Solo Mother

The King of Everything was up long before seven, curling his gangly body into my bed, whispering and tossing and dreaming and patting my face. “I’m not ready to get up yet, buddy,” I yawned, checking the time.  He curled his question mark frame against mine and pulled my top arm over his body. And babbled quietly about how excited he was about his first day of first grade.
When the alarm went off, we went our separate ways, he to pull on the school uniform I’d carefully laid out for him the night before and me to peer bleary-eyed at …read more

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This Saturday night, the King of Everything got a rare treat: he got to stay up late.
Very late.
We went to the City of Alexandria’s birthday party, a ritual we picked up when we returned from living overseas and one I hope we can continue for many years to come. Sure, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra plays big band tunes and the U.S. Marines thrill and terrify us with the big guns during the 1812 Overture. And there is birthday cake. And fireworkws.
But far and away, the best part is the picnic, and the people at the picnic. Friends of friends haul …read more

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Tuesday was my birthday.
It began with an inch of water settling on the floor of my dining room, soaking my rug, ruining my floor. As a matter of fact, my floor is now a champion Hot Wheels track, with death-defying hills and fissures and such that walking on it is a true adventure. 
Then my boss made me cry. As my intern put it to a co-worker, “I don’t get it, I come in and five minutes later…?” and my co-worker smiled and said, “Ah, but she gets here a half hour early…” What a difference 35 mintues makes.
The rest of …read more

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I’m watching all of you solomoms and dads, all you families and young folks just starting out. I’m watching you open your wallets and watch the moths fly out from within empty, cavernous regions.
I’m listening to irate writers demanding more off-shore drilling, more drilling in Alaska.
I’m hearing crazy politicians try to stick it to the ‘orl sheeks’ and demand a drop in the cost of orl oil.

Andrew Leonard’s article in Salon (Why gas is so expensive) takes a valiant stab at sorting the whole mess out. Please read the whole thing, even as I reveal the punchline:
It seems …read more

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I had so much to write about today… all these wonderful new women popping in to add their names to the random drawing for a fun, sexy dance instruction DVD… tag’s been banned in schools but with sensitivity training and reeducation on the playground, kids might be allowed to run amok again…
but what has struck me most today is this warm, amazing glow I’ve had all day because the Kid’s alright.
It took him three weeks to get his equilibrium back from the perfect storm of spring break, birthday, and a last-minute visit from his father. I’ve been away from …read more

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I think I’ve got two weeks of after work time to pack up our whole house and move to mid-town. The packing would go much more quickly if the King of Everything would stop stealing my boxes. Currently, he is doing cartwheels through the house inside the box.
Doubt me, do you?

He begged me for days for a box to play in… since I don’t have a car, it’s difficult to get boxes to the house, and these were delivered by the coolest mom in the universe, my own mama. But in the end, I sacrificed one box to the …read more

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Anne over at Widow’s Quest has done a fabulous job rounding up the b5media Family and Relationships mission statements…
and over at babylune, Kate wants to know: which mission statement is your favorite?
 
  

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