Living with kids
FAMILY LIVING, Why Did the Tarantula Cross the Road
Why did the tarantula cross the road? Not just to get to the other side. Fall is the time of year when male tarantulas go on a ‘march’ to seek out females. Thank you google. First day of school, 2018. The children struggled to get out of bed. Really struggled. I thought, to help them …
FAMILY LIVING, Five Years Ago We Lost a Son
I have been thinking a lot about the London cabbie who drove us home from the hospital after Matthew died. We didn’t need to talk. He didn’t need to ask what had happened. He watched us and he knew. He wouldn’t accept money from us once back at our London flat. He was sober, he …
FAMILY LIVING, Please Knook
We have a summer plan: MONDAYS – water day TUESDAYS – library day WEDNESDAYS – visit family day THURSDAYS – explore Utah day FRIDAYS – BYU day This past Monday, though, instead of spending our day at the splash pad or the pool, we spent our “water day” trying to control and then fix a …
FAMILY LIVING, Firsts in a House #68
Induction stove top. Brilliant idea #thumbsup. Won’t work with my pots#thumbsdown. I cooked our rice in a tea kettle tonight.
FAMILY LIVING, 911
Just months after Matthew died, we moved our family from London back to NYC. The company put us in corporate housing near Grand Central while we looked for an apartment for our family. After spending a day by myself on the Upper East Side, I came home with a dozen pictures of available apartments to …
MOSES LAKE, Washington
Disclaimer: I do not know much about this Moses Lake of which I write. But what I do know, and what I have experienced is memorable and sweet. My grandparents moved to Moses Lake, Washington after I had already grown. As such, I do not have memories of childhood visits to Gramma and Grampa at …
FAMILY LIVING, Firsts in a House #41
Costco. We were living in NYC when the first Costco on Manhattan Island opened on 116th Street, in Harlem. (This was before free delivery, kids!) We would lug our double stroller up to Harlem with one child in the front seat, leaving the back seat and basket open for eggs and milk, cheese and ham, …
RUNNING WITH ANGELS, Utah
Upon our move to Utah, our family was invited to participate in the annual Running With Angels 5K at Thanksgiving Point, Lehi, Utah. The race is run in memory of children who have passed away, and is hosted by Intermountain Utah Valley Hospital, and Pamela Hansen, who featured Matthew’s story on her blog this past Spring. As a …
FAMILY LIVING, Bymax
Quote of the day. I was talking to the children about that animated movie with the big fluffy white nurse-robot, ‘Bymax’. The 9 year old corrected me, “It’s ‘Baymax’, Mom. But you were really close. Sometimes I get names wrong, too. So I don’t want to be judgeful.” I sure don’t want to be judgeful, …
FAMILY LIVING, Firsts in a House #23
Gardening. When E was 7 years old, living in London, I found her in the front room one morning, reading a book. Confused, she looked up from the page and asked, “Mum? What is ‘MOW THE LAWN‘?” My city-girl had never been introduced to this suburban household-chore. That luxury ended when we landed our family in …