An inconclusive list of things I’ve learned from having a puppy in the house (again)
Posted on September 12, 2019 8 Comments
- Tiles are a godsend.
- Carpet accidents happen. Despite your best efforts.
- Money spent on a good carpet cleaner is never a waste.
- Reading instructions and learning the proper use of your carpet cleaner is time well spent.
- Puppies (like teens) eat a lot. They will eat
pretty much anyeverything. - Puppies have two speeds; full throttle or fast asleep.
- You will walk more than you usually do or care to. You may even run.
- The older dog will teach the puppy good habits. And bad ones.
- The sound of dogs play-fighting is different from the sound of dogs actually fighting.
- Puppies learn rules quickly. They will flaunt them. While looking at you from the corner of their eyes.
- Puppies will bring out the gentleness and sweetness in recalcitrant teens.
- You will be responsible for the puppy (even though it will “belong” to the nearly-adult child).
- You will not mind this responsibility. You always wanted a horde of kids and dogs.
- You can teach a puppy to boop noses.
- Clever dogs learn quickly. Good behaviour, and bad.
- There is intense joy in being greeted at the door by excited dogs.
My friend, Bear
Posted on September 5, 2019 1 Comment
CW: mention (no detail) of dog death in children’s literature
When Child 2 was five he started a reading program at school. He was an early reader, like his brother, and the teacher was gently extending his skills. Every day, he had to pick a book from a specially marked box, bring it home, and get one of his parents to read with him. The idea was that he’d read, we’d listen, and if he stumbled, we’d help him sound out words and figure out meanings from context.
Read MoreUnearthed
Posted on August 8, 2019 11 Comments
Acacias, adorned in gold, bob heavy heads to a koolbardi’s caroling call. A raven, scratching at freshly turned soil, unearths Marco’s watch. The koolbardi swoops, screeching. A clash of beaks. A storm of feathers.
Silence.
Gingerly, Gina grabs her shovel.
How not to make my father’s sardine achar
Posted on August 6, 2019 2 Comments
Around mid-July become deeply maudlin and morose. Be confused about why colours seem muted, sounds seem dulled, about why you’re suddenly short-tempered and tetchy with your family. Wonder if you have a hormone imbalance. Check for pain or injury. When you find nothing glaringly wrong, wonder if mood swings characterise anxiety or depression.
Read MoreInheritance of fear
Posted on May 1, 2019 21 Comments
I watch my four-year-old son spring from rock to boulder — a little mountain goat — giggling with pleasure.
“Don’t fall!” I call, my motherliness rising like bile in my throat.
He doesn’t hear, and keeps climbing — surefooted, confident.
I hope he never hears my anxiety.
This post was written for the YeahWrite #420 Microprose Challenge grid. Click on the badge (above) to read other entries, and to vote. Leave a comment for the writer letting them know what you enjoyed about their work too!
Love is a string of cheese
Posted on April 3, 2019 6 Comments
In response to Nate’s critique of his own imagery in Break Up
Read MoreRipples
Posted on March 28, 2019
I’m checking in on you.
The words from my friend, so simple and so full of all the concern and love and tenderness between us, loosed emotions barely held at bay.
Read MoreSilky Sidney
Posted on March 7, 2019 2 Comments
She pinched off a piece of the tiny banana between the tips of her fingers and thumb. Sun-ripened and sugary-sweet, it was harvested earlier that morning from one of the many banana plants in her sprawling, verdant, over-planted garden. She mashed it meticulously, breaking up large chunks so there would be no choking hazard. Then she grabbed the ‘baby’, pried open his mouth, and shoved banana inside, scraping her fingers along his teeth to get every last scrap. She tilted his chin up and massaged his throat–there would be no spitting out of pre-triturated banana, no rejection of her love.
Read MorePayback
Posted on March 7, 2019 6 Comments
‘How much to cross?’ The Devil rubbed his bald head. He missed his golden locks.
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Asha Rajan 