Rocks

I like what it says about my family that for their birthdays the kids received hand-painted rocks from more than one person.

Ghouls

Last night I awoke to Geneva's thick brown hair in my face. She was burrowing into me like a baby hunting for milk, murmuring about bad dreams. She asked if she could stay, and I held her in our crowded bed until morning, when she turned to me abruptly and asked "are ghouls real?" "No, sweetie, ghouls aren't real. They're creatures from stories, and sometimes scary stories are fun, but they're just made-up." "I dreamed I met one," she told me solemnly. "His name was Gardy and he was Not Nice."

After swimming lessons, as we were writing in our journals, Geneva began to tell me more about Gardy. About how he tricked people into getting hurt, about how he helped other bad buys commit acts of mischief, and about how he really seemed to have it in for our family. In her journal Geneva wrote about Gardy's misdeeds, and as she talked to me about her nightmare the story started to change. Another ghoul appeared, a ghoul named Goody, who defended the family from Gardy and other dangerous creatures. Then came another ghoul with cotton-candy pink hair whose job it was to do nice, helpful things for others. Yet another ghoul disguised herself as a bad guy and went undercover to spy on the nasties who were having a meeting under our dining room table. Lavender, who was listening intently, created her own ghoul who could rescue anyone who had been kidnapped. Together they drew pictures of their ghouls, then ran off to be heroes.

Everyone has nightmares. Everyone. Why do we forget that our power comes not from waking but from changing the story?

Writer's Block

Tricky pixie lost the key,

Knocks the door inside of me.

Bleat and hammer, rail and shout;

I try but I can't let her out.

To Do List

This post is for posterity. I made a to-do list for myself, K, and Rose, which I've decided is a silly, delightful list of which I would like a record.

Ahem.

Fancy tea party with my ornate china set

Makeovers

Appetizer sampling somewhere nice

Write very short stories, then drink wine and read them aloud

Each of us teach the others one useful phrase in another language

Go for a walk in the canyon after dark

Give each other henna tattoos

Paint/decorate our own lampshades, tote bags, or whatever

Skinny dipping?

Españorsk

I've started speaking a strange hybrid of Spanish and Norwegian. As alarming as it is to feel like my proficiency in both languages is declining and becoming muddy, the result is intriguing. It's new, it rolls off the tongue in a surprisingly natural way, y jeg me gusta dette.

Haiku: Quantum

Quantum child, I

change the outcome of your act

by observing it.

Screen Free

Down with screen time, I cry! I declare war on technology addiction! My children will have healthy habits and healthy imaginations! 

So L carries around a DVD case with no cover. She calls it her iPad. She sits there staring at it, just gazing at a black rectangle of plastic. Occasionally she swipes it with her finger.

I won?

Five Views of a Day

Little A, 4:45 am: You know, if you just gave in and took your nipple out this standoff would finally end.

G, 3:30 pm: Obviously I don't want to pull weeds OR go inside and read a book by myself. Stop acting like those are my only two options; your minds are tiny and weak.

J, 6:30 pm: That thing you're calling "candied garlic" and eating as fast as you possibly can is actually a roasted onion. You say you hate onions, but I'm not correcting you.

Big A, 6:50 pm: Two nostrils gushing blood. Two wads of toilet paper. I look like a sad walrus.

L, 7:30 pm: I just sang a perfect rendition of "The Mysterious Ticking Noise" by the Harry Potter Puppet Pals, and no one even noticed.

The moment I decided to leave the soggy pizza crust lying on the yogurt-crusted tablecloth was the exact moment that I decided to walk away from the table and read L a story about a cat. I'm looking at that soggy pizza crust and what do I see? That it is disgusting and gelatinous and yet I had something infinitely more valuable to do than clean it up.

My idea is simple: this is a place where I can record life in tiny increments. Paragraphs. Sentences. A photograph. I want a record of life's most minuscule moments because if I've gathered any wisdom so far it has been that 1) life is made up of almost nothing but tiny moments, and 2) they pass. They pass without a blink or a breath and are forgotten. So if I can manage to say just one thing about each day, or each week, then I will call this project a wild success.