So this is weird. I wrote all kinds of heart-felt remembrances yesterday (well, two or three) and as it turned out, no one remembers them but me. Aimee doesn't remember that I told her to run away. Casey doesn't remember that I promised him a story about a mouse detective and never followed through. I have felt guilty for YEARS about these things and it was all for naught. (Well, honestly, I haven't, but what if I had? What a waste that would have been!) I remember that Casey threw a rock and hit either me or Jana on the head, I just don't remember which of us it was. I can remember the feel of the rock hitting my head, just as clearly as I can remember seeing the rock hit Jana's head. (Maybe he threw rocks at both of us?) The other day Mallory said something really funny and I repeated it to Chris and then thirty minutes later neither one of us could remember what it was. Makes me wonder why I try so hard to, you know, be kind and engaging and fun with my kids. They won't remember it anyway. Or they'll remember it all wrong. The inefficiency of memory: an excuse for poor living. Don't worry, I'll probably forget that theory in a matter of seconds.
Scene: After the Christmas pageant. Me: You did great, Mallory, we're proud of you! Mallory: What was your favorite part? Me: Hmm. I liked the "Whatcha Gonna Call That Baby?" song. Chris: I liked that one too. Me: But I also liked "Joy to the World." Mallory: Joey in the world? What's that? Me: No, joy to the world, the song you just sang. Mallory: Oh yeah. Me: That's one of my favorite songs. Phoebe: A favorite song is a song that's your favorite and you like it and you sing. (Pause) Phoebe: And you dance. Mallory, before the show, in front of our haphazardly decorated Christmas tree. Phoebe declined to be photographed. All I was able to photograph of the event itself: Phoebe, objecting to the camera's flash: Now she closes her eyes before I snap every picture. Sigh. But she's cute anyway! And so is Mallory! And their dresses match! We're thinking Arby's: Okay, that's it! Recently read: The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife . ...
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Mom
Casey
So, now I am curious. Why did you tell me to run away? :)
Clearly there is some confusion about the rock throwing. Whatever actually happened is lost in the mists of time.
Aimee, I, um, don't remember. You got mad at me and Casey for some reason and said you were going to run away. I said, fine, go ahead, so you packed a suitcase and headed off down the dirt road. Either Mom or Dad was driving by and picked you up about half a mile away. I think Casey and I both got in trouble for not stopping you. In my defense, I had just read the Ramona book where Ramona tried to run away and her mother kind of used reverse psychology to make Ramona understand how beloved she was and that was, actually, the effect I was going for, but I obviously didn't implement it very well.
How funny. After all this time, I find out it was your fault.
Hee Hee! Just kidding.