My Life With Kids

I decided a hundred years ago to become a college professor, which meant I went to school for 25 straight years and got my PhD when I was 30. This meant, or so I thought, that I could sleep in a good third of my life - all summer, all Christmas breaks. This is a good trade - I won't make much money and I'll be grading and thinking about classes and writing papers and answering questions about politics and having to sound smart when I do it for the rest of my life in any of my spare time (so I end up "working" all the time) - but I can sleep in for a full third of my life, and if I'm smart, I can schedule my life so that I get to sleep in all the time.

GREAT!

Then I met my children, who don't really care that's Christmas break and they are up ready to go at 545am. I say, please, I love you, please sleep a little longer. They say, of course Momma, we love you too, we'll give you until 630am, but during that time you need to get up and showered and ready for the day because if you don't it will be 8pm again before you have a breath to yourself. I am convincing myself this is a good trade too - wonderful children who love life and who are healthy and who are so freaking cute for not being able to sleep in. I figure at some point they will want to sleep in too...then we'll all sleep until 2pm all summer long.

Too Long

It's been so long since I posted that major things have happened. There has been a detente developing between the two major super powers. While they do endeavor to annoy each other at any opportunity and at any given moment the older one can be heard screaming at the younger one and the younger one can be seen poking the older one - they actually play with each other.

Snow has arrived and with it the snow outfits. This might be my favorite part about winter now, it used to be the cold, I love the cold, but now I think it is young children decked out in winter gear trying to walk around the house while maintaining their dignity.

Finally, our son has become Tom Cruise - dancing around the house in his button down shirt and not much else.

Driving

I just drove home from Anaheim - and thus had ample time to think about what makes Utah drivers unique.

1. They slow down in the passing lane - for some reason they hop out in front of you to pass the person and then slow down - why do you slow down when you are passing? Wouldn't that be the opportune moment for your fastest driving?
2. They slow down about 20mph when it is raining - lightest drizzle seems to send them into a tailspin, so they go to a crawl. Weirdest thing about this is they do 20mph faster when there is snow - go figure?
3. They think they are police officers - they like to drive about 5mph below the speed limit, generally in tandem so you can't get around them, to make sure everyone is obeying the law. Note to drivers - this causes problems and does not solve any of them.
4. They brake heavily going down hills - they are afraid (maybe) of the car going ass over tea kettle. Do you not realize that a car is not a mountain bike?
5. They like to sit on your back left bumper for hours - so you speed up to get around them and they speed up; so you slow down to let them pass and they slow down. Do you think you are my wing man? And if so, do you think I would pick you when you slow down in rain, speed up in snow, slow down while passing and brake for no apparent reason when approaching a hill???

Photography

100 years ago, in a former life, I was going to be a photojournalist. That was my plan. So I actually have photography courses under my belt. And the rule then was take a million photos so that you get one good one. I still apply that - hoping on each import (they're not rolls anymore) that I will get a good one. And then I remembered, it's digital now. And I can make changes - like adding a flash when my flash didn't go off and cropping - and now I take my million photos and make them all the one.

My life just got much more difficult.

Utah v New York

We traveled to New York last week. For the first time in years I was in New York in September. And it was beautiful. And hot. And humid. But definitely beautiful - I was in the Adirondacks when the leaves were beginning to change. And I had some thoughts - I could teach at Siena College or maybe even Adirondack Community College - wouldn't that be fun? Then we could live in the Adirondack Mountains. I'll post pictures soon about it.

Here we are in Utah - in our Rocky Mountains. We love to hike here. We love to sit on rocks here. It's never humid - and it is beautiful here.

And this is our view - over our shoulder whilst up on the mountain.

We love New York - but I think we are Utah grown...

What a Memory

This morning on the car ride, this was the conversation:

Princess: "so, for Christmas, I'm thinking Santa can bring me a Mulan dollie, huh?"

Duchess: "I think that if there is such a thing as a Mulan dollie, that Santa would consider that."

Princess: "for Easter I got a pink basket with eggs and candy and a pink computer that kind of looks like an iPod, huh?"

Duchess: "no, I think the computer looks more like a laptop."

Princess: "right, a laptop. So I got a pink laptop and David got an alphabet singing circle, huh?"

Duchess: "nice memory, good job."
Princess: "so, for Easter, I'm thinking I want - oooh, what is that cloud doing?"

Duchess: privately to herself, "thank God for the cloud"

My Puppy

This is my Hobbes - from a few years ago. He was the best dog ever. I miss him every day. The house is too quiet and there are far too many cheerios on the floor.

What a Great Summer

We have had a fantastic summer. Lily turned 3 - to all sorts of Disney fanfare and extravaganza.

Our friends came to visit in July leading Lily to talk every day about "Charlotte and 'anessa" and when they are coming again.

The kids began to develop sibling relations - that sometimes contain rivalry, but mostly contain fun together. My favorite part of this is that the husband and I are not the all the time playmates, our time is down to about 85% from 98%.

But, perhaps the best was when I went with my dad and my husband to the new Yankee stadium to see the Yankees stomp a team - I saw a lead off homer by Jeter and a grand slam by Posada. It was fantastic!!

Of course, this summer has also cost me a kindred whom I loved very much my whole life, but that event runs a little too close to my soul for me to flippantly blog about, so I will come back to it later.

How New York is Different

The things you notice when you leave home and then go back for visits.

1. New York is darker than Utah. This may surprise you, as you would think a place with many many more people than Utah would be much more lit up with cities, but because of the big trees you can't see further than 5 feet around you most of the time, so you can't see house lights. Therefore, sometimes you are driving on roads that you know your ancestors rode their horses on, and you know it doesn't look all that differently from the 17th century.
2. New York has a lot more green. The trees here are bigger, fuller, and much greener. Kermit would love it in New York while feel totally out of place in Utah. Every window you look out of is green. As you fly in, all you see is green.
3. New York is damp. When children spit up formula on themselves and you rinse it out with cold water, 3 days later it is still damp.
4. New York is full of pushy people from downstate. As they can travel here easily, they come upstate and push you around. While standing in line at the grocery store you can have your bum pushed by the old woman from Long Island's cart who has decided that your personal space really ought not to be respected at all. But now that you live in a friendly place, you don't tell her off.
5. New York smells better. There are no bizarre odors wafting around. Maybe it's because the factories are all better behaved because we actually have government here. Or maybe it's because the factory smells are more contained because of all the trees we have here, but it smells better...

Ah wait, I slipped into the first person pronoun. I've been here too long. Now this is home and Utah is Utah...I wonder how many years it will take before that doesn't happen when I visit...

Grouse grouse grouse SMOOCH

My husband grouses all the time. He grumbles whenever he does something that causes something to be wrong. Now, to be totally fair and give him his due, when I do something wrong he is never angry or frustrated. He always just patiently fixes my mistakes. When he does something wrong, all hell breaks loose. And he grumbles and he grumbles. And I usually laugh at him or point out how he could do it better, which, I assure you, is not the nicest move on my part and is not very helpful.

Tonight the Princess found a much better way to handle the grouse. He launched the screen door off its track while trying to put it back on the track. Grumble grumble grouse grouse - to which I say, "would you like me to do it?" - implying, of course, that I could do it better (again, not very nice and not very helpful). I look out the door and the baby angel runs up, grabs his face by the cheeks and gives him a big kiss. Which results in a big smile.

Much better.

You know you're a political scientist when

The hubby and I had a fun fight the other night. I say fun because I don't think either of us were really all that angry and periodically throughout the arguing while I yelled profanities at him I laughed and he laughed - but it was a fight. It broke some underlying tension in our relationship free from behind the veil we hide these things and we dealt with it, a bit.

But you know you're a political scientist when you say to your husband the next day after a brawl, "I think the problem with our marriage right now is we are suffering from a lack of social capital" and he says "yeah, we're both real busy," and you say, "yeah, we're bowling alone, let's have a date." And the entire conversation makes sense to both of you because you've both read Putnam and it's a referent that works...

My Baby Girl

My baby girl comes by it honestly. I have fallen asleep reading books my entire life. I think part of the reason I worry about getting an iPad or Kindle is I am sure I will drop it one night.

She loves to dance and sing and play. She never sits still, unless she is not feeling well. If she is sad she tries to smile through it. My favorite memory is her crying when a friend stopped by and she looked at my friend and smiled through her tears - she was about 10 months old, so it's a natural quality she has.

Lately she has begun telling me when I am doing something wrong. She'll say "Momma, you yelled at me" or "Momma, you are yelling at Daddy" and sometimes she'll ask "Momma, what you doing?" And I think to myself, whatever it is I am doing I want it to be something I am fine with her doing. I am becoming much better behaved. I don't swear as much, I don't snap as much, I don't roll my eyes as much - generally, I am becoming a much better person, because I am becoming the person I want my baby girl to be.

BBC Coverage

Today the Utah Republicans decided that Bob Bennett wasn't conservative enough - so they booted him. There will be a primary between two men - a lawyer and a businessman. The BBC covered it - saying the Tea Party had dumped a sitting Republican senator in the United States.

It's always fun to be covered internationally...

Understanding

My daughter gets up about 15 times a night before she goes to bed. I don't find this frustrating because I understand it.

I was thinking about it the other night and I was remembering how desperate I was as a little person to get into a picture like this. I wanted to be up late at night, eating dinner, drinking wine, having good conversation and have someone take a picture of the group I was in.

There are millions of these photos in my family - they exist over the years and across the miles. Murrays stay up eating and drinking wine deep into the darkness of the night - and at some point someone who is less drunk than the rest hops up and takes a picture of everyone leaning in over the table. They are in frames all over the world - as I have family in Australia.

Last week I went out to dinner with my Utah friends and family and we took a picture - it is now up in my house as a testament to good drink, good conversation and good food. And as a testament to why my daughter, who herself is probably more Murray than she realizes, wants to be up at night too...

As we say "Eat, Drink and be Murray, for tomorrow you may die!"

A Daddy and Growing Up

Here is the Duke and the Prince as a baby.

Here is the Duke and the Princess as a baby.

Sometimes we hit an obstacle. Duke would like these babies to be this big all the time - the same way he loves kittens and wants kittens but never really cats - so he denies their growth. The Princess has been potty trained now for about 5 1/2 months - we hardly ever have accidents and when there is an accident, she will say something like "that was because I was so excited about Madagascar" or something. We also have not had a wet pull up in the morning in weeks. I keep saying it's time to let her sleep on her own, commando. My husband keeps saying, I think she needs the pull ups. I may just put my foot down - but my worry is the minute I do that she will wet her bed, and then I'll pay for it for years.

Summer Semester

Our university just switched to a trimester approach - and we are in our transitional phase. Which means I handed grades in last Tuesday for spring semester and today I started teaching summer semester.

Is that insane, or what? I mean, seriously, who is ready for their next semester so quickly?

But in other news, I got tenure and promotion, so I am not complaining all that much. In fact, I am not really complaining at all, but wonder at the reasoning behind this scheduling.

Long Day

Here's my husband with the kids skyping with his parents. He is such a good father and does a ton of the work with the kids - he gets up at night with them, he plays with them, he cleans them and cooks for them. He has never considered himself a babysitter, he is always a co-parent.

In this spring sport season here in Utah, however, he becomes a parent to 45 boys as he coaches lacrosse. He has done this since 2006 and thoroughly enjoys it. Before we had children I attended as many game as I could. Since we have had children, I attend the home games with the kids if I can persuade a close family friend to go with me for support.

Yesterday he left at 7am for work and got home at 945pm. It was a long day. I was barely out of the shower when he left and almost asleep when he got home.

The last time we did this he was working for the New York State Senate during budget season - but we didn't have 2 kids. So I was very tired last night and I woke up today with sore muscles, because taking care of kids is exercise. The kids are fun and funny and cute and I adore them, but they exhaust me. I will be happy when it's fully summer and I have my co-parent again, because we all miss him.

Back to Work

The weekly babysitter is coming and I am getting to the office today. While I have work to do, and will be glad for the time out of the house, I will miss my little guys who are too cute!!!

Good luck to Sara who is our once a week in the summer babysitter!

Stay at Home Mom

The school year is done - it's summer time! And the princess is out of pre-school...

and the prince is out of daycare...

And - I am a stay at home mom...

Bike Riding

Last year for her second birthday, we gave her this tricycle. She can actually ride it now. We rode, slowly, down the street and back and learned that our street has a very slight incline as it was much easier going in one direction than the other. She did very well and when it was over said "can I go down the hill" and I said, "no, not until you can ride back up the hill" - because I can just see myself with a baby in a stroller, a dog on a leash and a toddler on a tricycle pushing up the hill that real bikers have issues with - hopefully not until next year!

Head Cold 1 Duchess 0

So I am home sick today. I am keeping the children home with me, mostly because Elizabeth kept me up all night so she needs more sleep than she would get at school and why bring David in when we're all here. So I will suck on a ton of lozenges and drink a bunch of hot tea and pray that we can all travel tomorrow. I mean, we're traveling whether we can or not, so I guess I am praying we all can handle it without being miserable.

Head Cold

Well it has happened. After an entire school year of no colds at all I have been nailed, just as spring begins, with a nasty head cold. It has decided to settle in my throat - which is better than my chest, I assure you, I know - and make me pretty much mute. It's an interesting problem to have when one is a professor in the last weeks of class with a million things to tell students about - they can't hear me or understand me, but I soldier on acting as though my voice were perfect.

And - I am supposed to do a reading in my stepbrother's wedding this weekend - I am so hoping the frog has vacated by then or at least I am more understandable.

Mother Visit

For the first time in a week both our kids slept through the night - there was no 3am poop fest in the crib and no 230am toddler visit who wants to "sleep" in our bed. I kind of woke up at 5am and thought, phew, I got a full night's sleep and now I can snuggle in for another 45 minutes with the hubby until the day starts.

The phone rings. My mother has locked the keys in the car she borrowed from us with the car running down at the hotel she is staying at. My wonderful husband climbs out of bed, drives through a random spring blizzard down to the hotel to let her in to the car.

Does anyone still wonder why we live in Utah?

Literature Review

I may just stop assigning literature reviews because every time I read them the students are plagiarizing. Do they not understand that if they are reviewing someone else's work that there MUST be some citing of the work somewhere? That turning in an assignment without a bibliography is completely UNACCEPTABLE?

What are they teaching them in those required writing courses? Or do they think those skills only belong in that four month semester?

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!

Good Things

Today the Princess figured out how to open the door. Since our backyard gates are locked, I'm not too worried about her wandering out into the street at 2am. But I am very happy because her favorite thing to do is let the dog out - which means, one less chore for me!

3 Generations

I went to Syracuse because my Daddy went to Syracuse who went to Syracuse because he rooted for Orange sports. We will spend the next 18 years outfitting the children with Syracuse clothing, rooting for them in all sports, but most especially football, basketball and lacrosse. We will randomly sing "the Cuse is in the house, oh my god oh my god" or "it's great, uh huh, to be, that's right, an SU Orange" while cleaning or cooking or raking or any other house related -ing. And our kids will be the third generation at Syracuse University - and we will owe somewhere in the range of $300K for college expenses. We should start one of those college accounts right now.

Just for the information - the Duke did not go to Syracuse University because he lamely went to the little school in Syracuse, Le Moyne College. He does, however, root for Orange sports similar to my father - much anger and anguish accompany being a fan of the Orange. Thus the Prince and Princess will receive much legacy (3 generations of SU graduates and if they get a degree in the Maxwell School as did their mother and grandfather we will get box seats at their graduation - because that's how private school rolls) and much orange wearing, Cuse rooting, football swearing, Boeheim worshipping (of course their father is a townie, and all townies should be forbidden from the Hill, but we love him and thus tolerate his affection)

Spring in Utah

Another reason I love it here in Utah is the spring. Spring in Utah is beautiful. It doesn't rain on you or plop big, gross sleet on you. It's not cloudy 2/3 of the time. It is beautiful. The sun is out. The days are long. There are no bugs. It is beautiful.

Made even more beautiful this year by a 2 year old singing "ride my bike...ride my bike...ride my bike" as she rides around the ten foot square block we let her ride her bike in. (lest you think I am a Nazi mom, which I may very well be but not for this, we have no sidewalks)

From a distance I now hear a little radio flyer bell chiming and the sound "I did it!!" as last year she could not make it ring.

I love spring.

Sleep Deprivation

The 2 year old has figured out how to open her bedroom door. Last night, or very early this morning, we awake to a little body climbing in our bed at 2am. She then proceeds to "need to use the potty" - "lost Teddy" - " need to use the potty" - "what color are Mama's eyes" until about 3am. I pick her up and carry her to her bed so my husband's head doesn't explode. She then chats with me about birds until about 430am.

I had great pleasure waking her up today at 755am to go on a field trip. Of course, she bounces out of bed - how does she do that??

Utah Love

I wrote yesterday how much we love Utah and how we are planning on being here for a while. I have been thinking about why.

One of the reasons we love Utah follows.

We lived in a state where we saw sun on maybe 90 days a year, a little less where Paul grew up and a little more where I grew up. Here in Utah we see sun on 285 days a year. Today - I woke up to driving snow and now it is almost 50 degrees and the sun is shining. You never really need a heavy coat because the sun always warms you - no matter the temperature. And when the weather comes, you can see it for miles. We watched the clouds roll in yesterday afternoon and today I am watching them roll out - and they are not gray clouds here, they are beautiful white clouds. Just like paintings. If you were painting skies, this is where you would want to be - most days.

Never underestimate the power of the sun for your disposition.

About Utah

It looks like we'll be staying here for a while. I have been thinking about why I like Utah so much, given how not like me that is.

A million years ago, when I was 18, I traveled to Tempe, Arizona for a Bowl Game - back when Syracuse actually won football games. And I remember getting off the plane and feeling comfortable - for the first time ever. At the time I thought I must be having some connection with some former life lived in the southwest. I had the same feeling eight years ago when I arrived for a job interview and then came out to find a home. Maybe my Type A, fast paced personality really thrives in the laid back western culture.

My husband spent the months between my job acceptance and our arrival reading the local newspaper online and looking at pictures and learning everything he could about Ogden, Utah. He really committed early - probably earlier than I did. When we moved I said to my usually homesick self, self, we are not leaving Utah for at least one year so we can make sure we give it a chance. And I did. And the weird thing is, when I went to New York, I only missed it for the first couple of hours after leaving. For the first time in my life I lived very far away from my people and was not homesick at all. And while I like to get home in the summers to spend time on my lake in the Adirondacks, I also like to get back to Utah in the summers as well.

Whenever I say to him, would you like to look for work back east, he says, why? We love it here. And he's right, we love it here.

Reporting on my Life

Good things:

• Back to work and loving teaching.
• Finishing scholarly projects and getting brain set to think of new ones this summer.
• Got good letters from department, college and the Dean - so should be job secure.
• Healthy, not so wealthy as to cause problems but just enough wealthy to survive, and relatively wise.
• Great family - see above - who make me smile all the time.

Bad things:

• Nothing.

My Big Girl!

Tonight we look around and the Princess is missing so we walk down the hall and she's using the potty all by herself - never thought I'd care so much about someone else's bathroom habits - but HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT!!!

Motherhood 2 - Duchess 0

Whilst walking into pre-school today, carrying the Princess, her back pack, her valentines and her cookies we (I) made for her class - I dropped them all. Luckily no living thing was hurt, but the cookies took a hit.

Getting that Martha Stewart magazine, which was supposed to help me become a better mom, hasn't really delivered.

Valentine's Day

I generally do not care about these Hallmark holidays. Valentine's Day is a day I always had a date on but I do not care to get gifts or cards or anything for this stuff. I think you get stuff for Christmas, Easter and your birthday. Three major annual events is good enough for adults.

For children, however, I have always believed I would be the kind of mother who would do neat things on these dates. And so I find myself, at my scrapping group, realizing that Valentine's Day is one of those damn days that children care about. They have these swanky Valentines they've worked on and prepared for - and I'm all, what? When is Valentine's Day? What?

So this year, the Princess and I will be making cookies for her class to compensate for the lame Disney Princess and Cars valentines we will be handing out. Next year, by God, I will start making her Valentines in October. They will sing and dance and bling like nothing you have ever seen!

Momhood - 1, the Duchess - 0

My Last Twelve Hours

1158pm - crying from Elizabeth's room. I go up and offer to sleep with her. She wants to come sleep in our bed. I am too tired to deal with it, so I carry her downstairs.

1215am - in our bed, in the dark, she announces "I have to go potty." Paul carries her upstairs to go potty and puts her back to bed.

315am - crying from Elizabeth's room. I go up and offer to sleep with her, she says "I'm missing Daddy." So downstairs we go again.

330am - in our bed, in the dark, she announces "I have to go potty." Paul carries her upstairs to go potty and puts her back to bed.

6am- my alarm goes off to start my day.

8am - I am trying to get Elizabeth awake for school as we need to leave at 815am, thinking, if you didn't wake up twice during the night you'd wake up no problem right now, curse word curse word.

I am wearing a wrap.

805am - Elizabeth wakes up, looks at me and says "super Momma! dododododo" in perfect Superman timing.

806am - all my frustration and tiredness is defeated in the face of her absolute cuteness

My Ballerina

Here we are, chatting about the world.

My favorite thing she says as we walk in the door - "I need a crown, a tutu and my wings." And I have to get her into her crown, her tutu and her wings. The appropriate outfit for any afternoon.

She was Right

I have a friend who weighs maybe 110 pounds soaking wet. One day a couple of weeks ago, another friend and I were chatting with her about weight loss. Now, my other friend and I have been doing the weight watchers dance for years and we were lamenting our low metabolism and our general lack of control. My tall, thin friend says to us "if you stop eating carbs after 6pm the pounds will melt off." To which I thought, phphphphphph.

This past weekend I had a ton of family in for a baptism. I ate and ate and ate (my skinny friend made the most delicious cake I have had in a while) and ate and ate and ate - resulting in gaining 5 pounds. So yesterday I didn't eat after 6pm, mostly because I wasn't feeling well, but also because I was so disgusted with myself (I've been working hard to lose weight and had been down 13 pounds). Woke up this morning and dropped 4 of the 5 pounds.

Seriously? Seriously? Just not eating after 6pm and the weight came off? Seriously? Maybe the reason she weighs 110 pounds soaking wet is because she knows these things.

My Friday End of Day

I pick up my daughter from her pre-school at 1pm and then head out to my son's day care to pick him up. What used to be a 6 minute commute now takes 1 hour. I get home and pull in my driveway about 2pm. It's freezing outside in the low 20s at my house. I get my daughter out of the van and say, head to the door, it's cold out here. She says she's getting the mail and runs down the driveway. I drop the four bags I am carrying, two of hers and two of mine, and chase after her. Luckily she stops before hitting the street and the car that was zooming around the corner. I say, here's the mail, please go to the house. She says okay and starts up the driveway. I walk to the other side of the van to get my son in his infant carrier. I turn and look and my daughter has taken off down the middle of the street running. I drop the infant carrier and the two bags my son has in the driveway and haul ass down the street in my heels. I catch my daughter and run her back to the driveway. I walk her up the walk and grab my son's infant seat. I get him inside the house and turn to see that my daughter has decided to climb the rather large evergreen in the front yard. I also notice my dog has eaten one of my plants. He has been barking at us ever since we pulled in the driveway. I run to get my daughter and get her inside. My son is screaming because I had to wake up him from his nap at daycare to bring him home. My daughter is telling me repeatedly to take off her coat and that Hobbes has destroyed a plant. I get her coat off and send her off for her play in her room. I get my son out of his carrier and into his crib, where he proceeds to scream for about 30 minutes before resuming his nap. I go back outside to grab the six bags I have left in the driveway and on my way back in realize that not only did my dog eat my plant but also decided to poop in the dining room. I drop the bags and proceed to clean up the dog poop, during which time my daughter screams that she needs lollipops. Of course we don't have any lollipops, but this reasoning is lost somewhere in the fit as I persuade her that actually she wants to eat some fruit for her afternoon snack. Finally I have her situated so she's eating fruit and calm. I then can finish cleaning up the poop in the dining room. Now, finally, I can have something to eat at 230pm having not eaten since 6am when I woke up my household because it takes us all hours now to get out of the house. I eat quickly and then take all the stuff out of the bags and put the items where they go. Laundry into the laundry basket, bottles into the sink, and bags put away in closets. Then I chase my daughter around the house while trying to get her to use the potty. The dog has gone to the door 15 times pretending he'd like to go outside and then pouts when I open the door. In two hours my husband will arrive at home having spent the day watching someone else teach and say how exhausted he is.

I really would like to know how my LDS friends and neighbors do all this without saying the F word. Seriously, I just don't think "oh my heck" covers it.

My Daughter is Freaking Cute

The Princess is potty trained. And whenever she uses the potty at pre-school she runs to tell every teacher "I did it!" She is so proud of herself and I am so proud of her. And I think it's so freaking cute that she tells everyone.

E - X - I - T

On the way out of preschool today - the Princess says "E - X - I - T - EXIT!" As she read the exit sign. My husband says this isn't reading. My friend with a phd in English says it is. So, I'm picking the expert as trump - so when she asks me when she read, I'm going to say "a - g - e - 2, AGE 2!!!"

Day Care

These are my two babies. I left the younger one in institutional day care today and the older one starts tomorrow. I hate that I am paying someone to take care of them. But, I loved being back at work. All my synapses started firing on all cylinders. I enjoyed the repartee with the Methods kids who all think I am going to kill them. I enjoyed being on campus and the buzz that being a professor has. So, my children will survive day care. They might even enjoy the socialization they get from it. They will probably be better for it. And the teacher the Princess has and the nurse the Prince has will probably give them some good love.

And I will hate that they are being taken care of by someone else. But I will love that they have a Momma who is the breadwinner.