Doodaddy

Inevitability

doodaddy — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:07:41 +0000

The jackhammers and semi-trailers notwithstanding, 14-month old Claudia has fallen asleep in the car seat again. We’ve just dropped Fern at her afternoon nursery school program, and, free of kids’ music at last, I’m blasting NPR with the bass turned up high, like the dorky hoodlum that I am. Then it starts to hail and [...]

Little Sister Envy

doodaddy — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:49:00 +0000

The neighborhood 5-year old, whom Fern worships like the full-sentence-writing goddess she is, was nonetheless the topic of a complaint yesterday. “She says I can’t have that dress because she still fits in it.” Just another parenting moment, right? And a million lessons present themselves: Graciousness. “Neighbor girl gives you a dress or a toy pretty much every [...]

Peanut Butter Bandit

doodaddy — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:40:07 +0000

Why is it that I’m always trying to impress my daughter’s friends with my easygoingness? We had a before-school playdate today, and as is my habit I extensively quizzed our guest on her sandwich preference — peanut butter, no jelly, crust on, cut into squares. Standard operations working with preschoolers, after all, and I thought I [...]

Stomach Pains

doodaddy — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:16:26 +0000

Minor meltdown this morning, but first, let’s define terms for all you non-parents. Drop-off Playdate: E.g. crack for the stay-at-home parent. This is when you leave your kid at someone’s house, and most kids love ‘em. Fern, though, is a bit of a homebody. So when promised (in the most! excited! tone! of! voice!) a drop-off [...]

Let a Sleeping Baby Lie. Except Smoosh Her Face a Little, Just For Kicks.

doodaddy — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:03:24 +0000

Have you ever noticed that right after a baby falls asleep, you can smoosh her face around pretty much indiscriminately without bothering her even a little? What, you haven’t tried that? Facial plasticity is just one of the many things I’m discovering the second baby around — Claudia, the baby whom I can face-smoosh, head-stand, shot-put, and [...]

Cookie Cutter Guilt

doodaddy — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:24:02 +0000

Let me just start by admitting: I try to impress 4-year olds. A couple of weeks ago we hosted one of those kids who makes preschool look like graduate school. She’s well-behaved and articulate — a great little role model for my, um, independent three-year old. So of course I decided that on our first playdate [...]

Blackalicious

doodaddy — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:29:00 +0000

Fern got this cute book on our last vacation -- Pinkalicious -- about a girl who eats too many pink cupcakes and turns, well, pink. Except she couldn't leave it at that -- Blackalicious beckoned.

I Wanna Make Banana Love

doodaddy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:36:00 +0000

Fern is a crazy cook (see "cranberries, pickled") and today, schooled me in the right way to make a Banana Bread Pie.

Princess Frida

doodaddy — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:55:24 +0000

Let’s talk about lying to our children. No, I’m talking about how Fern thinks that Frida Kahlo is one of the Disney princesses, how Dora is in reality young Frida, and her brother Diego is Diego Rivera. Or how she says “This means ‘I love you’ in sign language” while making the universal bulls-horns sign for “cuckold.” [...]

Girl Fight!

doodaddy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:59:11 +0000

I was secretly glad the shop ladies were arguing. Not because I’m one of those freaks who likes to watch conflict; in fact, I usually go out of my way to avoid it. But today we were in a cute store with piles of kid clothes and toys, the kind of store known in our [...]