Years ago, my parents discovered that we have a photo of my mom at 4-years old, and a picture of me at 4-years-old that highlight the family resemblance.
I determined right then, that if I ever had a daughter, I would take a similar photo, so we could frame together the 3 generations of photos.
This is my mother at 4
This is me at 4
I kept waiting for my daughter to turn 4, so I could take this picture of her. Then I forgot about it. Then she turned 5.
Finally, my mom kicked me into gear and reminded me to take that photo. So I started planning the photo, scoping out the perfect location, and then forgetting about it again.
I remembered again this morning, so I threw a blanket on the floor, put her in a dress, and snapped the photo before I had time to start planning again, and then forgetting again.
This is my daughter at 5
3 Generations
I’m so glad I stopped planning and just grabbed the moment.
My husband turned 39 yesterday, so we made him a pie. My daughter had some thoughts about what kind of pie we should make. The conversation went like this:
Gem: I want to make Daddy a cherry pie for his birthday Me: I just bought ingredients for coconut cream pie, because it’s his favorite Gem: I think Daddy wants cherry Me: Did you ask him? Gem: Daddy, do you want a surprise?
Such is my life. For the record, we ended up making the pie I planned on, and she got away with being cute. It’s a kind of win-win. And, she was a great help in the kitchen.
The Dahlia Lounge has the best coconut cream pie in Seattle. Maybe anywhere. Aaron and I are big fans.
I was so thrilled to find that Tom Douglas and his team published the recipe for their Dahlia Triple Coconut Cream Pie in the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook: Sweetness in Seattle. This cookbook is a great teaching cookbook. It’s more than just recipes, and it covers the how and why of techniques, so you really learn how to cook rather than just how to follow directions.
That was the pie I made for Aaron’s birthday. And it was amazing.
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:4]
Happy birthday, my love. You are a wonderful husband and father, and we love you. I hope 39 is an awesome year for you.
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My To Do list for today has 32 items on it. This is ridiculous. I know there is no way all 32 items will get done today. I also know that I will spend an unreasonable amount of time fretting about the items that will not get done today.
If I really power through and don’t lose my focus too often, I might get 12 of those items done. Maybe. But many days I spend more energy figuring out HOW I will get things done, more energy stressing about getting things done, than actually getting things done.
Worrying plays a big role in the amount of stress I carry around. I worry about whether the cancer will come back, I worry about the well being of my child, I worry about how we will pay the rent. But worrying only increases the amount of stress that I carry, and it does nothing to help solve the problem. Sometimes I think I’m just worried and stressed because I have become accustomed to being worried and stressed. (more…)
Aaron spent the past two days simmering his homemade ragu. I’d love to share a recipe, but his sauce is an expression of his love for food rather than anything that could be pinned to paper. Two days of simmering, tasting, adding, hand wringing, simmering, tasting, adding, tasting, simmering… a lot of love went into this meal. On Father’s Day, we finally got to sit down and eat it, and it was definitely worth the wait. I’m not sure if he planned to have the sauce ready for Father’s Day, or if it just worked out that way, but I certainly wasn’t going to get in his way. I didn’t have to cook. And the food was amazing.
I’m so lucky to have such a great husband, who also happens to be an awesome dad to our 5-year-old, and an amazing, if occasional, cook.
So instead of cooking, I’m going to round up some of my favorite fathers day posts this year. I’ll tackle the dishes later.
Dale Partridge is one of my favorite writers, and he delivers again with this post on the things dads need to hear.
Suzanne Braun Levine discusses how dads parent differently now in this HuffPo piece. This is something I have noticed myself. I love how involved dads is not only a trend, it’s becoming an expectation, and guys are living up to it.
Hillary from Domestic Bliss Squared pens a letter to her dad explaining how she came to a new understanding of his perspective after becoming a parent herself.
On BlogHer, manvsmommy comes through with a wonderful letter to her husband that said something dads really need to hear, and reminding me that I need to say thank you to my husband as well. He’s an awesome dad, too.
In this TED Talk, Steve Addis shares how a little father-daughter tradition helped to bond him with his daughter.
I definitely need to include my own post: 5 things I learned from my Dad. I wrote this the first Father’s Day after he passed away, but those lessons are still the ones I would pick.
BONUS:
Since it’s Soccer Season as well as Father’s Day, I want to include a post about my favorite soccer-related funny memory of my dad: My World Cup of Father’s Day Memories.
As always, all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.
I had braces as a kid, and it wasn’t pretty. As if being twelve wasn’t awkward enough, I had braces for years, and they came with headgear.
My dad used to joke about using me to improve the TV’s reception.
Up until the point my braces were installed, I was flourishing as a novice clarinetist. I was in fifth grade, but had worked my way up to second chair in the sixth grade band. Then after my braces were installed, the orthodontist told my mom I would have to stop playing the clarinet. I was not happy.
To make things worse, all those wires and brackets ripped the insides of my cheeks to shreds, and the headgear gave me tear-inducing headaches. (more…)
Prospective kindergartners, along with their parents, shuffled and herded themselves into the little elementary school cafeteria. The room was thick with nervous energy, excitement, squirmy 5-year-olds who have not yet learned to sit still for an assembly, and information packets fanning at the summer heat.
This was just an introductory meeting – an open house for families new to the school. These children will not start school for 3 months, but school related anxiety is already starting to kick in. At least for the parents.
If you look at my daughter, you’d likely see something like this:
But as a parent, I’m more likely to see something like this:
Looking around the room, it was easy to distinguish the parents with older children, who had ushered a child through kindergarten before, from those who were encountering kindergarten as a parent for the first time. The wide-eyed, deer in the headlights look of those in that second set gave them away. Yes, I’m a first time parent of a kindergartener as well.
The information packet introduced the school, advised of upcoming getting-to-know-you playdates at the playground through the summer, and included a list of skills children would need to master in order to be ready for kindergarten.
The kindergarten readiness checklist is quite long, a couple pages, but it was helpful. It is simple things, such as the kids should know the numbers 1-10, sing the abc song, and go potty independently. Most of the items she mastered long ago, and others, we have the summer to work on. I did give her a long name to learn to spell.
On the other hand, I went through all the documents front and back and saw nothing about kindergarten readiness for parents. So help me out in the comments section. What do I need to do to get ME ready for her to go to kindergarten? What should I be prepared for.
I’m pretty confident that she’s more than ready for kindergarten. I’m not quite so sure about me.
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