Maybe I have a green thumb after all

I got 2 out of 3 of my orchid stems to re-bloom. Not bad for a city girl.

OK, now she's just milking it

Scene: H's room, at bedtime last night.

H: Mommy, will you snuggle with me?
Me: Sorry, honey, not tonight--I have a lot of stuff to do.
H: But mommy, I'm going to college in 10 years. Every second counts.

Time Flies

H turned 9 on Friday. I was putting her to bed last night, and she noted that she'd be off to college in 10 years. Then she commented on how that was almost the same amount of time as she's been alive so far. She got very emotional and told me how she didn't want to let go of mommy yet. Then it really hit me: she's halfway to 18. They grow up so fast, and I don't want to have any regrets about the time I spent with them when they were all mine. So from now on, it's just about cherishing the moments.

Me and T

Scene, in the car yesterday

T: Mommy, what kind of jobs make a lot of money?
Me: Well, there are all kinds of jobs, but money shouldn't be the most important thing.
T: I know, but I want a lot of money so my kids can have a good life.

Aww.

I Don't Wanna Grow Up...

I broke the news about Santa Claus to H the other night, and it did not go well. We were talking about friends who recently got puppies, and then it was suddenly as if a light bulb went off above her head. She said, "I think you and dad are Santa Claus which is why we never get a puppy even if we ask for one." That led to a whole discussion with both kids about some of the implausities, and I neither confirmed nor denied. T asked how he could really come down the chimney, and H couldn't believe he could get all around the world in one night. I told them to remember the Santa Clause movies that explained all this. Right before bed, H was flipping through the American Girl catalog and making a Christmas list. She handed it to me and when I asked her why we weren't mailing it to Santa, the discussion came up again and she pleaded, "just tell me the truth." (NB: when kids ask for the truth, they don't really mean it.) So I told her that Santa wasn't real, and at first she seemed OK with it ("yeah, it never really made sense that some old dead guy came back to life and gave kids presents") and then slowly her world started to crumble: "You mean, you bought me the Barbie guitar when I was 4?" "Does daddy eat the cookies?" "How do you make Santa's handwriting different?" "What about the NORAD Santa Tracker?" That last question was tough--how do you explain to an 8-year-old that there's a vast adult conspiracy to keep kids believing in Santa? She started to cry and say that everything was meaningless. I told her Christmas was not just about Santa--it was about the magic of the season: getting together with family ("we do that at Thanksgiving"), the snow ("it snows all winter"), the Christmas carols (eyeroll on that one). So then I backtracked a little and told her maybe I was wrong. I had some good back-up for that (see earlier posts re: duplicate Christmas gifts) so she seems to accept now that mom and dad are responsible for some of the Santa gifts, but there is still a Santa. I will not be broaching this topic again with either child until they're in college.

I'm loving this season of Top Chef, and I'm calling the Top 3 (which I actually called from Day One): Jennifer and the two brothers. I wonder if there'll be a romance between Jennifer and the younger one. I'm a little scared of Jennifer.

Went to see the American Idol concert last week and met them at a meet-and-greet. They could not have been nicer (except for Megan), especially Kris and Adam.