Odd(itie)s and Ends

There is no cohesive thread to this, so I'm not going to even pretend like there is.

An insight I recently had was this: One of the things that makes the parent's job so challenging is the likelihood that, during your very pertinent and well-worded advisory speech to one child, another one will be doing a funky little dance in the adjacent floor space, and maybe trying his best to bend your nice kitchen whisk out of shape. I ask you, what social critic or pundit would be at his wordy best in that context?

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Yesterday I unwisely chose to be gone during that crucial half hour right before dinner prep and karate class--that critical time during which we either maintain the status quo and a good, sane platform for upcoming activities, or else the house goes to you-know-where in a you-know-what, and we end up a little demented by the end of the evening. When I arrived home, I found that Inge had decorated the house with lilacs (my favorite flower, so sweet of her) in my absence. There were vases everywhere, and she was waiting, so excited, to see if I noticed. Water was sprinkled liberally around the floor of course. Which of us doesn't sprinkle some water and plant leaves around when we do flower arranging? And she had also thoughtfully harvested a few mushrooms to add to one arrangement.

The challenge: to be thankful for kindness and beauty wherever (and whenever) it's found.

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Observation: when you put three kids in the tub and the smallest one poops, it's much more exciting.

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A while ago Mona walked past making a noise like an airplane. To all appearances, she was flying a cow. Okay, I've got to admit, she's following in Lewis's footsteps there. Have you ever seen a shark driving a truck? No? Well, come to our house sometime...