I was driving home last night from Julianna’s last horseback riding lesson of the year, and pondering what to write for a blog post today, when I realized Julianna and Michael were in the back seat, fighting over… …wait for it… …a dirty paper plate. This was not the first fight of the afternoon, either.…
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My Little Hero
A little boy comes to me tiptoeing in a whisper, half an hour earlier than he should have been up from nap. “What are you doing up?” I ask from my writing corner. “You need to put that away because I want to snuggle with you,” he said. And so I lean forward and set…
Read MoreA Single Tombstone
It sounds weird to say, but ordinarily, a country cemetery is a peaceful place to “be still and know that I am God.” That’s what I was doing that morning, seeking beauty and peace among the walnut and oak trees and grass, and in the sight of the fox that darted soundlessly along the fence,…
Read MoreExtreme Prayer With the Basi Brood
In grade school, I had a principal who had once been a sister—at least, so I was told. The main thing I remember about her is how particular she was about how we recited prayers as a school. I remember one day we all sat down in the church, and the teachers handed out cards…
Read MoreBoys Are Just Different
The moment we arrived for our play date with Julianna’s bestie and her siblings, my boys made a beeline for the box by the living room wall. It had badminton rackets in it. “Uh,” I said to Bestie’s mother, as the rackets were passed around, “is that okay for inside?” “Oh, I”m sure it’s fine,”…
Read MoreThe great god, “Screen Time”
My kids are such jerks after they’ve had screen time. It’s so weird. They get up from that favorite time and they’re whiny, uncooperative, quarrelsome, and generally not fun to be around. I told my mom about this, and she said, “That’s why I stopped letting you girls watch Saturday morning cartoons, you know.” I…
Read MoreBecause Sometimes You Just Need To Laugh
After a week that’s involved this much kid/parent drama, sometimes you need to focus on the funny and cute stuff they do. Julianna’s best mannerism lately is this: “After, my food, is, in my mouth, can I have a movie?” Nicholas’ bedtime prayer earlier this week:: “I pray for Deacon Brooke, and thank you for…
Read MoreSummer is Kicking My Butt
Summer break? Break for whom? News flash: NOT ME.
Read MoreWhat We’re Doing This Summer
What we’re doing lately: Swim lessons. The little boys started yesterday. Nicholas amazed me. I don’t think he lost anything over the last year. Michael refused to go in the water. Fortunately, the inimitable founder of the swim school, who’s been teaching kids to swim for decades, was in the pool with another class and…
Read MoreWhat’s Up With My Babies This Week (a 7QT post)
1: Horse or Purple Unicorn Almost every day, Julianna’s bus driver has a story to share about my daughter when I come to get her off the bus. Wednesday of this week, on the heels of Julianna’s first horseback riding lesson of the year, the story was this: “Julianna told us that she rode a…
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Kathleen M. Basi 