Weekday Update

So in spite of reinstating the blog I don’t know that I’ve done a great job of describing our current lives. Since I use this as a bit of a journal to look back on, without the implications of emoting and deeply self-reflecting so that when I look back upon it I want to retroactively boil myself, it’s best if I include updates every now and then. I’m always pleased to look back and read about the little ones in the old blog, because it reminds me of how cute and unsmelly they were.

The little ones are now more on the huge side. They are obsessed with longboarding, which is kind of scary if you look it up on youtube, and try to get out to a hill as often as possible. They spend a huge part any remotely acceptable weather time outside on streets, perfecting their toe and heel slides. It makes them even hungrier, my god, the hunger. You don’t even know. Unless you have two giant boys.

The elder son (14) has surpassed my height, which, for those of you who know me on the earth plane, is considerable. He’s solidly 6 ft tall and about 185 lbs of really hungry muscle. His hands are much like paws, and he sometimes struggles with breaking things. He never means to but it’s kind of like living with Mr. Incredible. Interestingly I watched him pull the handle off the microwave about 6 months ago, as he opened it to take out his food. He always looks confused, sad, and stunned when something shatters or comes apart in his hands. We’ve taken to calling him the Pale Orc (most recent Hobbit movie, if you’re a bit nerdy). He’s registering for high school next week and is very excited about that. He is a strong student and athlete, all around a pretty all right kid. One of the great pleasures in my life right now is watching him play basketball. He is truly spectacular at defense–it’s hard to convey but he just puts every ounce of determination into his very strong body, and applies that all over a soon-to-be frustrated opponent. He’s a good all-around player but this defense….it is of note.

The littler one, and by littler I mean even huger, relatively speaking, is on his way to extremely tall and lanky. He’s 11 now and somewhere in the 5’6″ range, though that may have changed since last week. Feet are about a men’s size 10. There is no question that things are a little awkward over here right now. He came out of his room wearing my jeans the other day. That hurts on a few levels, not least of which is that my jeans seem just about perfect for an 11 year old boy. Anyway, he’s about a head taller than most other kids his age, which makes him the gentle giant. He is such a kind soul, deeply generous and sweet. He has followed in the football/basketball/track footsteps of his older brother, and is an excellent athlete. He has developed into quite a basketball player this winter–rebounding and driving to the basket are his main strengths. He looks uncannily like my dad. He’s at the very strange age of really starting to grow up while being just a little boy. Middle school next year, which I think he will love. He’s just this incredibly lovable kid, truly. He’s a fun one to parent. He was emptying the dishwasher the other day wearing a bathrobe, a scarf, and a helmet. That’s how he do.

The artist, the dreamer–the girlie. I don’t have as much updating to do on her, because updating implies that I had a bunch of prior information that is now old and inaccurate. With her it’s more like…gathering current knowledge and deepening perspectives. This girl, she is something entirely new to me. Not because she is a girl, though certain aspects of that are definitely novel. She’s just differently in her head than my boys are, and is so interested in engaging in philosophical, theoretical, existential, and sometimes whimsical discussions. She draws and writes and thinks, then goes over to the younger son and bops him on the head with a pillow. Hijinks ensue. Then she grabs a snack, and reads some more. We’ve been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer together, which has been great. She’s in the throes of 7th grade girlhood, which is both fun and agonizing to watch. I am reminded of both the incredible excellence of girlhood friendships and the intense shittiness we perpetrated upon each other, in varying degrees. She’s awesome, basically, and I get to be this person in her life that probably does not have to experience some of the harder aspects of parenting a tween girlie. Good deal.

So that’s how it is over here. Fun and busy (in a good healthy way, not in a dramatic I-win-busy way). These are good times.