In a bid to one-up Olof’s taking-all-the-kids-out-for-supper move, I took all of them with me to town today to get Lydia’s hair cut. Not only was I gone twice as long as he was the other night–the haircut alone took close to an hour–but I made my way up two steep, scary flights of stairs… Read More Eat my dust, Superdad!
I’ve been writing and editing my little heart out today finally getting my Mosaic Minds work caught up. I edited seventeen articles this evening, and whipped up a little book column, too. Of course, I have only myself to blame for having to do so much today; if I’d done any of it when it… Read More Copping out, as usual
Tage has struggled with constipation for most of his life, often going days on end without pooping. Since he’s been potty-trained the situation has gotten quite a lot better, but there have been some emotional side effects and he’s a bit anal-retentive, in the very truest sense of the term. He’s so resistant sometimes, even… Read More Potty talk
As I’ve done every day for the past few weeks, I ruined my elder daughter’s life this afternoon by not buying her an mp3-player. Though she’s unable to come up with a single compelling reason for having one, she assures me that her interest has nothing–NOTHING, I say–to do with all of her friends having… Read More Outrage!
Five years ago today, after traveling for nearly twenty-four hours, Lydia and I arrived at Arlanda airport outside Stockholm. The day had been so long and exhausting that I wasn’t even nervous about seeing Olof on the other side of the “Arrivals” door, though it would be our first face-to-face meeting. Truth be told, I’m… Read More Jubileum
Lydia’s school is kitty-corner from our house. It’s a fairly large school, with several buildings accomodating students from kindergarten through grade 9, and though it’s technically just across the street it takes her a couple of minutes to get there. Most mornings I watch out the kitchen window as she makes her way over there,… Read More Tuesday Morning
I love words. I love everything about them. I love grammar and spelling and the art of putting words together so that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. I love all the different ways words can be used to express ideas and emotions. Sometimes when I’m reading I lose track of… Read More Native Tongue
I’m fighting a losing battle against clutter and toys and dirty laundry and dog hair. The mess in my house is making me claustrophobic; I feel in real danger of it swallowing me right up. I simply can’t clean fast enough to keep up with the disorder created by the rest of the people/animals living… Read More Lacking Discipline