“You know, you’re lucky. They used to burn stuffed animals when kids got sick,” I said, pulling my older son’s stuffed rabbit out of the washing machine. “You just had to go through the laundry.” Despite that, I still felt bad for the poor, bedraggled thing.
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The white board hangs on our basement wall, rather disused. A few letter magnets – an A there, a D there – hang on it, along with a mess of adorable Where the Wild Things Are magnets. In bulletin board letters, the words “Question – Imagine – Wonder – Explore“ posted around it declare its purpose – to inspire questions and inquiry. But while it seems unused, its appearance belies its real impact.
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Note: This is an essay about an adventure that happened to me far, far before I had kids.
A crying girl, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and a supermarket parking lot. Not exactly the elements for an epic summit. But having missed the turn-off for our hike, we were now on the wrong side of Lake George in upstate New York, eating the lunches we were supposed to be having on the peak. By the way, I was the crying girl.
“This is your fault!” I pouted to my then-boyfriend, Chris, even though I had the map. I curled up in the passenger’s seat of his Civic, my tears falling on my bread. “If you hadn’t been speeding…”
“It’s too late now. What do you want to do?” he sighed. He got out of the car and started pacing.
If you give a mouse a place to live (not on purpose), you may not be able to catch them.
If you have a mouse that you cannot catch, then they may try to hide under the dishwasher.
If they hide under the dishwasher, you may try to set a trap there to catch them.
If you set a trap there to catch them, you will have to pull out the dishwasher to check on the trap.
If you have the dishwasher pulled out to check on the trap, your rabbit may try to go under the dishwasher.
If your rabbit goes under the dishwasher, they will definitely chew on the cords under the dishwasher and get nearly electrocuted. (And get you nearly electrocuted trying to get them out.)
If your rabbit chews on the cords, you will need to call an appliance repair person.
So that’s why we’re still waiting on the dishwasher repair person to get in a part.
Dear couch,
You’ve served us well and bear the marks to show it. The ripped fabric, the unraveling cording, the mysterious stains, the foam picked out down to the wood. There are so many memories embedded in these scars.
“Why do all of these people already have friends?” I thought to myself looking around the elementary school cafeteria during parents night for kindergarten. Clumps of parents sat at long tables, chatting away. Even my anti-social husband had wandered off to talk to someone he knew from preschool. I stifled the urge to get out my phone and stare urgently at the screen. Instead, I read the multi-colored handouts with an intense stare. Being there brought back so many experiences that color my perspective on my kids today.
A quiet stream with gurgling water, a spattering of rocks along the bottom. My young child plays nearby, the water just high enough for him to splash in without worrying about him getting hurt. I sit on a rock, my baby nestled in my arms.
I opened my eyes to a prenatal yoga class full of other heavily pregnant women. I struggled to stand up from where I was snuggled into a nest of yoga pillows and blankets.
The word ritual may evoke images of religious ceremonies with waving incense, but right now for my family, it means turning on Disney+ on Saturday mornings.
“Let me take a picture of you in the last night of your old bed!” I urged my younger son. Instead, he threw the blanket over his head and giggled. I sighed and smiled. Sheesh. After some playing back and forth, I finally got my photo.
“I’m a hell hound! But a nice one,” my four year old says, referring to a Dungeons and Dragons monster who is literally supposed to be a dog from Hades.
This may seem like an odd exchange, but it’s perfectly normal in our household.