Everyday Adventures

The month the twelfth had us travelling, the first big journey across the pond that he’ll remember.  He’s made the trip before but only as an infant.  This time it’s a big exciting adventure.

1. Bags packed and ready to go.
2. Spiderman backpack filled with a baby dragon, a plastic snake, a transformer, and a one-legged Godzilla.  Essentials for the long flight.
3. A yummy airport breakfast of pancakes covered in maple syrup.
4. Me and the little man finishing our breakfast.
5. An airport bathroom selfie with the two of us because, why not?
6. He loved the magic walkway.  I could barely keep up.
7. Our plane, ready for passengers.
8. All settled in his big seat and reading the safety card.
9. Up and above the clouds.  He’s excited to be up so high and looking out over the earth below.
10. Table for two at 30,000 feet.
11. Movies.  Lots and lots of movies.
12. Last trip to the airplane loo before we land!

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Joining Amy Gretchen again with the 12 of 12 project.

The breakfast counter.

We nourish ourselves with porridge, milk, and coffee on its smooth cold stone.

As we eat, we discuss the activities and adventures ahead.

Here, we begin to frame the story of each day.

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Please follow the circle around to Sarah and see how she interpreted framing.

Springtime.

The days are longer, the air warmer, and the sunshine brighter.  I can feel the dreariness of the English winter melting away and lifting my spirits.  I’ve even been running in shorts.  Shorts!

It’s the tree climbing, ice cream eating, bubble blowing time of year.

And it’s amazing.

I don’t know what happened to our bedtime routine.  We used to have a system.  There were schedules we stuck to with religious fervor.  And this worked for a long time.  It got us from sleepless nights to sleeping through the night.  The stability of routine ensuring that none of us ended up in a pile of tears in the corner.

But now we’ve evolved into a state a chaos.  There’s no schedule, no set bed time, no set agenda of activities.  Sometimes there are baths, sometimes not.  Showers in the morning mean bath time gets traded for Lego time.  Although sometimes bath time and Lego time become one, the plastic bricks making great waterproof entertainment.

Some nights I read stories.  When I voice the character of Toad in Frog and Toad Are Friends, he laughs and smiles.  Other nights he’s treated to “special stories” invented in Daddy’s imagination.  And the kid’s got skills, selling skills, already expertly talking his way into “just one more” story before the lights go out.  Bedtime is never at the same time.

Deep down I know why we’re here.  Now a full-time working mom, I only see him a few hours a day during the week.  That time in the evening before bed is much more precious.  I’m not in as much of a hurry to get him to bed.  I want to relax the rules we once had and just enjoy his company.

There is one constant though.  Bedtime always ends snuggling Zezza.

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Please follow the circle to see what bedtime looks like for my friend Erin.

For a several years, my friend and photographer Amy Gretchen has completed a project she calls “12 of 12.”  Twelve photos taken on the twelfth of each month that together tell the story of that day.  And this year, I decided to join her.

At first I wasn’t sure whether it made sense to do this.  Many times the 12th falls on a work day with me at work and the little man at school.  Surely that doesn’t make for a very exciting story.  But as Amy reminded me when I mentioned this, the stories of these days are just as important to capture and remember.  So this month, even though the 12th fell on a work day, I decided to play along.

But as it turned out, the day did not go as planned.  Instead of a day in the office, it was a dreary day spent juggling emails, phone calls, and a little boy with an eye infection.