The Art of Becoming

Tom and I were both up in the middle of the night with Audrey.  She was running a fever and couldn't get comfortable.  This means we are all pretty tired today.  Of course, the night before last we were up with Sean in the middle of the night. He awoke screaming from his room. When I went in there, he refused to let me help him with anything saying he wanted Dad.  Typical.  Tom took over, and I went back to bed livid.  When Tom returned 10 minutes later, I asked if everything was okay.  I assumed Sean had had a bad dream. Tom: His covers were off and he needed help getting them back on.  It was a four alarm fire. Let the record show that I've had two nights of broken sleep and crying children.  Proceed. This morning I was reminding Sean that we needed to make another thank you note for people who had given him birthday presents. I also told him that we needed to take some pictures of him and Audrey holding Happy Birthday signs so we could email them to Grandpa whose birth

The other night we walked to the park after dinner to give Tom some quiet at home to grade papers.  Sean asked repeatedly why Tom wasn't coming to the park with us. me: I already answered that question. Sean: But why, Mama? me: You know why.  Why isn't Dad coming with us? Sean: No, you tell me! ... Sean: (quietly defeated) Because he has to grade the newspapers. Close enough.  It was beautiful outside: mid-50s, sunny, and a light breeze.  We arrived on the baseball diamond and Sean asked if we could play.  We ran the bases, pretended to pitch the ball and swing the bat.  It was glorious.  The moment was sublime. Sean: Do we live on the earth? me: Yes.  Yes we do. Sean: Where is the earth? me: The earth is all around us.  The earth is in front of us all the time.  It's beneath our feet. Sean: Do Beckie and Brent and Jonathan live on the earth? me: Yes. Sean: Do Todd and Steve live on the earth? me: Yes, they do, too. Sean: Does Greta live on t