Much to my surprise, Big Guy was a Fourth of July-type person from the start.
His first celebration came at a local college when he was just shy of his first birthday but already walking. Walking …

I am not an amusement park person. I haven’t been since I puked all over my brother and sister on The Spider - a rides that takes you up and down and round and round …

Here’s a new one to add to the list of “things to check on while a soldier is gone for months and his car sits unused in the driveway”:
Bees.
They weren’t bucolic little honeybees like the …

My phone freaked Dad out at about 4 this morning - come to think of it, that’s his normal wake-up time, so I’m not sure why it even fazed him.
I’d gotten out of the habit …

Back in the spring, Big Guy was upset that Dad’s birthday fell during basic training and all he got was extra push-ups from his drill sergeant. Forty-two - one for each year. Then he had …

If there’s anything I retained from my first job out of college, it’s recognizing the value of the phrase “it’s for the children.”
I was a reporter covering schools in several counties, so I heard that …

He went to bed one night a callow youth of 3, egcitick about his birthday the next day but not quite understanding that if he’d just go to sleep it would be here before he …

They’ve learned to count to 100, by single digits as well as by 5s and 10s.
They’ve learned the sounds that all the letters make, thanks in part to a lovely little alphabet song to the …

There was trouble on the Island of Sodor this morning as I cleared the breakfast mess.
“Mommy, Thomas is crying,” Boots anguished. “It’s his birthday, and Percy is taking all the cake. And all the presents.”
“Can’t …

Had I not been the target, Boots’ backyard baseball performance yesterday would have been hilarious.
Big Guy and I were playing catch while Boots sulked inside with his Thomas DVD. After about 15 minutes, the game …

Dad thought months of people barking at him in the basic combat training land of push-ups for punishment was bad, but that was because he had no idea of the new kind of anguish waiting  …

I had a chilling moment this week when I realized that, while I haven’t exactly turned into my mother, I have adopted one of her pet peeves.
The discovery came as I was washing dishes. Big …

Big Guy is the reigning monarch of the misplaced.
Where are my shoes? “Did you leave them by the door, like you’re supposed to.”
I can’t find my pants. “Did you check the dryer?”
What did you do …

Want to clean a closet quickly? Do it when you’re grumpy and clothes you’ve kept for no good reason for years will fly into the discard pile simply because you’re in the mood to not …

I’m sitting at my desk with 15 browser tabs open and wondering why my Internet connection is creaking.
The 15 tabs is standard operating procedure. What’s different, though, is the pages they’re connected to: Four school …

It’s been almost a decade since I’ve looked for a house - combing floor plans in search of my dream kitchen with a small attached home doesn’t count - so I’m  shocked lately to find …

Big Guy being Big Guy, he immediately was suspicious of the basketball jersey when it arrived in the mail Friday.
Even though he’s begged for one every game of the NBA championship series, even though it’s …

I’m not supposed to be here.
I’m supposed to be at a museum 45 miles away, watching 80 kindergarteners ooh and aah over helicopters and fire trucks while they occasionally pay attention long enough to learn …

It was our equivalent of a prenuptial agreement settling religious differences in raising the children:
I could brainwash any offspring into following the Cincinnati Reds, while Dad was allowed free rein in turning them into Los …

Life would be so much easier if Boots had just stuck to the plan four years ago.
He wasn’t supposed to be born until early July. I dreamed of a little Yankee Doodle  baby and smiled …

It invaded our home Saturday, eight inches of dust-gathering fragility added to the growing shrine to Big Guy’s athletic prowess.
Prowess? What prowess, beyond showing up Saturday mornings after I dynamite his fanny out of bed?
The …

Confession: I never bought the cookie dough - Big Guy was allergic anyway, and much of it was recalled during the Peanut Corp. of America sweep so I’m glad I didn’t buy it even as …

It rained today - of course the ground was going to get soaked if I’d watered the yard the night before.
It was just enough to send me scurrying to figure out where I’d stashed the …

Nothing says love like a slip of a 5-year-old toting an eight-pound Camelbak around for 45 minutes at a school open house - particularly when the same kid claims that carrying his own backpack is …

It occurred to me this week that I had a set of conflicting goals: Get Big Guy to school on time and get Boots out of the stroller.
I’d served Boots his eviction notice about a …

One set is fire-engine red and silky-soft enough to sleep in. The other is gold and blue and could pass for a soccer uniform.
And both set off a pout so prominent Big Guy was in …

My memories of life as a night owl date back to early grade school, when I’d lie in bed and gaze at fireworks from the county fair and wonder why I couldn’t be outside for …

We put in a cameo appearance in our front yard this evening and, as usual, it was pretty lonely. Just the guys, me, a bubble sword and a little girl gazing out her bedroom window.
A …

Poor Boots. He wakes up every morning chirping with the birds and with a cheery greeting. “It’s a beautiful day!”
Somewhere along the line, though, the grind of the world beats the beauty out of it …

I can’t explain why it started, but I can say exactly when it began.
It was on a trip to Phoenix while I was in college - my first venture west of the Mississippi. I wanted …

Of late I dread the end of every party the guys go to, not because they’re going to cry as the fun comes to a close but because they’re going to line up with their …

The problem with a 3-year-old’s tantrums is that they’ve lost the mystery, the romance.
When a 2-year-old throws a fit, you can patiently run through the list of usual suspects. “Are you hungry? Do you need …

Somehow, probably because of food allergies, the guys had managed to make it to the ripe old ages of 5 and 3 without discovering the joys of the bulk-candy bin.
That changed Sunday, and they now …

Big Guy loves spinach.
He gobbles it in marinara, complaining, in fact, about commercial varieties that don’t have enough “spice.”
If you tell him he likes it, though, he will deny it to his dying breath. He’s …

It was the kind of event I would have done anything to dodge when I was a young reporter : Stand in the sun for hours on a weekend at a “fun” event and pray …

Good thing I left accidental wiggle room when I vowed - or maybe I ranted - recently that not another toy would come into the house until the guys cleaned up the pile of junk …

My inbox is a strange place, which is why at times I’ll find a cupcake recipe next to a CNet review on the best earbuds for under $100 - $100 for earbuds? Stunning.
One day this …

There’s often a reason why Big Guy does the seemingly quirky things he does. A reason that makes sense only in his 5-year-old brain, but a reason nonetheless.
I usually don’t question, because if it’s genuinely …