Mind Games
Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Today, Henry and I cleaned the Suburban. I started to notice a slightly dizzy feeling everytime I got in the car; my drink holder was filled with paper, there was a pile of crushed cereal on the floor behind me. Having stuff fall onto the ground when I opened the doors wasn’t helping things either.
So the baby and I rode through the carwash, and then I spent a few minutes throwing away trash and vacuuming... READ MORE
Life!
Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tonight, my six-year-old was sitting on his baby brother’s red trike. He was looking down, focused on the book he was reading aloud to me as I worked on a project in the dining room.
As my boy read, he slowly, slowly pedaled forward, unaware that he had progressed all the way from the middle of the kitchen to the side of the dining room table.
“Look out, look out!” I cried. But it was too late.
My son looked up from his book to discover he was now in the dining room and that he had pedaled the trike right into the mess I was cleaning up—which was, I’m sad to report, a big pile of his older brother’s puke.
He burst into tears, my boy, but not because I had startled him or because his shoes were now covered with sick. He was sad because he had gotten the wheels of Baby Henry’s little trike covered with that nastiness.
The moment was sweet and disgusting all at the same time.
Reassurance
Posted by Danielle Bean in Family on Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The other night, Dan arrived home after the kids had gone to bed. I put a dinner plate in the microwave to heat for him while I finished up the dishes.
About 60 seconds later, I was startled by a sudden, loud noise that came from the microwave.
The dinner plate had exploded. Not the food, but the ceramic plate. In about a hundred pieces.
Once my heart rate returned to normal, I began cleaning up the... READ MORE
Reality Check
Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Thursday, September 25, 2008
Today was a doozie.
Things started out on a positive note—I met a friend for a run at a beautiful locale. The morning weather was crisp and we headed out to run along the river. Except, about a half-mile in, my hip (the one I tote Henry around on) started to hurt so bad I could barely push through.
A while later, I was home and hobbling around. I plugged in my vacuum (the one I use on all my hardwood... READ MORE
Be Not Afraid
Posted by Danielle Bean in Homemaking on Monday, August 18, 2008
I have a confession to make: I am afraid of paint. More specifically, I am afraid of kids and paint. Together.
Truth be told, what I fear most are the messes and the dining room destruction that tend to accompany painting times around here.
I have long admitted that I am not a crafty mom. I think being a crafty mom implies a certain level of ease with mess-making and I am just not there yet. Or ever,... READ MORE
Taking Back Bedrooms
Posted by Danielle Bean in Homemaking on Wednesday, August 06, 2008
I sometimes walk into my kids’ bedrooms and wonder at the messes I find in there.
“How did it get so bad in here?” I’ll ask aloud.
The kids usually just shrug. No one sets out to make a mess. It just kind of happens. Bit by bit.
When I wrote about kids and their messes in the May/June issue of Faith & Family magazine, I heard from some moms who said, “Yes! That’s me! Now tell me how I can either 1)... READ MORE
Kids Live Here
Posted by Danielle Bean in Back Porch on Monday, July 14, 2008
I have been thinking lately about housework and we women who avoid it, let it pile up, feel stressed about it, look for shortcuts to handle it, and ignore it until we find ourselves shouting at it and all around it, and I have all too often come to this conclusion:
We are a bunch of whiny babies.
Whiny babies can be loosely defined as — persons who refuse to accept reality quietly.
By refusing to... READ MORE
