October 2009

Grace shares with me her feelings of not entirely fitting in in her classroom, and of the resultant loneliness. I find myself lost in a quagmire of identification and wonder how best to help her with this.

A poem my father wrote in college is featured as the preface to a book called Finding Pete. I am once again wowed by my own father.

Blog conversation about boys, girls, the families we imagined and the families we have makes me think about my own children. About the differences and joys of each gender and of the various permutations we each wind up with.

I took the children to see Where the Wild Things Are and found myself massively moved. It’s gorgeous.

Weekend in Vermont with Matt’s whole family. There is skeet shooting and marshmallow roasting, and the stunning foliage makes up for the incredibly long and trafficky drive up.

Godmom Gloria comes for a visit and the children swoon.

Grace turned seven and I wrote her my annual letter. Her birthday party is a doll tea with her best friend at a local restaurant. 24 girls and 23 American Girl dolls (and 1 stuffed animal, bless that child).

Halloween: a witch and a clone trooper. This is the first year the children have not matched. I stopped influencing their choices and lo and behold they did not choose to match. Oh well.