American Girl Doll

Here we are, just days from departure and as you can imagine we are just savoring every last stroll through America's walking city, beholding the historic jewels of New England's county seat!!! Or.

Or we are asking Loverpants if it's okay if we girls can rouge up our faces and use the car to whisk ourselves to the posh mall in the 'burbs so we can be ladies who lunch at American Girl Doll you know how we do.

Say what you will about an establishment that primarily pedals baby dolls and baby carriages within the confines of walls that are not just a little bit pink. But honestly? If American Girl Doll were a country club?  I would be a member.  I would go on a daily basis and drink pink lemonades in the second floor cafe whose light fixture are never not pink.  I would frequent the hair salon and learn the fine art of dreadlocking dollhair.  I would make Friday my day to crash birthday parties and after playing pin the hula skirt on the Kanani, I would go play with all the accessories just to see how many little cupcake combinations you can--I mean, just to ya know, look and watch and observe how cute all the little playsets are.

I suppose this last hurrah trip to AGD was all vicariousness.  I never had an American Girl Doll and always wanted one.  Not that my childhood was not ridiculously privileged.  Oh, there I am at private school!  And tennis camp!  Oh, ridiculous privilege, hey there!

What I did crave, though, was one-on-one time with my parents and this is something that I am working to capitalize on with my daughter now. With my son still nursing, this is not an easy feat, but kids have a way of making their needs known EXCUSE ME, MOM even in the midst of MOM trying to finish MOM your CAN WE DO THE DORA DANCE NOW, MOM clipping coupons.  Who needs to MOM, NOW? clip coupons NOW, MOM? anyway?

Today was a great day to spend time with my girl, and to bid adieu to our dear gal pals Maia and Melinda. I'm so glad for today, for girls, for sugar and spice and everything nice.

***

Our gal pals Maia and Melinda being faboo.

  xoxo and cake pops

UnFun-eral

I went to a funeral this past weekend. I took Little Man. It was in Chicago. I have various thoughts on the trip:

1.) The MidWest: Sometimes I find oppressing the nasal vowels and overcompensating friendliness of the MidWest. Not this time. I was all about O'Hare gate agents asking for my boarding payaaaaaaasssssss. When you travel with a wee one, the heaping helping of neighborliness is welcome.

2.) Twizzlers Pull n' Peel: It is possible, in case you were hazarding a guess, to inhale nearly a whole bag of these whilst contending with grief and elder Koreans telling you to change your shoes because you look tired. The?

3.) Bigheaded Assurance: In case there was any doubt in my own mind, as in, Ohhhhahaha, maybe I'm just exaggerating because I look at him everyday, my son does indeed have an enormous head with an immense forehead, rendering him a genius, of which, at last count, every other elder Korean at the funeral did not hesitate to inform me.

4.) Burden: I have attended two funerals in the last two years for men who have passed away in their fifties, who have left behind loving wives and loving sons in their twenties. Men nearing middle age, please please see your doctor regularly. And please heed your doctor's counsel.

5.) Absentia: Just over 24 hours away from Baby Girl was enough of an interlude for her to cloak herself in a whole new lovely layer of sweetness. When she awoke at 3 a.m. this morning, it was apparently due to the fact that, "Let me just give you a hug. Night."

6.) Last solo flight: I think this was the fourth roundtrip flight I have made as one parent traveling with 1-2 children. I think I overheard my lap say, "Annnd, scene! That's a wrap!" this last trip. I hope I don't have to fly sans Loverpants anytime soon. Or again. Ever.

7.) It's good to be back to this:

The Dance

You cannot clip n’ save,you must extreme coupon blitz down aisles stockpiling econo-sized paper towels to swab up the mess you make baking muffintops, cane sugar only please deliciously deceive us spoonful of organic spinach plucked from your own box garden. The baby needs string beans, pureed carrots heavens to regretsies, don’t ever buy it, BPA leeching, lurking - oh! while you’re at it make sure you’re mastering the fine art of baby signing, please, no, thank you, and more more more more on whose plate? feels like yours but wait, before you eat it, click snap snap your plate with your SLR in natural light post to your site network, socially text me: playdate? don your lululemon uniform apologize profusely make me sign a waiver promise not to tell anyone your house is messy your children watch TV you made inorganic muffins oh, the humanity....

- Kendra Stanton Lee (2011)