Family Matters, Week of 7-10-05

Hello again dear reader, today is my favorite posting of the week, the fam post.

Annie

?I don?t love you daddy, I just love you.? ? Quote of the week.

I don?t know why Annie insists on telling people she doesn?t love them just to retract the statement. Maybe she wants to replace the ?regular? love with a more in-depth and endearing love. Who knows. Kids, and even adults, have a hard time defining what love is.

?I know I?m not a smart man. But I know what love is.? ? Forrest Gump

I?m not sure he did. I guess to him it meant affection and admiration. To kids it probably means care and kindness and (in a roundabout way) discipline. Either way, Annie definitely shares the love and endears herself to those she sees often. It?s, of course, cute as all get out, but still raises the question as to what love is to a child and when that love ?kicks in? to a new acquaintence.

Of course, I don?t spend too much time thinking about this, I?d rather just get a hug and kiss from my little girl and then read her a book or something. Sometimes deep thought really isn?t necessary at all.

Abby

Abby is showing much more improvement with her language, and she will stand in front of me (all 1.5 feet of her) and scream ?Da!? at me until I pay attention to her. So that?s progress, as ear-shattering as it may be. Before she would throw out a ?da? here and there, but she?s officially gone hog wild with language.

I know I?ve written on this advancement before, but it gets kinda tough coming up with new ways to say ?she was cute, she was mean, she did something bad, she ate good/bad, she went to bed.?

So let me just say that, for the record, I?ve never understood until now how kids can enrich your life. And I don?t mean in some hokey commercial way, I mean there are times when I?m hanging out with my kids, or even listening to them in the living room, and I realize that my life is just proportionately better because I now have offspring. I love them just as much as can be, but it is that connection and responsibility that transcends language and is very hard to articulate. But enrichment is the word that comes to mind, and what I feel often. so I thought I would share.

Ericka (her blog)

My beautiful wife has once again shunned her cool blog, and I again must mention that here so she?ll update the damned thing. You?d think I?d mention it in Real Life(tm), and I do, but I usually save my comments for these posts so she can get energized via the public outing of her lack of content.

I?m a mean one, Mr. Grinch.

Otherwise, she?s stepped up her working schedule to help alleviate some of the bills that stress the household, and I can?t tell you how enamored I am at the workload she endures on a day to day basis only to go work for another 11+ hours the next day. Then to come home, give the girls a bath, clean house, and all of that other mundane stuff that I take for granted. Quite the woman, I?d say.

She is due for some new cake making soon, and with the recent arrival of the digital camera in the household you should see pictures of her latest creations as soon as she?s done with them. I?ll probably post them in next week?s Family Matters, so check her blog if you?re anxious.

Etc

All right, my favorite section. Unfortunately I?m all out of time here, so let me fulfill my promise from yesterday: Old Grandma Hardcore is an absolutely hilarious and true blog of a grandma and her expletive-filled obsession with video games. She curses as she fights her way through Prince of Persia and others, while her offspring provide all the details.

Hilarious and not fiction unlike other grandma blogs. I think you?ll dig it.

We?re so creative, so much more
We?re high above but on the floor

Tags: Family Story Erwin Annie Abby Ericka Evan