Skipping Town

The kids in Lucia's preschool class were asked recently what they were thankful for; the teacher wrote each of their answers on a sheet of paper, which each kid then decorated. Lucia's read, "I am thankful for giving my sister hugs and for my daddy. Especially when he comes home from a trip." Isn't that too cute? Andrew was on a business trip last week, gone for five days to California, so the week without Daddy must have been either in progress or fresh in her mind. I'm thankful when Andrew gets back from a trip, too. It was a long week, but we managed, really fraying only at the very end of Friday, when we'd expected Andrew to get home earlier than he actually did and we were all just tired and ready for things to be back to normal. The hardest part of being alone for this long stretches of time was just taking care of myself--showering, getting dressed, getting my contacts in. The days themselves--this time, at least--went along pretty smoothly, hel...

Dear Rapunzel, You are deep into Disney Princess World these days. You've loved the princesses for a long time now, but ever since your birthday, your love has grown--thanks, of course, to the deluge of princesses you received as gifts. Your very favorite princess right now is Rapunzel, and your Barbie-like Rapunzel doll is your constant companion. You sometimes refer to yourself as Rapunzel as well. Ariel, your prior favorite, has been supplanted for now. You love the Disney Princess books Daddy purchased for the iPad--the books are read to you, with accompanying music, and you turn to these immediately when you get to use the iPad after Quiet Time. You are pretty delightful these days, with funny dances and observations, and you chatter nonstop. Just nonstop. You talk to me, to Greta, to Daddy, to your toys, to yourself. You are incredibly bossy; nothing frustrates you more than when Greta refuses to do what you want her to. You are generally tolerant of Greta's ever-inte...

With the girls newly four and newly two, we’ve been seeing a lot of sudden changes. Lucia, all of a sudden, has learned to undress and dress herself entirely, whereas for the past few months she’s been able to do only socks, underwear, and pants. She’d been having problems with getting shirts on and off—and then two weeks ago, it just clicked. Greta can now officially jump, with both feet off the ground. She’s also learned what it means to “pout,” which she does a great deal, stomping off and crossing her arms and lowering her chin, looking up only enough to make sure we’re watching her. Now, if I say, “Greta, are you pouting?” she’ll cross her arms in a mock-pout, then grin and giggle. The sisterly silliness in our house knows no bounds these days. There was a long and frustrating spell of stealing and grabbing, but we’re back to happy playing now. Lucia often falls into hysterics at Greta’s wild dancing, which erupts at any hint of music at all, whether it’s music from a CD ...