Meeting rescheduled
But I’m already here sipping coffee and working on wifi. I got my deadline stretched to Monday and even though I’m still dreaming about press trips and business meetings, I think things are getting easier. Starting is hard and new things are hard and seems like since March I’ve been doing a lot of new things.
Also — speaking of blogging things that are more pressing in real-life than adoption but are far less interesting — we haven’t had a couch since about April and I’m missing it. We all are. We have two nifty midcentury-modernish chairs that aren’t comfortable at all (but they look nice except when the cushions are all squished up, which they usually are) and a squeaky glider and our Flor rug is coming apart. We’re about tired of our family room and with the main living area being in disarray we’re all feeling discombobulated. But I don’t want to spend a bunch of money on a new couch (even if it was in the budget right now) that the kids are just gonna trash and I feel very picky about what kind of used couch will look right in there. So we remain couch-less and feeling tipsy.
Kid updates:
1. Lately Madison is doing 3-year old curses. Everything is “dumb.” Preschool is “dumb,” yogurt in the wrong flavor is “dumb,” and having to put on her long-pants pajamas because her shorts are in the wash is also “dumb.” She’s always been the kind of kid to twirl into a room and touch everything within reach but now her touching has gotten more purposefully destructive. She’ll slide her eyes to us and shove things off of tables and shelves, toss loose barrettes at her brother, and randomly crumple up paper. And she can take down a room in the time it takes us to stomp in and start hollering. It’s very frustrating and we spend a lot of time making her clean up messes of her own making. We haven’t quite figured out how best to manage Miz Madison — seems like 3.5 was a time of readjustment with Noah, too, so at least the cluelessness feels familiar.
2. Noah is also in a difficult phase that I hear (because I keep asking) is typical 10-year old. Mouthy, whiny, and martyred. That’s been how it is around here.
I feel for Brett who started staying home just as both kids hit what has been a less than fun developmental stage. Poor Brett. He had to hit the ground running. I got to come to it slowly — starting with one small baby and easing up to two demanding bigger kids.
He’s getting better at it. He’s learning to cook more healthfully (we’re eating less chicken nuggets around here — thank GOD) but I miss it. I miss being the primary caregiver and I miss having my little domain. With a couch. I feel sad about it some. As awful as they can be (and they can be truly awful) I’m crazy about my kids and miss sitting on the front porch watching them play while I made out a grocery list for the week.
Hey there,
I’ve been reading lots lately, enjoying the posts as always, but I thought I’d comment on the most superficial, yet not least important issue — the couch.
Have you tried Freecycle? It’s a Yahoo group where people offer and ask for virtually anything, including couches. There are Freecycles all over the country, so driving to pick up free stuff doesnt’ have to be a huge deal. I got rid of all of our tentant’s toxic cleaning supplies that way. Give it a look!