About this time every year, I start working with Nick on cullling his possessions, to make room for the new stuff he'll be getting for his birthday. Historically, this has not gone well; he'd refuse to give up anything and I would eventually resort to removing stuff behind his back. But this year is different. He's cooperating! He's thinking carefully about what items he uses, and parting with the rest! I'm doing some things differently this year. We're taking it slow, sorting through a few possessions at a time and stopping for the day when he gives up an item or group of items. I've also been emphasizing that a lot of this will be saved for Zoe when she's old enough to play with them; that seems to help him let go. But to give credit where credit is due, Nick has grown up a lot this year. I would not be getting this level of cooperation, no matter what tricks and techniques I tried, if Nick wasn't ready to let go.

Zoe was a model patient at the dentist's office. She smiled, she cooperated, she loved the flouride bubble rinse. Even when she didn't want to go along with something, she just turned her head and said "no", she didn't get upset about it. It was pleasant. So we went to the mall afterward, and played in the playarea, ate lunch, and shoe shopped. Zoe was delightful again when looking for new sandals, the only problem being her sweetly expressed desire to take home more than one pair. I just let her carry the green sandals around the store till she got distracted and set them down, and then they disappeared. Things went downhill from there. She flatly refused to cooperate with looking for sneakers, Nick hated every pair of sandals in his size, and eventually I gave up in disgust. At least we got one pair taken care of.

Eh, and we watched Pixar Short Films in the evening, which was fun, and introduced Zoe to the joys of popcorn, which was also fun.

Wow, it's been a long time since I've abandoned the blog for this long. But, well, I took an emotionally draining trip, and then Zoe and I got sick, and we've been busy, and, well, you know. Life happened.

This week's  going fine, anyway.  We're all healthy, aside from that annoying cough that lingers on indefinitely. I've been doing a decent job of striking a balance between errands, chores, and fun with the kids. It finally occurred to me to set Nick to pushing the cart when we shop, for instance, which has increased both kids' enthusiasm for these expeditions at the same time as it raises my adrenaline levels. (He likes to go fast. And he's maintaining control of the cart, or I wouldn't let him do it, but that's my little girl sitting in there, zooming along and laughing like a maniac. Lunatics.)

We ordered a shed for our backyard; it arrived midweek, and there was much rejoicing. No, seriously. We don't have a garage, you know. We've been shoving all our outdoor gear into the little storage room off the carport for the past six years, and it just was not working anymore. The shed will give us much needed space.

Yesterday I set up the pool, which was well received in the beastly hot weather we've been having. We would have gone out again after dinner, but there was a surprise thunderstorm, quite a fierce one, which messed up our evening plans but also dropped some much needed rain on the parched ground. In the afternoon I baked cookies with both kids, a first. Nick and I have been baking together for years, and we have a good routine down; it's easy and fun. Adding Zoe, well, let's say it reminded me of how stressful it was to bake with Nick when he was a toddler. But we got through it. Actually there were two main problems, both of them new to Zoe. But the principle is the same. The first was that this was the first time it had occurred to me that Zoe is now old enough to stand on a chair and watch what's happening on the counter. This totally freaked her out. But eventually she decided that not only was she not going to plunge to her death, but it was actually kind of fun up there. Which is when the kids started arguing about who would get to dump in the ingredients. My solution - alternating - was not truly satisfying to either party, as compromises rarely are. Eventually there were cookies, and all was peaceful once more.*

*My relatives may be interested to learn that the  recipe came from the New Junior Cookbook (not that exact edition) that Gramma owned. Nick and I are starting a routine of cooking one recipe from it each week.

Wow, it's been a long time since I've abandoned the blog for this long. But, well, I took an emotionally draining trip, and then Zoe and I got sick, and we've been busy, and, well, you know. Life happened.

This week's  going fine, anyway.  We're all healthy, aside from that annoying cough that lingers on indefinitely. I've been doing a decent job of striking a balance between errands, chores, and fun with the kids. It finally occurred to me to set Nick to pushing the cart when we shop, for instance, which has increased both kids' enthusiasm for these expeditions at the same time as it raises my adrenaline levels. (He likes to go fast. And he's maintaining control of the cart, or I wouldn't let him do it, but that's my little girl sitting in there, zooming along and laughing like a maniac. Lunatics.)

We ordered a shed for our backyard; it arrived midweek, and there was much rejoicing. No, seriously. We don't have a garage, you know. We've been shoving all our outdoor gear into the little storage room off the carport for the past six years, and it just was not working anymore. The shed will give us much needed space.

Yesterday I set up the pool, which was well received in the beastly hot weather we've been having. We would have gone out again after dinner, but there was a surprise thunderstorm, quite a fierce one, which messed up our evening plans but also dropped some much needed rain on the parched ground. In the afternoon I baked cookies with both kids, a first. Nick and I have been baking together for years, and we have a good routine down; it's easy and fun. Adding Zoe, well, let's say it reminded me of how stressful it was to bake with Nick when he was a toddler. But we got through it. Actually there were two main problems, both of them new to Zoe. But the principle is the same. The first was that this was the first time it had occurred to me that Zoe is now old enough to stand on a chair and watch what's happening on the counter. This totally freaked her out. But eventually she decided that not only was she not going to plunge to her death, but it was actually kind of fun up there. Which is when the kids started arguing about who would get to dump in the ingredients. My solution - alternating - was not truly satisfying to either party, as compromises rarely are. Eventually there were cookies, and all was peaceful once more.*

*My relatives may be interested to learn that the  recipe came from the New Junior Cookbook (not that exact edition) that Gramma owned. Nick and I are starting a routine of cooking one recipe from it each week.

I had a lovely birthday. There was cheesecake and a steak dinner. There were presents and flowers (of the clover variety, but still). There were cards, one of which plays Celine Dion when you open it. (That was from Nick. You didn't really think Rich would buy something like that, did you?) And there was a Roomba, which I am terribly excited about. Because hello, robot vacuum! It combines geekiness, cleanliness, and laziness all in one stylish little package. Rich was a little concerned about buying me a glorified vacuum cleaner, but I assured him this was totally different. Which it is.

Tomorrow will be completely different. We'll be on the road, heading for Illinois and my grandfather's memorial service. I expect the extended weekend to be a strange combination of grief and happiness, hopefully with a side order of working through some difficult emotions. I probably won't be posting again till we're home.