Year 5, Day 294

With Miles's school rapidly approaching winter break, his class held a holiday party this afternoon. After pulling some strings to get out early, I left work after lunch to take part in the festivities. While my last visit to Miles's school was filled with parents, this time I was there alone, at least for a … Continue reading Year 5, Day 294 →

Year 5, Day 290

It's Spirit Week at school, and every day Miles has a different theme to dress up for. Today's was "Pajama Day," and while you'd think Miles, a child who historically never wants to get dressed in the morning, would be absolutely thrilled about this, he exhibited quite a bit of trepidation as we pulled into … Continue reading Year 5, Day 290 →

Year 5, Day 268

Another birthday is looming for me, threatening (as it does) to ratchet the years up one more notch and bring me that much closer to an assisted living facility. Frankly, I can't wait. It is simply too noisy in this house -- all the time -- and if a retirement home is what it'll take … Continue reading Year 5, Day 268 →

Year 5, Day 267: The Fourth Dipsgiving

Today heralded the return of what has become one of the premier events of the holiday season -- Dipsgiving, the friendsgiving that eliminates pesky things like silverware and most solids. GAZE UPON IT. GRAZE UPON IT. Looking back over the years, there has been a lot of child supervision that has had to go into … Continue reading Year 5, Day 267: The Fourth Dipsgiving →

Year 5, Day 263

When it comes to his friends at school, Miles comes home almost every day talking about the plans they've all made to have hang out and have play dates. All of these plans are, naturally, free from absolutely any parent input on any side, but it's nice to at least know Miles is making friends. … Continue reading Year 5, Day 263 →

Year 5, Day 246

When we asked Miles what he wanted to be for Halloween this year, he considered a modest list of approximately 50 possibilities before finally settling on the obvious answer we always expected. If you guessed "Chase from PAW Patrol holding the head of Chase from PAW Patrol," you are correct. As was the case last … Continue reading Year 5, Day 246 →

Year 5, Day 224

As we walked in the door to school this morning, a voice from our left said, "Hi Miles." I turned to find an adorable little girl standing near the front desk, looking at Miles and waving. "Miles!" I said after he didn't respond. "Say hi!" Not breaking stride, he gave her a half-hearted, borderline dismissive … Continue reading Year 5, Day 224 →

Year 5, Day 193

Jaclyn had to make a relatively last-minute trip to the Ohio State Fair for work today*, leaving me alone to contend with Miles and Brie. Fortunately, our vet tech neighbor saw to Brie today while I was at work, and yes, Miles was in school for the better part of the day, but what WASN'T … Continue reading Year 5, Day 193 →

Year 5, Day 174

When Miles is talking about his day, he often provides details at a pace that can be difficult to keep up with. Sometimes I just nod, other times I'll ask for clarification. Sometimes I just want to make sure I heard him correctly when he identified one of the other students in his class as … Continue reading Year 5, Day 174 →

Year 5, Day 163

Miles and I killed a couple hours at the Charlotte Comicon today while we waited for Jaclyn to return from her retreat, and while I was there to rummage through some long boxes, Miles quickly demonstrated that he was only interested in two things. First, acquiring a balloon sword. Why oh why did I give … Continue reading Year 5, Day 163 →