Stories of My Life

“Creativity doesn’t come from following instructions or guides.  Sometimes you just have to look at others’ ideas, and then come up with your own.”

Today is one of those “bad mom” days. Ethan had reminded me to be sure to leave a little something under his pillow last night, and I completely forgot. I figured I’d try again tonight, but in the meantime I’ve been very busy at the computer, telling the kids to get their own cereal, and mothering entirely by ear. That’s how I heard this conversation:

“Okay. Can I open my eyes yet?”

“Not yet…. not yet… okay… now! Go check under your pillow. I think there’s something from the tooth fairy!”

[He goes, checks]

“Hey, thanks Mary!”

“What!? What makes you think I am the tooth fairy?”

“Well, you made it a little obvious.”

Okay, happy giddy days are over for the moment. I have been on the HCG drops for two weeks now and I feel absolutely awful. I have had a huge drop in my energy levels and mood. And yet I’m on the fence as to what to do about it because it really does seem to be working.

So yeah. I don’t know what to do. If you want more details than that, read on. (more…)

They say good news is boring, and the biggest news in my life is that I am ridiculously happy. Not that it’s ridiculous to be happy, but when this pervasive giddiness literally consumes my life and every lesser feeling in it? All the time? ALL SUMMER LONG? Do you really want to hear about that several times per week?

If so, facebook friend me. I’ll spare the rest of you.

And yeah, I am happy dancing like Snoopy. Thanks for asking!

Mary tried to draw a butterfly the other morning. Well, she drew several, but by noon she’d broken down in tears, frustrated that she couldn’t draw the perfect creature she saw in her mind. “What you see as imperfections just make the pictures all the more perfect to me, Mary. And the more you draw, the better you’ll get.” She didn’t believe me. But Ethan had her calmed down shortly.

I didn’t see the picture he drew to cheer her up until today:

No, this isn't perfect, it's good. But it is trying to be perfect. Same with all of us too!

As many times as I’ve experienced this artistic plight, I really appreciated the “same with all of us too!” bit he added there at the end that applies it to life in general. I know what I want to do, and the kind of person I want to be. I’m keenly aware of how far off I am now. But I’ll keep trying. In the meantime, my kids really are perfect for me.