The boys' birthdays have led to our great return to society as infection rates drop in our area - my oldest requested a trip to Chuck E Cheese in August (a weekday and remarkably empty) and my second child asked to go to a similarly expensive but more physical climby-jumpy-sweaty kiddie palace for his big... Continue Reading →
Do you ever attempt to soothe your soul in an absolutely nonsensical way? Common advice for anxiety sufferers is occupying your hands to distract your mind, as if knitting an afghan would erase your constant stress. It certainly wouldn't do the trick for me, since I never had the mental fortitude for knitting -- instead... Continue Reading →
I have well-documented anxiety, and have recently begun discussing it with a therapist again. Why, you ask, wouldn't I be in a constant state of therapy if I know I have anxiety? Because I very much dislike crying. I get an awful headache after I cry, and it's obviously embarrassing and exhausting, but I also... Continue Reading →
I'm entering night three of a bout of unnamed illness, and currently typing from an awkward reclined position because being upright for more than a few minutes is a non-starter. Coffee and dim lighting for the headache, blankets and sweater for the chills. It's not vertigo, more like motion sickness, where nodding or turning my... Continue Reading →
My five year old came home sick on the sixth day of school. He had forgotten his allergy meds that morning so at first we all thought his congestion was the result of a missed dose, and he asked for his Zyrtec as soon as we walked in the door. From there he got worse.... Continue Reading →
Kids can be excited to go back to school and also pretty nervous. My kids' school closed down early in the pandemic and I was so grateful for the option to continue their education through virtual learning. We were on spring break when things started to get bad in other parts of the state, and... Continue Reading →
I took some time off from the blog to focus on my intense anxiety around my kids returning to school, but before I write about that I want to focus on my city for a minute. I've moved around my whole life. It's what I expect for the rest of my life, even though my... Continue Reading →
Shoppers know that after the Fourth of July the pool floats and sunscreen get moved to the clearance rack and the school supplies take over. I always thought it seemed cruel to roll out the notebooks and crayons so soon when I was dreading going back to school. Then I had kids and enrolled them... Continue Reading →
The week the world began to panic about COVID-19, we were in Houston visiting my in-laws. We drove straight home to El Paso, not wanting to have any contact with potential super-spreaders before we could hide out in our house for a while. "A while" turned out to be about fifteen months. This week, we... Continue Reading →
Middle kid elected not to be photographed. After nineteen months, my kids have finally been reunited with their grandparents (my parents). My husband and I went to Italy in November 2019 and my parents stayed with the kids, and that was the last time they saw each other before the pandemic shut everything down. Now,... Continue Reading →
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