The Epitomy of Mothering Madness

Actual conversation on Tuesday at a dance studio for children:
Mother #1: "I hope it doesn't rain on Friday."
Mother #2: "Why, what's Friday?"
Mother #1: "Registration."

People woke up at 3 a.m. to stand in line to turn in their registration forms for Dance Ed, the coveted dance studio for children on the North Shore.

Lists were made available so that one could see how many spots were available in each class.

In my ongoing effort to achieve neutrality in the world, I am simply reporting the facts above.

Walking with three kids and a dog

Shalom Papillion

Today the kindergarten class had an end of the year program. They invited guests to watch them do their morning prayers (tefillot) and then sang many songs. I sat in the front row watching my daughter sing and perform. I had no camera or video and as I sat there I worried that I would regret not having these moments captured forever, but the worry dissipated when I realized that I prefered to enjoy the moment than to worry about seeing it through the lens of a camera. I do wonder if I will regret not having the video when my little girl is long gone and I am left with only memories of this time in our life. Then we went outside and the teachers brought out the butterflies they have been growing in the classroom. They let them free as we sang "shehechiyanu", a prayer thanking G-d for reaching this day. If I could find the words to capture the look on my daughters face as the butterflies flew off, I would probably not be sitting here writing a blog titled walkingwiththreekidsandadog. I would probably be writing for some respectible publication or have made a living being a writer, but I have never been able to write well enough to find the words to describe a moment like today. I don't have the words now. Many thoughts in my head. I have always thought that one of the things that distinguishes a really good writer from others are the thoughts in their heads and then the subsequent ability to articulate those thoughts. There are time when I believe I have the thoughts and other times I don't believe that. Does everyone walk around with running commentary in their heads? I suppose. Are these thoughts worth capturing? I have recently felt compelled to capture some of my thoughts. Maybe in this process I will discover the writer that I have always wanted to be. Or maybe I will just create lots of meaningless type on a blog. At least I am not wasting paper, just taking up space in cyberspace and I have no idea how that works.
Shalom Pappillion.

Walking with three kids and a dog

Walking with three kids and a dog

I had a moment of clarity today. I have already forgotten what is was. Something about how simple it seems to train a dog. Positive reinforcement. Creating neural pathways. Ignoring bad behavior so it will go away. For one split second it all seemed so clear. Children have the same needs as dogs. For one split second it all made sense. I had another moment of clarity. Living in Chicago in the winter with three children is brutal. We are cooped up for months on end. I am depressed and cranky. Summer is here. I see the light. I feel like a different person. What to do about this? Take up a winter sport? I hate being cold and wet. I need to remember how hard the winter months are on our psyche and do something about it next year. I had several random encounters with nice people today and I am reminded that there are nice people in the world. I just don't run into them all winter because we don't get out much! Two year olds connecting with each other in the ice cream shop. A man talking with his dog at the park. A neighbor stops and chats with her dogs and actually acknowledges my three children and engages them in a conversation. So simple and so powerful. Connecting.

Walking with three kids and a dog

Walking with three kids and a dog

Misplaced Anger?

I was getting a pedicure the other day when a crazed woman walked into the establishment for her appointment ranting and raving that she could find a parking spot. She was 10 minutes late for her appointment. She then proceeded to shout at the unsuspecting woman who was going to give her the pedicure. "Are you in a hurry, because you appear to be rushing. If you think you are going to rush me, don't even think about it because I would have been on time if there was parking. Who schedules 30 minute pedicures?" And on and on she ranted. Misplaced rage? That is the kindest thing I can think of to say about this incident. I worry about the world I have chosen to raise my children in. I want to flee. I want to move somewhere where people ponder real questions about life. I want to grab this woman by the shoulders and shake her and tell her to snap out of it. (picture a scene from Airplane). Is that my own misplaced anger?

8 1/2 years into this journey

I am 8 and a half years into the journey of motherhood and I have never written a word. That is rather pathetic for a person with a bachelor's degree in journalism. Now is the time to start. Why now? Not sure, but today, as I was walking with three kids and a dog I thought that would be a good title for something. Since it pretty much sums up my life right now, I decided it would be a good title for my blog. I am not sure how I feel about this being a shared forum, but I'll have to get over that. I am old enough to be a little puzzled about what a blog actually is, but I thought I would try it and see what it is like and then maybe I could understand it better.