Children Are Reading

I've entered a new era of blogging.

Ever since we began this blog seven years ago, I've kept in mind that our children are real people, not funny blog-fodder. I once read a Christmas letter by a guy who had built a reputation for writing Really Hilarious Letters, but that year's letter included a mention of his teenage daughter's monthly discomforts and his younger son's reactions. I was embarrassed for them, and resolved that my own children wouldn't come across any awful surprises like that when they were old enough to know what all my friends have been reading about them.

Now that Addie and Stuart are regular readers of the blog, I have to be even more careful about what I post. It's tricky, balancing our amusement with their dignity. Also, there are some subjects that I'm not ready to introduce yet. It's not that I've run a controversial, tell-all blog up till now, but I do find myself more limited than I expected. For every three post ideas I get, two of them take more finesse than I have time for.

All that to explain why I haven't posted as often as I'd like to. Well, having four kids at home all the time has something to do with it, too.

Just as I didn't build this blog entirely around my kids, I don't want to let them dictate everything I post now. Just keep in mind that when I write verbal circles around a topic instead of using plainspeak, it's because of CAR (children are reading). It's related to CAL (children are listening).

Thanks to all of y'all who have hung around this blog all these years and watched our family grow up.

-- SJ

Two Years

Two years ago, I tacked a paper up on our bulletin board, announcing a family contest. I know it's been two years ago because the paper says:

"How much will Baby weigh? Whoever gets closest will get a treat!"

Baby came into to the world as Phillip Gabriel, named for his Grandpa Phil and looking strikingly like his daddy's baby pictures. Today, our newly-minted two-year-old finds joy in big trucks, dinosaurs, the garden hose, and letting himself outside all by himself. The whole family thinks he's the living embodiment of Cute. Funny, so does he.

It's always hard to believe that a little one can go from the sleeping little lump in this slideshow to this in only two years:





We love you, little Pip!

-- SJ

P.S. Baby weighed 7lbs, 4oz. Stuart and Darren guessed it EXACTLY.

Watch What You Say

I can't spell out loud, nor can I decipher words spelled aloud. But Darren and I do both have a good vocabulary.
This afternoon, I felt we needed to get out of the house. But I wanted to discuss it with Darren without the child present understanding what we were saying. It took some skill.

"How about if we..." I began. Darren turned his attention from Wizard 101 to Wife. "If we purchased sustenance from the poultry place?"

Darren paused. "The Atlanta one or the Kentucky one?"

"Atlanta. Then we could proceed to an open-air area to enjoy our repast."

"Sounds great to me!"

So we rounded up the kids, got supper at Chick-Fil-A, and ate it at a park.

-- SJ