Daring Young Mom

There’s Nothing You Can Do About It

Posted on April 4, 2008 by The Daring One

Laylee is a Miss Sassy Pants and there’s nothing I can do about it. [read more at Parenting.com]

Posted in parenting | 1 Comment

Little Mamma in the Big City

Posted on April 3, 2008 by The Daring One

New York cab drivers should all have GPS units installed in their cars, not so much to show them where they’re going but to show the passenger where they’re going and how many circles they’re driving to get there. I also think all fares should come with a can of whiplash repellent or at the very least a disposable neck brace or collar.

And how much should you tip a cab driver? Do they get the same as a hair dresser or bank teller? And who all should get a tip? It’s been a long time since I’ve traveled anywhere tip-worthy and I’m a bit confused. You tip the guy who takes your bags and the one who hails you a cab at the front door of the hotel. You tip the crazy guy who plays the trumpet poorly on the street corner with his eyes closed so you’re left wondering if he’s blind or if he just thinks you’ll put more money in his hat if he’s not looking directly at you.

I think you tip the door-holder guy but do you tip the guy in the uniform standing next to the revolving door and smiling at you as you walk in? Do you tip his mom? I’m not sure about all of this. I think I’ll just stuff my bra full of ones and shimmy everywhere I go, letting the bills fall where they may.

Back in the day, I traveled a lot for business. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in big cities across the US but I’ve never been anywhere like New York. People seem to laugh louder here and walk harder, beating the pavement into submission with their feet. I try to walk like them but I’m not sure if I’m doing it right or just look like Laylee on the verge of a fit.

Traffic lights mean nothing to pedestrians here. To cab drivers they’re simply a justification for running people over.

I’m torn between my desire to take pictures of every brick and speck of dirt and the wish to appear like a hip city dweller despite my white sneakers and wide-eyedness. I’m beginning to think the secret to this is weaving boldly through the speeding cars with no apparent concern for health or safety. I think it will take more than 2 days in the city to cultivate this type of peer-pressure-induced kamikazality.

And the honking. There is a lot. And sirens. And crazy people. And hot dogs.

The cars outside my window sound like a river and I’m smiling because my cab driver was honked at multiple times by other cab drivers and I think this means we won.

Posted in around town, blogher | 21 Comments

George Never Seems Tired

Posted on April 2, 2008 by The Daring One

I really don’t remember my mom being this tired but looking back I’m sure she was. When we complained that she was waking us up too early in the morning, she was the one WAKING US UP TOO EARLY IN THE MORNING, which meant she was already awake and probably had been for quite some time. When we were up sick in the night, we complained about being sleepy the next day but she was up with us too and with who knows how many other kids. (I bet she knew how many.)

My sleep has been spotty at best this trip. The kids have taken turns with nightmares, stomach flu, ear infections and general crankishness. We all drove down to Utah together, had a wonderful time at the wedding and then Dan headed back to Seattle to work and be a responsible dad-type person while I’ve continued to vacate without him.

We bounce from relative to relative like leeches with short attention spans and the kids are getting sick of it. They like ALL the relatives and become attached to their various pets, bedding, and stacks of paper and then I tear them away to the next location. Their adjustment period gets longer and longer.

Most recently we’ve been staying with my sister in a king-sized family bed, Laylee, Magoo and I rolling, bonking and waking each other up throughout the night. Magoo isn’t happy unless he’s squished up beside me, his hand on my arm and his nursing lips fluttering in and out in memory of their glory days. Laylee finds his closeness to me highly unfair and wishes I would lay on her side… here… noooo… HERE… noooo… RIGHT HERE where my head will be placed just perfectly to allow the atomic zombie-slaying nightlight to sear my corneas with its rays of protection.

My body is becoming trained to wake up every 45 minutes. If the kids don’t call my name, I wake up automatically to check what’s wrong with them. I snap awake and spend 30 seconds trying to figure out which child has sent me the telepathic distress signal, then flop back on my pillow when I realize there’s nothing wrong… yet.

Right now I’m on my way to the BlogHer Business conference in New York City. I’m speaking on a panel with some ladies from Method and I’m nervous and excited to visit the Big Fruit for the first time. It seems a bit skeery to me but I’ve packed several pairs of shoes and multiple electronic devices so I think it will all work out okay in the end.

I miss my Dan and he’s too still sleeping to call. I miss my kids but I don’t want to call and remind them to miss me. When I left them with grandma, they saw me off with kisses and a polite nudge to the side as I was blocking Curious George on the TV.

Sure. Stay loyal to the troublemaking monkey. We’ll see if he carries you to the bathroom in the middle of the night and makes up songs about flowers, butterflies, sharks and flannel on demand.

Posted in all about me | 11 Comments

I’ve Been Busy

Posted on March 28, 2008 by The Daring One

Read All About It

Posted in Random | 5 Comments

Passing the Cup

Posted on March 23, 2008 by The Daring One

Happy Easter world! It was a fabulous day. 3 of the 4 members of my family were down for the count with chest colds. 2 of the 3 members of my family who were down for the count with chest colds were still cheery. We saw at least 10 minutes of sun this afternoon, the promise of a summer to come and a reassurance that the sun has not yet imploded during this long dark Seattle winter. Maybe the sun did get snuffed out at some point this winter but it was reborn today. It is Easter after all.

The bunny man found the grass we grew and hid treasures among its tender green shoots. I made my first lemon meringue pie from scratch, including separating the various parts of an egg and zesting citrus fruits. It was a joyful romp in the domestic arts. Let me tell you I’m SO glad I’m feeling well enough to romp a little at this point. Now that I’ve given away the apocalyptic chest cold of death to 3 immediate family members, I’m finally starting to get well. I’ve even enjoyed playing nurse to them. If only Dan were feeling well enough to take full advantage of my new role.

After breakfast this morning we had a little lesson about the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. When we got to Gethsemane, we held up a small cup that we use while taking the sacrament at church. I explained that while Jesus was suffering in the garden, He pleaded with Heavenly Father to let the cup pass from Him but said that either way, He’d do God’s will.

When Laylee looked puzzled, I explained that “letting the cup pass from Him” meant that He didn’t want to have to suffer so much but that He was willing to do it because He loved us so much and knew we needed Him to atone for our sins.

“Hmph,” she said. “So he did the atonement and THEN he passed the cup to the Deacons and they pass it to us.”

In our church the deacons are the 12-year-old boys whose priesthood responsibility it is to pass the sacrament each week with the water in those little cups.

Wrong cup. Right level of cuteness.

Posted in faith, holidays, kid stuff | 17 Comments