We did not walk.
“[W]hat a severe yet master artist old Winter is …. No longer the canvas and the pigments, but the marble and the chisel.” John Burroughs
Links I Love
• Maison Mobile for a Steal: I added this ($7.97!) mobile to a Christmas order and just got around to hanging it up. I’ve long-loved papercuts and this one is absolutely charming. The paper that came with it said it’s created by ige. She has several other gorgeous papercut mobiles, as well as other items, on her site.
• Free-climbing El Capitan: I remember watching tiny people dots climb up the side of El Capitan while on a family vacation to Yosemite years ago. A life goal of mine is to climb (the now traffic-jammed) Half Dome, but the end alone scares me. I just can’t imagine doing what this team is doing.
• Panoramic View of the Andromeda Galaxy: Look. Contemplate. Zoom. Contemplate some more. Repeat.
• Cephalovepod Letterpress Valentines: Consider backing my friend Eric Mersmann’s Kickstarter project and receive these beautifully strange cards to give to loved ones for Valentine’s Day.
• Old House Dreams: Do you remember my post about the Porter House? I recently found this site, liked it on Facebook and now I get to see links of houses just like the Porter House in my newsfeed weekly. (Andy’s not pleased.)
• Why the World Smells Different After It Rains: Did you catch this article, posted late summer? Petrichor.
• This Is How to Draw Spider-Woman As a Hero Rather Than a Sex Object: My boys are all-in in terms of super heroes these days. Loved this.
• Forty Portraits in Forty Years: Gorgeous.
• Whoorl’s Capsule Wardrobe: 37 items, including shoes. I’m intrigued. Although I fear if I did something like this, I’d just end up shopping to “complete” my capsule in order to make it work. Still, intrigued.
“Recognize that the very molecules that make up your body, the atoms that construct the molecules, are traceable to the crucibles that were once the centers of high mass stars that exploded their chemically rich guts into the galaxy, enriching pristine gas clouds with the chemistry of life. So that we are all connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically and to the rest of the universe atomically. That’s kinda cool! That makes me smile and I actually feel quite large at the end of that. It’s not that we are better than the universe, we are part of the universe. We are in the universe and the universe is in us.” —Neil deGrasse Tyson
Thoughts While Putting Away My Children’s Toys
I recently read Maura Quint’s “The Entirety of My Thoughts As I Eat My Son’s Mac and Cheese Dinner,” cleaned my children’s bedrooms and closet-size playroom, and was then inspired to write this:
Didn’t 4 year olds work in fields 150 years ago? Probably not. That actually sounds awful. But still, mine should at least be capable of putting Chutes and Ladders back in its box, right?
I hate Chutes and Ladders.
They have too many toys. I should donate half of them. Most of them. All but three of them.
Why are there candy wrappers stuffed in the Lego bin?
I am not their maid. A maid would be so nice. And a laundress. And a chef. And a personal trainer. Definitely a personal trainer.
I wonder how many calories I’m burning shoving stuff in bins. I should get one of those Fitbits. Or actually go to the Y. They can play with toys in Child Watch. Toys I don’t have to deal with. I wonder if I can find a place to hide and read in the Y while they play in Child Watch.
Another capless marker, wasted. That’s it. No more markers. Ever.
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD THEM TO PUT THE CAPS BACK ON THEIR GLUE STICKS? No more glue sticks. Ever.
Huh. A Barbie shoe. I thought surely I had vacuumed all those up by now.
Why are there 76 pieces of paper with one line drawn on each of them?
I’m going to have to hide these in the recycling bin to avoid the apocalypse that will surely happen if they find out I’ve recycled their one-line masterpieces.
Maybe my children are hoarders. Maybe there’s a mental issue here. I should email the pediatrician.
I will never allow their rooms to get this messy again. Maybe I should try the Saturday Box. Or the Marble Jar. Or the Popsicle Stick Jar. Or the Reward Chart. I should check Pinterest.
Or maybe I just get rid of it all. I mean, seriously, they’re downstairs playing with empty boxes. Empty. Boxes.
Isn’t it monks who find joy in everyday tasks? I don’t think monks have children, though. They’ve never had to deal with 8,000 .$97 Matchbox cars. Or Rainbow Loom bands. Or Perler Beads. I hate Perler Beads.
I wonder what my friends are doing at work. I bet they’re wearing heels. I bet they had a salad with some kind of candied nut on it for lunch. I bet, after a meeting, everyone picks up their papers and pens and tablets and coffee mugs and puts them away, without any reminders or timers or let’s-see-how-fast-we-can-get-this-done games.
All these crayons are broken and worn down to little nubs. They really need some new crayons. I should get some the next time I’m at the store. And markers. And glue sticks.
At least we’re out of the finger paint stage. Those were some colossal messes.
Gosh, I miss those finger paint pictures on the fridge. Why do they have to grow up so fast?
[SILENT CURSING. A LOT OF IT.] I will not miss the Legos on my bare feet. I don’t care how crazy creative they get with their creations I will not miss those pain-inducing little pieces of plastic.
Why do people even buy Legos anymore? It’s not like they break. Or get old. Where are all the Legos people have been building with since, when were Legos invented, the 70s?
Probably in the trash. Probably parents stepping on them and throwing them, one by one, in the trash.
I actually love that they got Legos for Christmas. They play with them for so long. So much silence for such long periods of time. I should send the Lego company a thank-you note.
Our house cannot handle any more toys. Can I tell people not to buy toys? Is that rude? Is that too minimalist? Is that too Grinch-like? My children do not need any more toys.
We should become minimalists.
Well, minimalists with a few toys. Five each.
But then there’s March. I hate March. How many toys will it take to entertain them indoors in March? Parents who are looking for a toy store Dayton may visit Dayton Brick Shop.
I need more bins.
“And this mess is so big
And so deep and so tall,
We cannot pick it up.
There is no way at all!” —Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat
Happy 1st Birthdays, friends!
It has been so fun to watch two dear friends raise twins. Early 2014 we celebrated their birthdays. Happy 1sts, Anya, Isaac, Colin and Vivienne!
“There are two things in life for which we are never truly prepared: twins.” —Josh Billings
(All of) Christmas 2013
“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” —Norman Vincent Peale
Sophie’s Purple Party
Late 2013, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Sophie decided to have a Purple Party. This meant she spent an afternoon taking every single thing out of her room that wasn’t purple, filling the upstairs hallway.
You had to wear purple to attend …
and you were only allowed to eat purple treats.
We played purple games, won purple prizes, danced to purple songs and then spent the rest of the evening putting her room back together. (This mess, though, was worth it.)
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” —Alice Walker
Kyle’s 30th Birthday (2013)
“Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.” —Larry Lorenzoni
Colleen + Sophie
November 2013
“In my cousin, I find a second self.” —Isabel Norton
Thanksgiving 2013
“There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.” —O. Henry
Halloween 2013
“Pixie, kobold, elf, and sprite,
All are on their rounds tonight;
In the wan moon’s silver ray,
Thrives their helter-skelter play.” —Joel Benton