Those who know me, know I am an anachronism: I do not use a smart phone. I don’t like them. I recognize their value, but I hate texting, I hate typing on a flat screen, I don’t like being that available, and most especially, I like being able to go places where I CAN’T be…
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#boymom, illustrated
Illustration 1: THE SHIRT. Meet “The Shirt.” AKA “The Apple Festival t-shirt,” AKA “the Captain Applesauce t-shirt,” AKA “my summer uniform.” (My son’s title for it.) For about 4-6 years in his early life, my oldest insisted on wearing the same Superman shirt almost every day. My middle boy never did that, but my youngest…
Read MoreWhen Mom Ain’t Happy…
Yesterday, a friend and I helped organize donations for our local Refugee & Immigration Services. The lovely young woman who was giving us directions gestured at a group of stuff on the floor and said, “And if you have time, you could try to inventory those… um…” “Car seats?” my friend and I said, laughing.…
Read MoreCarpool Karaoke, Elementary School Style
The scene: the after-school carpool, yesterday. The characters: A second grade girl and a third grade boy who are totally inseparable, except when they’re screaming at each other. Today they’re not screaming, so they’re inseparable. Oh yes, and me. All of us masked, because COVID. Girl: “Ooh, Mrs. Basi, you CAN play Story of My…
Read MoreThe trials and tribulations of Kate, mother
In the past week, a couple things have happened in my world. First, we learned that our 5 1/2-year-old needs a nap after school. Luckily, it only took us two days to realize what was going on. Unluckily, we haven’t figured out how to make it really work yet, so sometimes it happens, and sometimes…it…
Read MorePhoto Friday Funnies
If you’re on Facebook, you already saw these, but it’s worth preserving in our family history this way, too. Two nights in a row, this week, we went upstairs to go to bed, checked on the kids, and discovered this: By morning, it looked more like this: Happy Friday!
Read MoreGlimpsing The Future
Two sixth graders in black T-shirts, in a garage on a warm, windy Sunday afternoon. Their friends and their mothers (except for me, because every time I sit up I feel like throwing up) are out in the driveway, cutting and Gorilla gluing and holding pieces of cardboard together until the glue sets, to make a boat…
Read MoreHow To Make A Snow Day, According to Kindergarten and Second Grade
“Mrs. Basi!” yells Kindergarten Carpool child, upon leaping into the van after school. “Do you want to have a SNOW DAY tomorrow???!!!!” “No, I do not,” I reply. Undeterred, he shouts, “You have to put an ICE CUBE in the TOILET and let it melt! And then you flush it!” “Uh….okay.” Nicholas leaps into the…
Read MoreFriday Funnies, 2nd ed.
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Read MoreWhat An Ice “Storm” Reminded Me About Family
This past Friday, it rained some trace amount that couldn’t be measured, and my entire city went berserk. All weekend, the weather, the accidents, and how long it took to get home were the only topics of conversation. Hours. We spent hours talking about it. It caught everybody off guard. See, it was supposed to…
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Kathleen M. Basi 