dinner plans. Tomorrow’s schedule. Work. Bills. Day-to-Day. I never thought I’d have the inclination to unplug from my life as much as I did while we were in Vermont. I’m sure that a very large part of my disconnect from the virtual world was the fact that I cracked the screen of my Macbook the night before we left. I was at the mercy of Dan’s PC: typing is not quite [...]
Read More in Sarah WritesJuly 21, 2009
Zen Update
Here’s the brief vacation update: Eleven children run around – in and out of bathing suits, rotating nap schedules and snack choices, amusing us and exhausting us – all at the same time. There are five little bodies sleeping in a tent on a small patch of grass just above the sandy beach of the lake. I am sitting on the porch listening to the waves and watching a skunk slink past us and move right around the tent. My mother is quite concerned the little beast will spray and we’ll be in a smelt-skunk funk for the rest of the [...]
Read More in Sarah WritesJuly 18, 2009
Vacation day at last
Well, today is the day we all meet up in Vermont. Yippeeeee! I only have about a zillion things to do before we get there. Wait. No. That’s not true. I did a gazillion things yesterday. So today I only have a bazillion things to do. But I don’t even care. I am trying to keep it zen. I just said to the kids, “As far as I am concerned our vacation starts now.” And then I let them have as much powdered sugar as they wanted on their waffles. (It was quite difficult to see the waffles when they [...]
Read More in Jen Writes, three kids, three kids (six kids), UncategorizedJuly 16, 2009
Keeping it Zen, Jen
I’m a day early for such carelessness. Vacation is TWO days away, not one. Oh well. Too late. I’ve stolen the only fan in the house from the baby’s room and it’s swirling hot air around the kitchen right now, settling on my stickiness for much too short a moment before passing on to the kids, and derailing the flies that have skated in through the quite WIDE OPEN back door. Yes, we live in a barn. Complete with children who mimic every animal noise and, more importantly, every behavior. I’m drinking watermelon vodka with seltzer out of my favorite [...]
Read More in housework, Sarah WritesJuly 15, 2009
Tingling Fat Lippage
I’m whomped. I haven’t gotten back into my regular cycle of posts since my secret weekend. Since the beginning of this full-time work gig. And now? Now, you ask? Now I am sitting in discomfort with a tingling lower lip that is swollen and bordering on elephantitis. Okay, so I’m a bit dramatic. The people around me don’t seem to look so aghast when they glance my way, and they assure me it’s “not so bad,” but I’m thinking it’s all just being nice for my benefit, you know? I had oral surgery yesterday morning, bright and early, to remove [...]
Read More in health, mind/body, Sarah WritesJuly 13, 2009
Don’t Call Them Swimming Lessons
I signed B and S up for swimming lessons this week. Shh. Don’t tell them. Just say, “We’re going to a pool today. And there might be other kids there. And an instructor. His name is Kim. [giggle giggle] And he might play with you in the water.” Hey, it worked! There are three kids in the swimming class. Two of them are my kids. I haven’t been yet, because I was at work today. But I haven’t seen my family all happy at the same time and for such a prolonged amount of time in a LONG TIME. They [...]
Read More in Jen Writes, motherhood, three kids, UncategorizedJuly 11, 2009
Some thoughts of Saturday
The fevers are gone (the bickering is back). (And, No, Mom, it wasn’t swine flu.) Like many summer days, we don’t have much planned today. Last Saturday Sarah—just a week into her new full-time work schedule—called to ask if we could get together. I should have dropped everything, gathered up the kids, and met her halfway, 30 minutes down the road. A playground for the kids. A bench for us. Lots of juice boxes and Goldfish crackers. But I didn’t. I hadn’t washed my face or brushed my teeth yet. I was really hoping for a shower. The kids weren’t [...]
Read More in chores, housework, Jen Writes, Jen's Favorites, three kids, unpaid work, workWorking full-time is kicking my ass. It’s been nearly two weeks and I’m absolutely drained. Sitting in front of a computer for 8 hours punching numbers and taking calls and writing letters and decoding mumbled instructions from my boss is all so very draining. A few things have helped me along the way. Since the exhaustion takes over the minute I close the boys’ bedroom doors for the night, and I’ve no other time to blog, I’m going to cop out and give you a run-down of my welcome distractions this week, both small and large, happy and sad. Jen: [...]
Read More in Sarah Writes, workJuly 6, 2009
Throwing a little salt over my shoulder
So I was working on a post about how I have been full of self pity lately. Feeling sorry for myself at championship levels. But it wasn’t quite coming together. So I filled in with a list of a few things. Which turned out to read like a pity list, too. (If a bit silly.) Which I didn’t mean. But, regardless, it’s time to move on. Today I was brought out of myself because my two oldest kids woke up with fevers. Tonight S crashed early after a super-impressive whine fest. B is mellowed on the couch right now glued [...]
Read More in Jen Writes, UncategorizedJuly 5, 2009
Back to Me
So I’m back to my lazy self. After last week’s business of getting our secret weekend all set, and expending so much energy being sneaky, I’m tapped out. My new full-time work schedule zapped me, as did the return to our daily routine of dishes and laundry and naptimes and bedtimes without anything distracting to look forward to – like a super special weekend alone with my husband in a perfect hotel with a perfect view. Dan just set off for a bike ride at the reservoir with Jamis and Max. Jamis is whiney because he doesn’t want to go [...]
Read More in chores, housework, Sarah WritesJuly 4, 2009
Becoming Cool
I live in an artsy New England town. Lots of musicians. Artists of all kinds. Creative people creating. These are major reasons why I love living here. But also, often I feel very uncool. For my day job? Well, part of it entails writing obituaries. Yep. Also, I don’t play a musical instrument. Nor can I draw a realistic interpretation of anything. Or make a convincing attempt at abstract representation, for that matter. Oh sure, I write. But it seems like everyone else does too. And the rest of them? Well, they actually have their books published. When I take [...]
Read More in Jen Writes, motherhood, siblings, three kids, UncategorizedJuly 1, 2009
A few things to get off of my chest
I have a post brewing. But it’s not entirely through the filter yet. So this will have to do for now: 1. A while back I wrote about how you don’t have to look far to find someone who is worse off. (Here.) Here’s the thing, though. Sometimes you just feel like shit. And your bad is bad enough. Even though someone else is going through more. Someone else is sicker. Or poorer. Or more stressed out. But sometimes, your own problems are enough to feel bad about. I’m just saying. ********** 2. Sweeping the kitchen floor makes me feel [...]
Read More in Jen Writes, motherhood, relationship, siblings, three kidsJuly 1, 2009
The Sixth One Was on My Back
Read More in Jen Writes, three kids (six kids)
