Leave it to Leonor #339

This week, I'm thinking about the passage of time. Today, my daughter turns four. Four! Her memories are going to start firming up and these are the life experiences that she is going to start to remember long term. That is terrifying and nuts! A real "do not mess this up" moment.

I could get very saccharine and emotional, but instead here is a list of the very serious, very real, Expert with a capital E, parenting tips I've put together. 

1. Pack away all clothes that are not seasonally appropriate so that way your toddler can wear whatever they want to wear and you don't have to battle it out every morning. So what if they look like an absolute clown every. single. day. So what if she chooses to wear the same blue fleece every. single. day. THIS IS FINE. 

2. Buy extras of the stuffie your child insists on taking everywhere. Hide the other ones and swap them out when they need a wash so that they wear evenly. DO NOT FORGET IT IS IN THE WASH. If you make this grave error, you will have to spin an elaborate tale about a visiting cousin stuffie who was passing through town and belongs to a student at Papa's school. 

3. If you are not going to chug your coffee like a frat boy at his first kegger, then put it in a thermos. No more cold coffee! You are welcome. 

4. If your kid loves sweet potatoes and then inexplicably decides she hates them, give her some candied yams and then rebrand sweet potatoes as yams. Problem solved. 

5. Just hand over the banana. Do NOT attempt to peel it or cut it or break it. Just hand it over and back away slowly. 

6. Gentle parenting! So great to break all those generational cycles! Wonderful. It's SO SO nice to give your child choices. It's not exhausting or frustrating. It doesn't make you want to tear your hair out or curl up into the fetal position when they tell you they choose NONE of the options you've provided. 

7. Always have snacks. A minimum of two kinds. Preferably five. If you do not have a snack, you are in danger. Seek assistance.  

8. Just carry their coat with you. They will freeze and then ask you for it and you shouldn't say "I told you so" no matter how badly you'd like to. "I told you so" means nothing to toddlers. 

9. No matter how much good/great/extraordinary music you expose your child to there will come a moment when you are trapped in traffic and have to listen to the song from Sing 2 a dozen or two dozen times on repeat. Make your peace with it now. Sing it loudly in different voices, tenors, accents, languages. Do whatever you have to do to survive. 

10. They have to pee. they always have to pee. Even if they say they don't have to pee, they do. Even if they are "sure", they have to pee. I promise. 

Also yes, also, there are so many good parts, but I said I wasn't going to get sappy!

This week in reading. . .
I finished the truly great The Forgotten Girls which you can and should preorder now. I am not sure how I feel about books about the pandemic. I loved The Sentence, but Elizabeth's Strout's Lucy by the Sea fell a little flat for me. I read Meant to Be a very strange novel that is essentially JFK Jr./Carolyn Bessette fan fiction? 

​This week in listening. . .
Oscar Isaac singing and playing guitar. I REPEAT. Oscar Isaac singing and playing guitar.