Category: it’s all relative
-
Some moments with toddlers are unforgettable, some are unbelievable, and some are one hundred percent the legacy of Pat Mikkelsen’s child rearing. Me: “Oh Charlie, you are so fucking beautiful!” Charlie: “Mama, you’re fucking beautiful every day!”
-
You are six years old today, and right now you are a humid little lump sleeping next to me in Mama’s bed. “Mama Time” you call it. It’s been six years, but I still don’t know exactly what I’m doing. Each time I get confident, each time I get the routine down, you go and…
-
I got called out this week for suggesting that the monarch butterflies that survived, survived because of my care. Nope, they did not. I had, in fact, very little to do with it. For the record: Our neighbor friend gave us a chrysalis earlier this summer, from her butterfly garden. We watched it hatch and…
-
Each article, each radio interview, every profile featuring women running for office, women winning elections, women leading boards, and women leadership in general right now is stoking my rage. Why? Because the popular angle is “women are good for business”, “women do things differently so they are better” and all that lean in crap. Even…
-
“Nice Hawaiian shirt Mom” “Thanks, I wore it so if we’re on the news, you know, I can stand out and spot myself”. Um, kinda not the point of being here at this march for immigrant families Mom, but ok. I thought that was the end of the topic when Paulie, beloved but daring son-in-law,…
-
Time in the car with my girls, Mom and Viv, is my favorite. I certainly miss the days of road tripping alone, the window rolled down, sun on the windshield, rolling through the green summer countryside blasting NPR. But I have embraced my passengers. I always learn something. Driving back from Patsy and Charlie's lovely…
-
Mom has always had a language all her own, usually more accurate and descriptive then the "correct" version. Like Mark Twain and Yogi Berra, her brilliance is both profound and hilarious. The conversations during our annual Spring Break road trip were no exception. "You know that place we were just at in Texas or wherever."…
-
Grandma: "Corndog? No, I've never had a corndog. That's "Fair" food, I don't go to the Fair". Viv: "Do you like hot dogs?" Grandma: "Yes." "Do you like bread?" Yes. "Do you like corn?" Yes. "Hmm. I think you like corn dogs." Posted with Blogsy
-
It's remarkable how a little thing can put someone at ease. Everywhere we travel Viv is assumed to be a boy, except by priests, nurses, and teachers who (almost to a person) default to "they" or some other gender neutral substitute like the ubiquitous "buddy" without missing a beat. (Is it years of practice? Working…
-
We grabbed one last weekend of summer at Elkhart Lake this weekend, 50 percent of which was spent loading and unloading crap from cars. Like all parenting, half was hell and the other half was amazing. Viv donned water wings and after an hour let me float her about four feet in to the pool.…
girl at large 