More Stories from 2013

Dear Kids,

Here are some more stories about you from 2013.

Marshall told me that he wants to be an artist when he grows up. Specifically he wants to draw dragons on people’s arms. I thought at first that he meant he wanted to become a tattoo artist, but then I realized that he remembered the birthday party at which a face painter had painted a dragon on his arm. I guess that means he wants to be a face painter. It does sound like a fun job, doesn’t it?

Marshall likes to say “Go to your room!” and “You’re being naughty!” and “You’re fired!” It’s obvious where he got the first two phrases, but where did he learn the third? I can’t recall ever firing him. Has he been secretly watching episodes of “The Apprentice?” (That’s a reference to a reality show starring Donald Trump; his catchphrase is “You’re fired!”)

For a long time your favorite bedtime game was Monster with the Light. It was a game that you made up. There wasn’t much to it except running around in the dark with flashlights, but you both loved it.

You’ve acquired so many dress-up items that I had to buy a bin to store them in. My goal was to tidy up my office, and it felt great to have all that stuff put away neatly. But you were so excited to have it all in one place that you immediately pulled it all back out again so that you could play with it. Livia transformed herself into a ladybug-bee-owl. Marshall was a fox-bee-owl, then a hatted owl-monster.

The blocks and train tracks are technically Marshall’s toys, but Livia enjoys playing with them, too. She builds her own towers and train tracks when Marshall isn’t around.

Marshall has a piggy bank. One day he asked me for some money to put in it, and I told him to get a job. Later he asked if he could clean the counter. Naturally I said yes and gave him a cloth to wash it with. He came over to report his progress several times. I didn’t realize what he was up to until he finished the job and asked for his pay. OMG, he’s Pig Pig! (That’s a reference to “Pig Pig Gets a Job” by David McPhail.)

Memory from 9/25: Marshall with his toy CD player, all of us dancing in the kitchen, even Daddy. Marshall decided to turn it into a game by stopping the music periodically, and when he stopped it we were supposed to freeze, then start dancing again when he turned the music back on. I hope you kids remember some of moments like this one. Spending time with family and knowing that they want to be with you, that is one of the most precious things.

Sometimes you hug us so hard that you knock us over. We call those hugs “tackle hugs.” When you both tackle-hug us, it’s almost impossible to get back up. You are strong!

During the summer Daddy gave Marshall a jar and taught him how to catch things in it. Marshall got pretty good at catching daddy-longlegs in particular. One day he had two baby garter snakes (caught by Daddy), a fat cricket, and a couple of daddy-longlegs in there at the same time. I felt bad for them, though, particularly the cricket, which seemed terrified. I made him let them all go before we went back inside. It’s funny how much he enjoys catching animals. It reminds us of one of his books. It’s called “Walking Down the Road.” The main character keeps finding animals, and each time she finds one, she says, “I caught it. I picked it up. I put it in a cage.” And so sometimes when we’re catching things we say, “I caught it. I picked it up. I put it in a jar.” She lets her captives go at the end of the book, thank goodness.

Love,

Mom