the girl | matching tracksuits

The Dog Next Door

Wednesday 12 December 2012 | 0 Comments

The plan was simple: it was Sunday; the Girl and the Boy had been inside most of the day; there was still a bit of light left and some power in our small camera's battery -- a walk seemed in order. We reached to top of the driveway and it became immediately obvious that the walk wouldn't occur.

It had nothing to do with the impromptu photo session; the weather wasn't a factor; the Girl wasn't complaining that she was too tired. No, nothing as complicated as any of that. It was simply that Max, the neighbor's dog, was out, taking his owner for a walk. Max would make the perfect companion for L: they're both hyper, hyper, hyper, to the point of carelessness and frustration.

And so they leaped and ran, rolled and barked (yes, both of them), and the walk never got any further. I stood chatting with our neighbor, a retired gentleman who seems more like a third grandfather to L at times than anything else, and we both remarked at how quickly both the kids are growing.

"We'll be heading out to Missouri," he said as the conversation drew to a close, "to spend Christmas with our son and his family." And I realized again -- how many times will I realize this? probably countless -- that within two blinks, we'll be saying the same thing about L and/or E.

"We'll be heading out to X to spend Christmas with our daughter and her family. Our son and his family are supposed to meet us there as well," I'll tell our neighbor, asking him to keep an eye on our place.

And marveling as he turns to walk away at how recently I did the same.

All photos by the Girl.

Giving

Wednesday 05 December 2012 | 0 Comments

The Girl has surprised us of late with her generosity, spending her own money to by a copy of her favorite non-fiction book — she’s always keen to point out that it’s non-fiction — for her friend. She continued today, buying presents for a handful of friends and family from the school Gingerbread House Gift Shop (I guess a Christmas time fundraiser).

When we returned home, she was eager to dig out the wrapping paper and begin layering sheet after sheet on the gifts.

The Boy, on the other hand, is still exploring the more basic giving: the gift of joy.

Parade of Princesses

Sunday 02 December 2012 | 0 Comments

Hoards of little girls in their Sunday best roaming about downtown on a Sunday afternoon could mean only one thing: the Nutcracker is in town. The Girl and I had a father-daughter day out, and what an outing: a professional ballet company performing the Christmas classic. We sat in the center of the third row, and L sat on the edge of her seat for most of the performance — until the end, when she fell asleep.

Maybe next year…

More From Leaves

Wednesday 28 November 2012 | 0 Comments

Guests

Tuesday 27 November 2012 | 0 Comments

Aunt L, passing through on her way back home in Tennessee, stopped by for a visit. It was the first time she’d met the Boy, but certainly not the first time she’d chatted with the Girl.

This was quickly obvious as the Girl began monopolizing Aunt L’s attention. “Look at this!” became the common refrain, which I suppose is to be expected of a five-year-old.

Papa, of course, was preoccupied with the Boy.

Up the Street

Sunday 25 November 2012 | 0 Comments

I grew up in a closed environment, literally. There was one way in or out of our housing subdivision, a fact that was of great solace to my mother as I was growing up: now strangers just “passing through.” And so I had almost complete freedom to go wherever I wanted in our neighborhood while growing up.

The only rule was that I had to be able to hear Dad whistle and get back within a reasonable amount of time.

I wish we lived in such a neighborhood now, for every time the Girl is outside playing alone, I’m a little edgy. It’s unlikely anyone would be just “passing through,” and it’s unlikely that anything would happen to her. Yet Amber Alerts, urban legend, and the Jaycee Lee Dugard case make a slightly paranoid father like me more so.

And so when she heads up the street to visit a friend, I stand at the end of our driveway and watch her head up. The friend’s parents do the same when he (or they) come back down to our place. It’s a simple enough matter, but I watch her bouncing up the street and realize, not for the first or last time, that she’s growing up, that she’s journeying from home and toward independence with a rapidity I’d been warned about but doubted for myself. And it will all repeat itself with the Boy, but I’ll be more prepared by then. I hope.

Family

Saturday 24 November 2012 | 0 Comments

A pile of leaves in the backyard cannot go to waste. It calls — begs — for family photos.

It’s not big, but it’s all we’ve got.

Leaves

Friday 23 November 2012 | 0 Comments

When you have a backyard like ours, with so many huge trees with so many thousands upon thousands of leaves, there's only one thing to do on a late-November afternoon. It takes a bit of work at first, but the Girl loves work when it's play -- a sort of Tom Sawyer in reverse.

Yet quickly enough, the fun begins.

The Girl remembers from last year the fun of jumping in the leaves, but she's forgotten -- or simply not realized -- the fact that she weighs significantly more this year. And this means a harder impact, for leaves don't provide as much cushion as a five-year-old might assume.

The Boy, on the other hand, takes a totally different approach. Calm, curious he sits among the leaves and wiggles his feet, swings his arms, and enjoys the newness of the situation.

It's easy to credit this to his age, but there's a personality difference that's indisputable.

There's a certain explosiveness to the Girl ("You think?" responds everyone who's ever met her.) that finally finds direction, throwing leaves here, there, and just about everywhere.