SO many things that require getting messy are the most worthwhile, memorable, and delicious!
I stopped dead in my tracks, eyes wide, as I took in the sight of my four-year-old daughter, hair hacked off just below her jaw line with stray remnants of her beautiful long golden brown locks hanging as strings that she had missed with the scissors. “Oh, Maggie, your hair!” I wanted to cry. “Sorry,... Continue Reading →
“Oh, NO, no, no, no! Maggie Ann! What the heck?!” To my complete horror, I watched my eldest daughter, as in super slow motion, walk toward our home from a couple of houses down. She was holding her clothes in one arm. She was stark naked?! Why? What on earth? I closed my eyes, opening... Continue Reading →
Five-year old, Maggie, woke from her nap glossy eyed and red in the cheeks. “Oh, baby, you’re burning up,” I kissed her forehead (the mom thermometer). The alarm went off in my mind. She had come home with a note from preschool letting parents know that there were a few cases of chicken pox among... Continue Reading →
During the two years since my husband Lyle and I had moved our family to Fargo from Bismarck, we had found the most curious guardian angel in a female police officer. I had known Officer Cora Duin since I was a little girl. She is a remarkable woman, a dynamo, the very first uniformed female police officer... Continue Reading →
“Abracadabra! Make Grandma and Grandpa disappear!” was the final desperate attempt of two persistent little girls in the back seat to get their way. At ages four and three, Maggie and Serrah had given it their all. They had come up with reason after reason why Grandpa should turn the car toward our home in... Continue Reading →
“O.K., now, arch that back like a Halloween cat,” he repeated as if I hadn’t heard him the first time. “I AM,” this seemed hopeless. I tucked my chin to my chest, and willed my spine to pop out for the anesthesiologist attempting to insert a spinal block. “My belly is huge. There really isn’t... Continue Reading →
What could possibly be so hideously wrong with the image on the screen as to make the ultrasound tech purposely turn the screen away from our view? He looked so serious. What the heck could be wrong with our baby? Oh, jeez. Our baby is hideously deformed! Why is he so nervous? “Why did you... Continue Reading →
“Down by the bay Where the watermelons grow Back to my home I dare not go For if I do My mother will say ‘Did you ever see a moose Kissing a goose?’ Down by the bay” We were reveling in days of Raffi and grilled cheese. Who doesn’t love a good grilled cheese and... Continue Reading →
The pharmacist rang up the medicine for treating the thrush in my infant daughter's mouth. I stood nervously holding her. I hated this part, but I swallowed my pride and said, "I need to put it on a charge." He looked at me awkwardly, "We don't use charge accounts here. You have to pay with... Continue Reading →
I stared at the contents of a toddler's diaper in disbelief. He had passed a quarter. What on Earth? Throughout the two years that I had an in-home daycare, I both figuratively and literally saw some "weird shit.” The kids that I cared for ranged in age from six months old to four years old.... Continue Reading →
Love My Messy Life 