About last night

The Bunny Rabbit seems to be going through some boundary stretching exercises.


He gets into his share of trouble because he has an attention span of about a nano second. But he is sweet and loving and really a very good boy at heart.


We have been talking about his moods lately. He seems to think everyone is out to get him. And he is argumentative and questions authority (me) which doesn't sit well with Momma.


Yesterday his teacher took me aside to tell me of his behavior at school.


Same story.


So last night Gapetto and I had a Big Talk with him.


First we assured him that we love him. Then we asked him if anything is bothering him.


Then we asked if he was frustrated. He allowed that he was but was unable to put it into words.


We proceeded with the rest.


Respect. Obedience. Being kind. Doing as you are told. How you might handle things differently.


He began to cry and said everyone was getting him into trouble.


We talked about owning your own actions. About doing the right thing. About thinking independently of your friends.


We hugged and this Mommy was misty eyed.


An hour or so later I saw him alone in the den.


I went in to hug him and I told him I loved him again.


He looked me straight in the eye and asked a little peevishly,


'What were we TALKING ABOUT in there?'

Powerful good

A taste of Bob and Paul

A few nights ago at dinner we were all in high spirits.

There was good natured ribbing and story telling and

LONGGGGGG discriptions of movie scenes, questions

about which Harry Potter movie was our favorite, etc.

Suddenly the Dolly announced menacingly:

'Careful, you DON'T want to get a taste of Bob'

[up goes the scrawny right bicep]

'and Paul.'

[up goes the scrawny left bicep]

Never has so much been made of something so little

Okay so nobody stopped me.

As often happens in renovations and or restorations one thing leads to another. After FINALLY finishing the floor in my hallway I realized that the baseboards (in fact all of the trim), the walls, the doors and the ceiling needed sprucing up.

This is a modest 1925 bungalow with a tiny hallway and the dang thing has seven (as in 7) doorways. That's a lot of trim to repair from all of the twin accoutrements over the years (not to mention the twins themselves).

I have always been a fan of older homes. There is no love lost between me and the new suburban home. However, carrying a child in each arm tends to make a new (and insane) mother wish for wide open spaces. Doorways became my enemy. I had to dip one baby through and then the other. (Prior to that there was the problem of the nine month pregnant with twins body - but that's another story.)

Consequently strollers, cozy coups, baby walkers - all have violated my formerly pristine white trim. There were divots in the paint for goddsakes.

I resigned myself to stripping the baseboards and repairing the rest. Given that there is 85 years worth of paint on that trim one would proceed with caution. I started scraping the baseboards but that decorative baseboard cap was taking a gouging at my hands. So I pulled it all off.

That is some seriously thick paint. It looks like a Krispy Kreme on steroids!

Or maybe a petit four.

I adjusted one corner of the baseboards where the floor dips a good 1-1/2" in a 30" span. I considered having the trim dip stripped - then thought about the toxins - then I thought about stripping myself with chemicals - then thought about the toxins and the lead - then thought about replacing it and then thought about the trees and the trash.

Then I decided to stop thinking - it is too hard for me to figure out and too small of a room to get so het up about.

So the baseboards are painted, the divots are repaired and all of the trim is painted.

What's next? Skim coating the plaster walls that look like H-E-double toothpicks.

Where did I get this chutzpah - this insane drive?

(These kahoonas?)

Why can't it be used for the common good instead of just saving old houses? (My old house, to wit.)

It's a dirty job but somebody's got to do it.