My twins start Grade One in the fall, which officially catapults them out of the category of preschoolers. I’m not sure what they’re called now. Schoolers doesn’t quite have the same categorical recognition. And the term Grade Schoolers is awkward. I’m going for kids. Just plain kids. Since my kids are beyond preschool, I now […]
Wild Gen X Tales
Memories of My Wedding Day
Today is our wedding anniversary. Our tenth. Apparently the traditional gift is aluminum/tin. So perhaps my husband and I will buy each other a can of Coke. We’re not into gifts. We didn’t buy each other wedding gifts; we don’t buy each other anniversary presents. Last weekend, though, we went out for dinner without kids. […]
Parents Are Stupid: The Dissolution of Knowledge
Last Saturday, my daughter had severe stomach pain. Only semi-awake, she moaned and writhed, screaming when I touched her tummy, which felt like it was shored up by two-by-fours. I tried giving her 7-Up (too sweet), mashing an antacid and putting it in a teaspoon of jam (too gross), and cuddling (too confining). It reminded […]
Raising Normal Kids
This parenting thing baffles me. Generally I’m so lost in a labyrinth of fuzz that I don’t even bother to think about it. But today, I’ll wander back in. In many ways, I don’t have high expectations for my twins. I don’t expect (or want) them to be the top of the class, famous actors, […]
Fat in Thailand
There are stories that become part of a family’s lore. These are the stories that are pulled out at dinner parties like an old, time-tested joke. Even if people know the punchline, it’s a guaranteed laugh. The story of my husband taking our five-week-old twins for a stroll in our Bangkok neighbourhood may be one […]
Birthday Cards: An Apology Disguised As a Rant
Birthday cards are a problem for me. I can never find the one which contains a balance of humour and intimacy, magically revealing the personalities of the recipient and myself. I’m a competitive card giver, and someone else always finds a funnier, better one. I also despise spending $3.95 on something that’ll be history in […]
Happy Herding Cats Day
December 15th is Cat Herders Day. This invent-a-holiday recognizes people who have kids whose lives are so out of control it’s like they’re herding cats. (cc) tanakawho, Creative Commons, used under a ShareAlike License When I first heard of this “holiday”, my brain twisted the word herding into hoarding, a word association that would cause […]
Pregnant in Bangkok: remembering
There are things that scare me more than pregnancy, such as raising children or having a camera crew chase me around as I attempt to parent. But even after disasters such as lying face down on a golf course amidst a spectacular lightning storm (and I don’t even golf), pregnancy still ranks up there on […]
Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day (or Not)
So yesterday was Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day. Apparently it’s an annual holiday. I don’t know who celebrates it, but I’m guessing their friend-count on Facebook might be in the single digits. As I alluded to in an earlier post, one of my useless claims-to-fame is that I can sneeze like Donald Duck, a “talent” […]