‘If you need me, I’ll be in the bath with my goggles on,’ said my newly minted six-year-old, over the weekend. June is a pretty big month for us around here, but I think life lately can be summed up in that sentence. We celebrate how and where we can. And even though it’s June, the weather has turned October-ish, so socially-distanced cupcakes outside get rained out, or cut short. More on that later. Before Isla’s birthday there was our…
The kid recently asked me if I wished I could walk. And I know we’re supposed to build up suspense in our writing, but I told her no. We’ve talked about disability awareness before, but she’s never asked me this question. I’ll start this by saying I used to be an ambulatory wheelchair user. That is a thing, it’s not some kind of miracle when wheelchair users get out of our chairs. Sit down. Growing up, I would walk in…
This week, I spoke to someone. On the phone. Someone not related to me. Someone not married to me, on his weekly trip to the supermarket, using one of my scarves as a mask. Every year, without fail, people buy me scarves. I don’t wear them. They collect, and possibly multiply in my closet. But I don’t wear them. These days, my husband wears one (with penguins on it) to go to the supermarket. He calls me to tell me…
If we were having coffee these days, it would probably be whipped coffee on a zoom meeting. I’ve tried two of those, zoom meetings. With the camera off. That might defeat the purpose or whatever. But I don’t need to see the size of my pores or feel bad about my chins. A few weeks ago, I might have mentioned that my kid cut my husband’s hair. I suggested that she go from the ends, but what do I know?…
I was counting the days, then I lost count. Staying home isn’t new to me, but when we moved here, I imagined having a birthday cake at my favorite bakery, going to the bookstore and then taking the kid to the zoo. Perfect day, complete with people-watching. But this year, everyone’s at home or should be. What day is it? One day last week, it was my birthday. The night before Isla was in her blanket fort, drawing. ‘Nothing to…
