Chaos and Calm

The weather has cooled off.
Fall is just around the corner. Just like that, another summer… gone. Next week I’ll be frantically packing for Denmark - planning out every outfit. I’m a dork like that. And yes, I am SUCH a girl. Hate traveling without bringing all of the necessities, but I’m also a light packer. [...]

A new smile.

Funny how little I care after seeing him in that much pain. Glad it’s gone. Sayonara dead tooth. Too bad though. Especially after all of the hard work Benjamin put into getting them in the first place… here is teething at 5-months… (more…)

A bond no man can break. Sorry guys.

Last Thursday night Benjamin woke up screaming in pain.
I ran upstairs. His body was lurching forward and backward, legs kicking. Finally I calmed him down and said, “Is it your tooth, baby? Does your tooth hurt?”
“Yes, Mommy.”
“Okay. Listen. Tomorrow morning, first thing, we’ll go to the Sticker Doctor (the dentist) and he’ll take the tooth [...]

This shit ain’t easy (a bedtime story).

Today sucked. Everything caught up with me.

Working full-time, being a mom, trying to date - mix all of that with a good dose of self-doubt and you’ve got the ingredients for one grumpy mama. I’m also dead tired.
Last night Benjamin kissed me good night and prounced off to my bedroom, jumped into my bed [...]

Video: Cowboy Benjamin thwarts Mommy.

On a lighter note … this is hysterical and it’s all real.
This Saturday afternoon I let Benjamin entertain himself in front of the recording iMac again. This time I gave him a cowboy hat … but that’s just the beginning.

Watch what happens when I show up with some clean clothes.

Single Mom S.O.S.: Play-Doh & Toddler-Goo

Okay, this one is for me. Three questions mixed with some babbling.
1. How do you clean up Play-Doh?
2. What are some good Play-Doh games or activities?
(We had a Play-Doh cook off, but tomorrow he’ll want a new game.)
3. How do you keep them contained in one area?
(Not necessarily the kids but the Play-Doh and the [...]

Two hats and two worms (well, kind of).

The poor little worm didn’t have a chance. It was my fault.
“Benjamin, look! Look! It’s a worm!” 
“Yay!!! Ha ha ha ha!!” He’s jumping up and down with excitement. The worm was being eaten alive by ants and was clearly on his way to a slow, excruciating death anyway. I try to stifle a scream when [...]

Lessons from Cowboys.

Some things never change …
My basement had a minor flood (not complaining because my little brother lives in Iowa City and has been sandbagging for weeks). Anyhow - while sorting through boxes of wet stuff I found my old journal and stumbled across this entry.
I was leaving Texas after six months there as a single [...]

O’ Daddy, Where Art Thou?

Benjamin has this nasty little habit of calling every man in sight “Daddy.”
I’m sure if his father had a greater presence in his life this wouldn’t be the case. I’ve convinced myself, actually, that he does this because I’m a single mom. It’s just killing me. It happens in the grocery store, at the park, [...]

Happy Father’s Day, Daddy (!)

In 1989, my father sent me this letter while on a business trip in San Francisco.
Dear Alaina!
This is a letter for you from your father who loves you from here to heaven and back, which simply is a distance that no person can even begin to imagine, until that person has been as fortunate as [...]