And, moving on to things that really matter: won't somebody please think of the children?


The Good Enough Mother: "The most incandescent memories of my childhood are of making my mother laugh. My kids did the same for me. A good time is what they remember long after toddler programs and art projects are over. The rest is just scheduling."
~ Anna Quindlen (via Goodbye, Small Heart)

A Mother's Prayer: "And should she choose to be a mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back."
~ Tina Fey (via Peonies and Polaroids)

My Darlings: "The rest of the afternoon went as expected. Ian and I assembled the shelves with children hanging off us. The birdsong wafting in from outside was punctuated by adult cries of NO! PUT THAT DOWN! and GO AWAY! It only encouraged them.

Eventually, it was done, and the children vanished. They were playing beautifully together in the garden, making happy, delighted chirps of childish wonder and glee, with no interest whatsoever in us or our fully assembled shelves and plastered wall.

I made restorative cups of tea. Minutes went by. Ian made dinner for the children, and called them in from the garden.

They ignored him.

Fuckers."
~ Antonia Cornwell