No Thanks To You

I made it to solid ground yesterday. The ferry ride from Block Island was smooth and uneventful, as was the four and a half drive upstate in the middle of the night, which gave me plenty of time to focus on this new thing that Young Ladrinka has been doing. And by new, I mean a few weeks, but I was so preoccupied by possibly drowning to death on the ferry that I hadn’t really focused on it. But now that I have, a watery grave is not without a certain appeal.

So, let’s say I hand Young Ladrinka a lovingly poured glass of apple juice, as per his request, and give an equally loving reminder of “don’t spill it!” as I sent the little rascal on his way. Instead of saying “okay, mumsy!” with an accompanying curtsy he now says, “What? Spill it? Okay!”

And he’s been doing that with absolutely everyone and everything.
Thus, a “good night, sleep tight!” turns into a “What’s that? Don’t sleep tight? Okay! I’ll stay awake!” You can see how a week of that can make a parent slightly on edge, yes?

But to be fair, I’ve been completely enthralled with spending time with the kids this vacation. Watching them on the beach has been one of the best experiences of my life, and I think that’s saying something, since I attended the Sparklecorn party at BlogHer. They love the ocean. They are fearless. They dive into the waves, they ride the waves, they can’t get enough of being thrown around in the water, going under, they don’t mind their mouths and noses being filled with seawater.

One day, I watched as Young Ladrinka started to wade into the ocean, carefully negotiating the supercold water against the appeal of the humongous waves. I watched his sister run up behind him, pushing him a little and startling him. From the safety of the shore, I saw that he was mad because she startled him, because she got three drops of cold water on him five seconds before he was ready for it, and I saw him start splashing her, kicking the water at her, even though she already dove in was was completely submerged. As they each dove in and out, I was ecstatic that they took the time out from their summer joy and happiness of being on vacation to still splash water on each other, because the fact that they were both already soaking wet FROM THE OCEAN in no way detracted from the insult of being splashed on by a sibling.

I adore them. Adore. Them. They are funny and beautiful and happy and I am lucky to be their mother.
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My friend Ryan has a fantastic new project. I’m going to turn it over to him now, but I ask you to please support it. Because it’s for a good cause and the music is awesome and you sort of owe me. Don’t make me tell everyone for what.

One year ago ...

• Sometimes My Husband and I Don't See Eye to Eye - 2013