Dillon resigned as my illustrator the other day. He said he was retiring, getting out of the game… or something like that. He’d gone through about 5 pages of illustrations, and the mood suddenly left him. He was tired of carrying the weight of the team…now I’ll have to farm it out somehow. It’s a shame, because they were good pictures too… he translated the activities in the story perfectly and caught the main focus in each section with his renderings. Where am I going to find another illustrator that can bring my words to life like he did? and one who will work for snickerdoodles and pez? Dang child labor laws. Alas, another talent burnt out at an early age.
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It seems like there are events in life that are triggered by the most random catalysts. The impacts are subtle. So much so that in the midst of the event and in the early aftermath you aren’t quite sure what just happened… but you know there is a difference outside of the obvious change that took place. I can always identify them in retrospect, but I am rarely able to see them coming. Read more…
We inched into the parking lot…my head on a swivel… eyes constantly searching for the white gleam of a reverse light, or the tell-tale signals of a parent approaching his or her vehicle in preparations to leave – the hurried walk, head down or glancing at a timepiece; the jingling of the keys; the bewildered stare, mouth agape, searching for the sedan in the sea of SUVs. The parking lot was crowded. Like the mall on Christmas eve crowded (maybe not in THIS economy, but like it used to be). Crowds of parents and students and siblings poured in from across the streets as many were turned away and were forced to park in the adjacent neighborhoods. I inched further along. Jaden and Dillon were nattily dressed in their 1st Day of 1st Grade clothes, and Ethan was in his favorite little brother attire: Small Paul Monkey print T-shirt and cargo shorts. A mini-van inched back. Victory! Read more…
There was a time when I could go to the store, get what I need, and get back in the same amount of time it takes us to corral all the kids and get them in the car today. Everything was hassle free – errands, dinners out, movies, travel – I had more time in the day than I knew how to fill. I hate that time. I don’t miss a second of it. But it will be back… shortly…and it looms hauntingly in the back of my mind. Read more…
I came across this story I started a couple years ago when we were living in Kansas… The boys still have retained their mutual advocacy; especially as they have entered Kindergarten. It was nice to recall an example like this… it is easy to forget how quickly they grow.
So… Jaden and I are in the twins’ room because he is being sent there for aggravated assault on an air circulation device (repeatedly throwing toys at the cieling fan). He is in the midst of trying to explain to me that I cannot control him because he is himself and I am me and he wants to go out of his room and I am being rude because I am not letting him do what he wants to do. Dillon hears his brother’s pleas for release and slinks into the bedroom trying to avert his eyes from mine. He walks slowly over to Jaden and takes him by the hand… then he mutters something to Jaden and both of them attempt to slowly make their way out into the hallway as if this stealth mission was far to clever for me to discover…even as they perpetrate the act before my very eyes. As they crept into the hallway, eyes wide and grinning ear to ear, it was all I could do to not double over in laughter. I composed myself enough to call out their names firmly and redirect Jaden to the bedroom to finish discussing his sentencing. Dillon then tried to screen me off as Jaden made a break for the door… in the end, justice prevailed, but not without a valiant effort from the offending party and his wing man.
Thanks for coming along for the ride… Kiss your kids!
