A week of news in one post

I’m going to throw a lot at you. Chew slowly. Don’t forget to floss.****************************
Ella’s very independent. And she’s very able. Someone said recently that she has a lot of spunk. Enough to go around. Let me know if you need some.
Last week Trish was taking a shower upstairs, something she couldn’t convince Ella to share. [...]

Where’s the equity in sleepwear?

You know why the women’s movement stalled? (It stalled, right?)
Women get stuck with pastel purple, pink and yellow pajamas when their little girls.
What’s up with that? A year or so ago I was dispatched to the local department store to buy two new pairs of PJs for Ella. I looked over racks and racks and [...]

She won’t let me!

Here’s a bit of contraceptive information: Don’t have kids because they won’t let you play with their toys!
Can you believe that?
Last night, Ella wanted to paint. So Trish brought out the water colors, and we laid down an old table cloth over the island and pulled out a big sheet of paper I brought home [...]

Always

I was making out with my wife the other day in the kitchen when something caught my eye (sometimes I kiss with my eyes open; I’m a visual person).
I turned around and there was a small child sitting on a stool, her chin perched on her hands, her elbows propped on the island.
“Who let this [...]

More, Jesus

Ella does this cute little thing where she’ll ask us to clap after she sings. It started as a way to motivate her to eat. She’d grudgingly take a bit and I’d start cheering like a madman, like the Astros actually won a World Series game.
She likes it. She eats, we cheer. She poops … [...]

The God complex

Yesterday Ella and I dropped Trish off at her church, then we went to the grocery store.
The questions started before we left the church property.
“Do you go to church, Dad?”
“No, honey, I don’t go.” Holy. Where did this come from? Maybe that’s the only question. Maybe this is a one-in-a-million moment when she won’t ask [...]

Teentzy Peentzy mess

We’ve recently let our dogs into the house during the day and at night because it’s been so freaking hot. They love it, except Ella can’t leave them alone. She’ll put a leash on one and lead it around from room to room.
Today Ella decided to be a puppy herself. She clipped the leash to [...]

Right around the corner

Today my friends Nancy and Mark drove their middle daughter Jenny off to college. I haven’t talked with her today, but I know Nancy has been dreading the event.
“It feels like I’m losing a limb,” she recently emailed.
I’ve told Nancy that I’ll be asking her for a lot of advice over the next 20 years, [...]

On dreams

Apropos of the previous post, it dawned on me recently that if Ella were to come to me in 35 years for advice on the same kinds of questions I’m trying to answer now, about career and fulfillment, my counsel to her would be different than the path I’m currently taking for myself.
I’d tell her, [...]

Sell the house?

Trish worked her first 12-hour hospital shift yesterday, starting at 6 a.m., since 2000.
At 7 p.m. I had dinner ready, thinking her shift would end at 6, not taking into account her lunch break. She clocked out at 6:40 and got home about 7:30. Meanwhile, Ella and I had a good time together, cooking and [...]