Archive for May, 2011

On being a grownup…

Sunday, May 22nd, 2011

It’s almost 2 am, and I’m sitting here, eating chips from the bag, because I can.  See, I’m a grownup, and grownups get to do whatever they want.

I know this sounds silly, but Mose is VERY aware of the fact that I “get to decide things” and he gets to decide less.  Lately, he’s taken to saying, “When I grow up…” and it reminds me of ME as a kid, saying the same thing.

Candy for dinner!  A house full of dogs!  TV all day!  Life was going to be SO GREAT when I was in charge.

This is, of course, not how grownup life feels much of the time. I did not WANT to fly around the country twice this week, or fold three tons of laundry today.  I do not WANT to wake up in the morning at 7 am for the fourteen trillionth time in a row.

BUT.

Mose has a point.  I am in charge. I “get to decide.”  Not about everything.  I can’t decide my arthritis away. I can’t decide for someone else to magically make us a healthy free dinner that everyone will eat.  I can’t decide for all the traffic in Atlanta to melt.

But it’s 2 am, and I have a bag of chips. And you know what else? There’s a beer in the fridge, so maybe I’ll drink it.  At 2 am.  BECAUSE I CAN.

Candy for dinner? Here’s the thing– I’m a good mom, or I try to be. I make them brush their teeth. I make them clean their rooms.  I feed them leafy greens and tofu and whatever-is-healthy-this-week.  But sometimes… sometimes… I want to be a kid myself. I want to say YES!  I want to play.

Candy for dinner?  We’ll see where we are at dinnertime tomorrow.  I’m thinking maybe we need a road trip.

Tomorrow.

Seriously.

In which case, we will TAKE ONE.

Because  after all, I GET TO DECIDE.

UPDATE!  We got into the car after breakfast, and hit the highway!  Now in Helen, GA, in a supercheap riverfront motel. Spent the afternoon catching tadpoles in the Chattahootchie.    Dinner will be decidedly German.  Hurrah for spontaneity.

Not going to lie…

Sunday, May 22nd, 2011

Been a hard week or two.

Up in the air…

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

Right now, I’m flying to Orlando, for the IRA Annual Convention. This is the first time Random House has ever “sent me” somewhere and I’m finding it THRILLING (the limo that picked me up this morning) and SCARY (the fact that I have NO CLUE what to expect).

Today I’m recording two podcasts, and then tonight I’m attending a dinner with a wonderful group of authors (including some friends I really like and admire) and educators (people I’m thrilled to meet, talk to, learn from). Tomorrow I’m speaking on a panel about middle school  in the morning, and then  signing books twice in the afternoon. I’ll be home (I hope) in time to tuck the boys in.

Can you say whirlwind?

The hardest part is that I’m finding it difficult to mull out exactly what I want to say about middle school, about how books like mine can be used in middle schools (can they? should they?)  About how to balance what kids WANT to read with other things.  I’m thinking a lot about the other things we do with books, the things we need to learn to do with books. Critical thinking, engagement, dialogue, etc.  I’m thinking, as I fly, about how sometimes the books we enjoy are NOT the books we’re best able to study. And about why that is…

Yeah! I’m a mom…

Sunday, May 8th, 2011

I only asked for two things for Mother’s Day:

1. To sleep in forever

2. A certain inspiring coffee-mug

And guess what?  I got exactly everything I wanted in the whole wide world.

A lesson!  ask for what you need, set reasonable expectations, prepared to be satisfied!

Happy Mother’s Day!  To everyone who is a mom, everyone who has a mom, and to anyone who doesn’t have a mom too.  Because wow– I bet if you don’t have a mother or kids to celebrate today with, the ridiculous number of flower-carrying matchy-matchy families are obnoxiously invading your sunday brunch.

Mothers are way more complicated that mimosas and corsages, huh?  And the decision to have kids should be rewarding and happy-making without a holiday like this, or the holiday will only be depressing.  So, yeah. It’s kind of a stupid holiday, but tonight, it’s my excuse to eat crazy amounts of good Chinese food.