A family of three gather in the only child’s bedroom. The father is hanging the six year old girl’s clean clothes in the closet – the very model of the modern husband. The young girl is taking her time picking up her dirty clothes. The mother is uncharacteristically standing idle, watching the scene unfold in front of her.
Suddenly impatient, mommy warns: “Beth, if you…
An old family friend made it’s way back into our cupboard. Beth went in for her allergy skin test a few weeks back, and we learned she was allergic to a lot more things than we thought; but that’s not important right now. We learned she’s no longer allergic to peanuts.
CAN I HAVE AN ALLELUIA?!?
Four weeks, one blood test, a peanut butter cracker, and two hours of observation at…
As Beth has grown, Cheryl has taken no pleasure in noting that Beth “is just like you John.” Beth saying something smart. Beth sitting in strange, contorted positions while watching TV. Beth exploring the limits of her abilities, improvising when necessary to achieve a goal (usually something that Cheryl doesn’t want her to do). These are all examples of when Cheryl might invoke…
One of my favorite commercials of all time is an Office Depot add. A man and his children are walking through the isles of Office Depot with a familiar Christmas season tune playing in the background – setting the mood. The father is happily lip-syncing the words to the song as he glides down the isle. The children are dragging each step as if they are being led to their own execution. The…
“Mommy, when you were little did you watch the Care Bears forty hundred times?”
“No Beth, I could only watch the Care Bears on the weekend because we didn’t have cable TV, VCRs or DVD players”
“Oh, you mean back in the old days?”
I am certain that I never referred to anything being associated with “the old days”. I am certain that I have never…
Counting down the days until Beth’s thirteenth birthday with a few reposts from the archives.
Originally posted: Jul 10, 2003, Beth’s age: 5 (almost 6)
We have been thinking about Beth’s birthday present for some time now. Tonight we took action. Cheryl called around to see which stores had the item in stock. After a couple of disappointments we found one that had it. Cheryl took off…
Camera number one shows the layout of the scene. It’s a retirement party. Everyone is saying goodbye to a Department of Corrections cohort. We are outdoors, in someone’s front yard. I am between conversations, observing the crowd from a lawn chair in the middle of the yard. Beth is walking around aimlessly, but not being disruptive. She is the only child at the party. Cameral number…