Beyond Bringing Up Boys

David and I had been married 5 years when we moved to Louisville, KY, for David to teach at Highview Baptist School. Zachary was 7 months old.  It soon became our custom to walk the sidewalks of our neighborhood, Ashbrooke Gardens, after dinner. Zach was as happy-as-a-clam in his stroller and it gave David and me an opportunity to catch up on our day. He was a rookie in his teaching career and had the stories of the day to prove it. I was at home with Zachary, and was always anxious to share the newest milestone or development that he had achieved. Three years later when Samuel joined our family, we were still walking and talking each evening after dinner.  And three years after that, when Seth joined Team Balty, we were still walking together. Over the years things changed of course; Zach outgrew the stroller, then rode a bike, and then drove a battery operated truck. As soon as Samuel could hang on tightly enough, he was not content to be in the stroller either and h...

Like most mothers of boys I have a box full of first-aid supplies! Most of the time (thankfully) they sit unused in my cabinet. But, have you ever noticed how accidents happen at the most unexpected time?? Seriously. The marching band director called last evening to say that the gong fell over on Samuel and cut his head. A what, you say.  Yeah, that was me a few years ago, so here's a visual. After the blood stopped flowing, a one-inch laceration, greeted me. It was almost 7 pm and my only option was urgent care, as I don't deem "needing stitches" Emergency Department worthy, unless of course, you're losing a limb. Then, that's fine! Go on in!  I've taken my boys to urgent care before, but they've only used glue or in one case, nothing. And, that time was worse than this! But, I digress. After cleansing it thoroughly and spraying Banda-Sil on it, I was still lamenting that, in my opinion, this still needed closed. I felt certai...

Boston.  Very early in our trip planning, we began to realize that staying in Boston had a pretty high price point. Not only was there the cost of the room, plus associated taxes and fees, but there was usually a daily parking fee also. With a family of five, almost any hotel room would have been pretty close quarters too.  We like each other, most of the time, but should we push that??  No, we didn't think so. Here's what we would recommend: Rent a house outside of the city through VRBO or Airbnb. We chose this charming little cape cod in Waltham , MA, which is about 30 minutes east of Boston.  Purchase the pass for the T (That would be the subway and bus system governed by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority - but everyone simply refers to the the system as "the T").We drove about 15-20 minutes from Waltham to the red line in Alewife and rode that into the city.  Start with an   Old Town Trolley Tou...

17 years. The days are long, but the years are short.  We love you, Samuel!