Washing Assembly Line
All posts by Sarah
Yummy
Still Life with Children
It feels especially hard these days to find the beauty in everyday moments, but I’m trying harder to look at my world each day and find something to make me smile. These kids, man: they’re pretty great.
Why I Am Currently Losing My Mind
Oliver <sitting in his high chair, wearing a sweatshirt>: ZIP! ZIP! ZIP!
Me: You want me to unzip your sweatshirt?
Oliver: NO! ZIP!!
Me: You’re right, your sweatshirt doesn’t have zips, it has buttons.
Oliver: Buttons!
Me: Yes, buttons.
Oliver: ZIP ZIP!!
Me: Do you want your sweatshirt off?
Oliver: ON!
Me: Ok. You can keep it on.
Oliver: OFF!!
Me: You want help taking it off?
Oliver: Uh-huh.
<I help him unbutton and take off his sweatshirt>
Oliver: ON! ON! ON! ON! ZIP! ZIP!
Me: <throws sweatshirt in his face>
Maggie’s Quilt
I finally finished the quilt I started for Maggie before she was born, and it really was more rewarding finishing it now because she loves it so much ❤️
Daily Pilgrimage
This is our daily pilgrimage after the big kids get picked up by their bus: to watch the trucks and construction across Snelling. We often get waves from construction workers, truck drivers, bus drivers, and passers-by. And most days, I love doing it with him. He gets SO much enjoyment out of such a simple thing, it’s hard to say no. ❤️
Science
We found a dead monarch butterfly on our walk today, which lead to breaking out the microscope to look at the scales on the wings, which lead to Maggie and Griffin breaking out the science goggles and doing science projects. I just found these observations sitting on the front steps: “Science Projects!!! When we put the vinegar with the baking soda in a glass jar and put the lid on, the jar leaked because of the pressure.” 😍 #kidsarenaturalscientists
Doing it by sound
Tonight I asked Griffin if he’s been keeping track of his screen-time minutes (a thing we do).
He replied, “I thought you said that we’d do it by sound.”
“By … sound?”
“Yes, last night you said that we would do it by sound,” he repeated, looking entirely earnest.
<Puzzled thought.> “Ohhhh… I said we would play it by ear!”
Love the way brains grapple with new idioms.
Hurry Up!
This morning I’m thinking about how the end of my pregnancy with Maggie is a metaphor for the way she moves about in the world. Pretty much every morning, no matter how much time I give her and prep her for the fact that the bus is indeed coming at 8:14am, just like every other morning, she waits and waits and waits and waits until the very last minute to get ready. No amount of gentle cajoling or reminders gets her to budge. Then she just acts like, “What the hell is your problem? I’m coming!” when I’m anxious and yelling about getting her out the door on time. Just like her birth. She waited and waited and waited and waited until the last possible moment at 42 weeks when they were requiring me to be induced, and then she arrived the night before induction, in less than 20 minutes at the hospital, like, “What the hell is your problem? I was coming!” And she always gets there. There’s a lesson for me in there somewhere about how to help her and myself move through the world. Not sure I’ve grasped the practical realities of it yet.
Oliver’s 2017
Last year in early January, I discovered a new app called One Second Everyday (1SE). I did my best to capture Oliver’s development from that moment on, and here is the final product! I wish I’d known about it right when he was born, but this is still pretty cool. Enjoy!