By Veronica Our five-year-old daughter is learning violin by the Suzuki method. Suzuki depends upon family involvement. I attend her lessons with her. I practice each day with her. We listen to an assigned cd of music together each day, or at least we are supposed to. This requires a lot of commitment. We need…
Author Archives: Veronica
My Sunday-Go-To-Meetin’ Shirt
By Veronica Like many mothers on a budget, I don’t spend much money on my appearance. I have four daughters to clothe – and they look so adorable in those clothes – so I would rather buy dresses for them than one for myself. On Sundays, they go to church dressed in childish finery, while…
My Reasons
By Veronica I was going to write a post about Roman Polanski and how angry I am at his defenders. I was going to write a post about how disgusted I am that people still blame children for the crimes committed against them, or excuse their perpetrators if they are rich or talented or charismatic….
The Goodbye Girl
By Veronica My in-laws came to visit us for our baby’s first birthday. (Yes, I know that means she is not a baby anymore. Shut up.) We had a lovely three days together, full of excitement for all my children. My mother-in-law is a firm believer in the old adage that guests and fish stink…
Conversation on a Thirteenth Wedding Anniversary
By Veronica Az the Husband: I went to the university Kroger last night to buy you flowers, and the place was full of university students, back from summer break. I saw this dork, and a pretty girl threw her arms around him and pressed her face into his back. Her whole body language said, “At…
Lesson Learned
By Veronica The advice that other parents and grandparents give – “cherish every moment, because it will all be over too soon” – can inspire a quiet rage in me. That advice is easy to give, but impossible to follow when you haven’t brushed your teeth in 36 hours because when your vomiting dictator allows…
Larry the Door Man
By Veronica Every Sunday in our church nursery, an elderly man sits in a chair, watching the door. His name is Larry, and he does not hear very well, but he watches the children and sits next to the door, making sure that no toddlers take advantage of a full nursery or a distracted teacher…
Family Reunion
By Veronica “Why is JellyBean so pale?” asked my niece. “She is really pale. Is she sick? She looks sick.” We are visiting family in Buffalo, and the cousins are getting to know each other again. My brother’s family has grown through both adoption and natural birth, and his Korean daughter was expressing shock at the…
Wasp Fight at the OK Corral
By Veronica My two oldest children were watching a movie in the next room, and the two youngest were napping upstairs. I stepped into the kitchen to load the dishwasher, and the biggest wasp I have ever seen fell out of the blinds and began buzzing about the window. I do not like wasps. Okay,…
Chaos and Silence on a Summer Day
By Veronica I have never been this tired. Okay, that’s not true. I have been this tired, but not recently. Today we took care of my brother’s kids (ages 8, 6 and 4), which added three more to our four. It was loud and chaotic and fast and blurry and riotous. It was glorious. There…