Raising Devils

On the way out Originally uploaded by kjda Now that she grasps what trick or treating is, she may never come back. KJ Dell’Antonia sent from my iPhone

It’s Here! Originally uploaded by kjda Genuine snow, about 2 inches of it. Enough to sled on and toss a small snowball or two. Enough to force me to finally get out the snow pants. Enough to thrill everyone and count as Rory’s true first snow. She loved it. The funny thing is, we went to a Waldorf winter fair today. Waldorf being what it is, there is no Santa, but there IS a King of Winter, who was walking […]

Rory is So SAD. Originally uploaded by kjda Wyatt was invited to a birthday party, and Rory…was not. Neither was Lily, but that is ok by her. Rory, in the other hand, is very upset. She even had Wyatt convinced to skip the party and come home to play Mario Wii with her…until I decreed the afternoon a Wii free zone and freed him up to go to the party. She cried all the way there…fortunately the party hosts couldn’t […]

I’ve spent several hours in the last few days doing things that I think are going to convey a totally faux idea of who you’re dealing with here. First, Saturday night, I waxed all of our nordic skis (well, mine, Rob’s and Sam’s). With hot wax, and a wax iron…this is something I just started doing, and I’m very proud (plus the results are indeed pretty great), but I feel like waxing makes me sound like the kind of girl […]

On our way! Originally uploaded by kjda KJ Dell’Antonia sent from my iPhone

Let the Party Begin! Originally uploaded by kjda KJ Dell’Antonia sent from my iPhone

Party! Originally uploaded by kjda Look at the bar my hostess set up…I love parties. KJ Dell’Antonia sent from my iPhone

Sigh. Wyatt pushed me right over the edge this morning. Or should I take the blame and say I went over? My reaction to him ousted me over? Oh, whatever. He hit Lily. Wouldn’t go to his room, wouldn’t stay in his room, wouldn’t get in the car, wouldn’t get in the carseat…etc, etc. Lost his DS privileges for the weekend (the only time they’re allowed). Int was a long and drawn out battle, that took from 9:15 (when were […]

To add to the nature vs. nurture debate: One proposal that in some cases, nature will always win out. Dr. Richard Friedman, intrigued by reports from patients he knew to have been “more or less decent parents” that their adult children were mean, unkind, unsympathetic, and rude, suggests in the New York Times that “for better or for worse, parents have limited power to influence their children.” Maybe, he says of one patient’s child, “this young man was just not […]

If we truly want equality among races, we have to talk to kids about racism. Fortunately, there’s an app for that.

Vacation begins Originally uploaded by kjda KJ Dell’Antonia sent from my iPhone

Long day here. Lots of shuttling and shuffling, a little dose of art camp, the brilliant idea to take all kids to the beading store. All of which went fine, it was just–after all my happy post yesterday, I have to say I felt overwhelmed. The day started with me breaking yet another glass milk bottle, this time in the garage, just as we were leaving to pick up our poor carpool-ee. Got that cleaned up, forgot Sam’s bike for […]

Kids on Bikes Originally uploaded by kjda KJ Dell’Antonia sent from my iPhone —

Country living is batting 1 for three today. On the one hand, the kids spent yesterday’s rainy afternoon, romping, looking for frogs, walking in the puddles on the dirt road from a neighbor’s house. On the other, we have three floods in the basement (unfinished and full of crap, but still) and the bottom of our driveway washed out–it’s still passable, but not by much. The rain seems to have passed, the clouds are hanging a little more lightly over […]

We had school conferences tonight. Or rather, Rob had school conferences, since he unilaterally changed Rory and Wy’s conferences to a time I couldn’t make, and then, because they filled, couldn’t change them back–but then, he couldn’t make the time I’d chosen, so who am I to talk? In any case, Rob, armed with my questions, went. My questions boiled down to: “is Wyatt interested enough?” And “is Rory managing to learn anything?” My perception being that Wyatt, who does […]

We are (as you can see below) at a big, giant indoor water park/hotel. It’s “AWESOME,” and “the best valentine’s day ever” and “so COOL.” All of those things are true (it’s also, we’re just now noticing, right under the airport flight path, but that’s not going to bother me any. I’m a good sleeper, I am! It’s not crowded (while we in the East take two winter breaks to save on heating costs, in the South and West, they […]

Monster Cake! Originally uploaded by kjda KJ Dell’Antonia sent from my iPhone — KJ Dell’Antonia

Hidden Mickey! Originally uploaded by kjda It’s not often your brothers and sisters stand around cheering while you get your hair done. KJ Dell’Antonia sent from my iPhone —

I’m on a long overdue mission to update my blogroll, which has become sadly dated. (Since I found one link that hadn’t been updated in 786 days, I’m guessing that’s when I last linked anyone up.) I’m bringing on some of those hip new things all the other kids have, like the title of the last post and the timing of the update, which I love when my fellow bloggers kindly provide to me. I’m a big blogroll click-thru fan. […]

You Never Walk Alone Originally uploaded by kjda There’s an audience for everything in our family. KJ Dell’Antonia sent from my iPhone —

A post from France… Ok, I’m making a vow I probably won’t keep in honor of our vacation in France, generally considered a relatively hedonistic country and one where people, and especially women, know how to put themselves first. Have you ever read an old school French feminist on the subject of attachment parenting? It’s, um, refreshing. My vow: I’m going to stop martyring myself in the name of everyone else’s fun. What do I mean? Well, how about yesterday’s […]

I need help. Rory has been with us now for two years and two months. And she came speaking English–about 2-year-old English. Her language is still behind in some expected ways–she struggles with “he” and “she” and verb tenses–and that’s cool. She gets speech therapy for that, and for leaving off the final consonants of all her words (speech therapy doubles as ESL in her case, since its not really her second language–they know the history and work with it). […]

I really thought I’d be asleep by now. I got into bed at 10:15. And then there were just a FEW emails to answer. And then I thought, just half an hour’s book revision. Just half an hour, no more. But it was going kind of well. And then there were just a couple more emails. And Facebook. And a message. And now, this. And a new blog post by a favorite blogger to read (that would be Jess, on […]

I’ve lost my mind, I know I have. I am thinking of getting a kitten. I nice Siberian, because I was very allergic as a kid, although I seem ok now, and they are supposed to not produce the protein that causes allergies. (Dr. Oz says so, so it must be true!) Who thinks our dog, who is largely interested in other animals but not aggressive, would enjoy the companionship of a cat? Will I? Or is this just another […]

Fwd: Darn it Originally uploaded by kjda > > > > I forgot my skates…I will just have to sit in here and watch…with my iPad…weep for me. > > > > >

Boxes Originally uploaded by kjda The worrisome thing is that all I REMEMBER ordering from the Container Store are hangers.