When Andrew wakes up in the morning, he usually likes to be carried from his bed to the couch in the living room, where he can watch a little TV and begin waking up. Sure, it's a little indulgent, but it's far less painful than dealing with a cranky three year old. Hey, you pick your battles. One morning this week, while toting Andrew, who is not getting any lighter, into the living room, I noticed there was a laundry basket of clean clothes sitting on the couch. For some reason, I let this really bother me, so I angrily proclaimed, "Argh, that stupid basket needs to get off the couch." Andrew replied in a calm voice with a shake of his head, "It's no good yelling at the laundry basket, Daddy. It doesn't have any feet." I didn't really think about it much after that, until I saw the following sketch by Carl Richards of the New York Times.
That's when I realized, Andrew is far smarter than me at some things. If I resolve to do anything this year, it will be to spend more time where the circles overlap. Then, maybe I can become the Man my sons envision me as.
...
Until then, I'll have to bribe them with pizza at the Trolley Stop on Madison Avenue
Friday night and Saturday morning where fairly uneventful. The days mainly consisted of playing with toys we got for Christmas since the "new" is still shiny, intact and has definitely not worn off yet. The day was set aside for the kids; the night, however, that was reserved for New Year's Eve. And this year, like every one in recent history, we headed to Nora's. This has become a tradition for two reasons. One, she has always lived within stumbling distance of us, whether it was our apartment downtown or, later, our house in midtown. Two, it doesn't matter if you drop in while walking through the neighborhood or attend an event like New Year's Eve with scores of people, she makes entertaining look effortless. To me, that has always been a good indication that somebody excels at something. And she did not disappoint. The theme this year was "Stuff It 2011" (last year was "Will if Fry", involving a couple of deep fryers and assorted batters and breading). Agnes participated with pirogi, which turned out to be one of many delicious dishes.
We actually got home before midnight since Tadek, who has been keeping Andrew since school let out, was watching the boys for the night, and we didn't want him to have to stay up too late. We did however have our own champagne and toasted the new year.
Apparently, Noah has resolved to be more upright in 2012. This is what I discovered when I walked in his room Sunday morning. This was the first time I've seen him pull up to standing.
We celebrated with pancakes and mimosas that morning, and that evening, we completed the sad task of deconstructing Christmas.
Ah, but don't fret, it is a new year with new opportunities. Let us try to keep it between the circles.
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