Futbol

Many times before, I have written about Munchkin's obsession with various sports, her sharing of this obsession with Smoking Hot Roommate, and their specific love of The Chelsea Football Club. I have also mentioned that, on occasion, there are really big games on weekday afternoons, and that they sometimes skip out of work/school to watch them. Yesterday was one of those days...

The difference is that this time, at the encouraging of So Midwestern, I decided to join them. Who doesn't love hanging out in sports bars in the afternoon? Coming off of a really productive morning, it seemed like a nice way to spend the afternoon. Little did I know that I was in for The Greatest Game Ever.

Unfortunately, someone else will have to explain why, because I don't really know:-)

Here were my thoughts:

1) There sure were a lot of people watching the game, given that it started at 2:30 on a Tuesday.
2) Very few of those people appeared to be American-born.
3) Even fewer were girls. No wonder that the troublesome twosome is so popular:-)
4) Everyone seems to own a scarf of the team they like best.
5) The rules are incredibly complex! Barcelona was winning 2-0 (also? The cool kids just call them "Barsa"). Then Chelsea scored a goal, which I thought meant that they were losing 2-1.

But no, it actually meant that they were tied. Turns out they had already played one game, and you figure out the winner by putting the scores together. Since Chelsea won that game 1-0, they were now tied 2-2.

Only they weren't because Chelsea's goals counted more, so in fact they were winning 2-2. My first guess had to do with the Pound/Euro exchange rate, but I guess that wasn't the reason...

Confused? Well, you can easily get past the confusion by drinking too much and singing...that seemed to work for everyone in attendance.

After some more seemingly gripping action (my view? nothing happened for a very long time) Chelsea scored a goal at the very end to tie the game 2-2 and win the overall game 3-2. Half of the crowd erupted into spontaneous hugging and shouting, while half fell into a very subdued (and largely Spanish-spoken) despair. I was just glad to see that my impressionable and under-aged sister stayed quietly by the side and out of the ruckus:-)

So, that was my afternoon as a soccer fan. Honestly, it was really fun...you should all try it the next time there is The Biggest Game Ever!!!

On Booze

Kind of based on an email conversation with So Midwestern earlier today...

As we have established, my sister is 17. She is smart, popular and very social. She does the things that most 17 year old social butterflies do. In about a year and four months, she will leave me for college, at which point she will likely do all of the things that 18 year old college freshmen do. Frankly, her popularity with older kids has meant that she has done a lot of the things that 17 and 18 year olds like to do since she was about 14.

Wrapped up in all of that, of course, is alcohol. This may come as a huge surprise to many of you, but a lot of teenagers spend a lot of time trying to come up with stuff to drink, EVEN THOUGH THEY AREN'T OLD ENOUGH TO!!!

Without a doubt, I benefit from being her sister and not her mother. She doesn't do things without telling me (often to discuss it, at length, beforehand:-)) and I am about 99% confident that I know all of the times and places where she has been presented with such libations, and her reaction to every one of those instances. I will spare you the details...and this isn't really about that.

What I have for you are two questions, neither of which I will answer in this space ('cuz I am paranoid) but which I would encourage discussion of and will gladly answer off-line.

Question 1: Many parents choose to let their kids drink a little bit at home. This could mean a glass of wine with dinner, or a beer watching a football game or something similar. Such consumption is, in most states, legal and the arguments in favor are largely wrapped up in demystifying alcohol, encouraging responsible behavior and helping to kind of "learn" how it works. Arguing against, it could be seen as a tacit permission to partake in consumption outside of the house in less legal and more dangerous circumstances. As this applies to me, please discuss your approval or disapproval of allowing Munchkin to have a drink or two with dinner, or possibly a delicious sunset cocktail on the beach...

Question 2: Is it my obligation as a big sister to get her absolutely hammered at least once before she leaves for college? Or my obligation as her mother to discourage that as much as I can?

OK, go...

Holidays

You probably didn't know that today was a holiday, did you? That is probably because you don't live in Massachusetts, which is the only place that celebrates this (made up) holiday. Well, except for Maine, I think.

The holiday? Technically it is Patriot's Day, which commemorates something or other to do with some Patriots - either the battles of Lexington and Concord, or winning the Super Bowl, I am not sure which. Really, though, the holiday is Marathon Monday, where large numbers of people take the day off to cheer for extraordinary skinny people running really, really fast.

And today, hopefully not dying of heat stroke.

One of the many things I have learned in my seven years in Boston: the marathon is a bona fide Big Deal. The Chicago marathon is a big deal, too, but it is not quite the same (although I think it is bigger than it was ten years ago when I lived there). I am not sure there is another place where the race is bigger in comparison to the size of the city than Boston...it becomes a huge presence starting on Friday when the runners from out of town start to trickle into the city. It helps that the weather was awesome all weekend, that the Bruins had a big game on Saturday, and that the Red Sox season just started: all of that together made for TONS of people out and about all weekend long.

There is a pretty big problem, though: it is going to be almost 90 degrees today, and the race starts at noon. Anyone from New England who has been training for this race is unlikely to have spent much time in anything approaching that kind of heat, which makes it a very dangerous undertaking, and the authorities have been encouraging people to take it very easy. They have also kind of encouraged people to not run by offering to let them put off their entries until next year.

I know a handful of people running, all of them to raise money for one charity or another. I actually think that most of the runners in the race are running for charity: I think that is the only way to get into the race unless you can run really fast:-) So, send your best (cool) wishes to the runners today, and wish them all the best of luck!. Take it easy everyone, and drink lots of fluids!!!

Two

Sunday is the baby girls birthday! They, obviously, don't really understand the concept of birthdays, or of ages...although they can both count well past two:-) But they sure are gonna love those cupcakes!

I still consider it to be something of an upset that I haven't broken them yet. Turns out, kids are a lot more resilient than you probably assume! The two years seems like it has flown by, but at the same time seems like a really, really long time. They don't seem like they have been around that long, but actually being in the hospital seems like eons ago.

And the pictures!!! My God they were so tiny! When you see them every day, you don't notice the dramatic growth, but when you look back at the pictures the changes are astronomical. I actually have thoughts like that at day care when I see the infants...I can barely remember them being that size...now imagine how I will feel when they are both taller than me at age 9 :-P

So, no major birthday party plans. Partially because I am not a huge fan of little kid birthday parties, partially because I am not nearly organized enough to plan one. The Boy's parents and sister will come over, and the pretend family probably will as well...we are just gonna make dinner and have some cake and that will be it. All pretty low key:-)

And that's it for the weekend, really...no other substantial plans. The Boy is going out tomorrow night and Munchkin's calendar is packed as usual, so I have the girls on my own. I remember when that used to frighten me a lot more than it does now:-)

See, we have all grown!

My bad

I didn't really mean to leave everyone guessing about the Great Birthday Present incident of 2011...I said my piece, and very predictably lost the argument and that was it. My anger has been registered with the appropriate authorities and taken under consideration. I'd rather not write about the details here, but I have told some people by email, and it is not like a massive state secret (in other words, email and I will tell you if you really want to know.)

Whole other subject...the girls have become really bad sleepers and it is driving me nuts. Really, MA is the bad sleeper...LK rarely gets up at night, and when she does it is usually because her sister woke her up. But MA gets up just about every night to come and sleep in our bed, and she has a huge fit if we try and make her go back to bed. She is also a huge bed-hog, but that is another story. Anyway, if anyone has any ideas on getting two year olds to go back to bed, I am all ears.

LK has her own sleeping problem: she is basically a teenager. She won't go to sleep before 9:30 ever, and is regularly up at 10:00. And she would pretty normally sleep until 8:30 if her sister didn't wake her up in the morning. She is also a hilariously grumpy person in the morning, and usually sits herself down quietly to watch TV while she wakes up. So, if you have any ideas on getting her to bed earlier, I will take those as well.

Other than that, though, the girls are doing great! They are getting really big and chatting up a storm (MA starts talking the moment she wakes up and doesn't stop until she goes to sleep!) Their birthday is in a week and a half, and they go to the doctor the week after to get officially weighed and measured, and I will give you their progress then. No, wiseasses, they are NOT taller than me yet...

Low key weekend ahead, finishing with dinner at The Boy's parents house on Sunday. I think his brother and family are in town, which will be nice...haven't seen them in a while!

We are very lightly considering a really rash solution to our house hunt...there is a town house in Beacon Hill that is in need of a massive, top to bottom gut rehab, but is priced accordingly. We are trying to decide whether or not we are ambitious enough to go through with that...and whether or not we could make the dollars work (it would be hard to start something and not be able to move in for 8 months).

I will keep you posted...

Happy Easter:-)

The Most Important Day of the Year

Who remembers what today is? It is...if you recall...The Most Important Day of the Year!!!

Seventeen years ago today, little twelve year old AM went to the hospital to meet her new baby sister:-) I was in love the moment I held her, and I have fallen more in love every day since then. You could probably make a case that I haven't really even stopped holding her:-)

She remains my very favorite person, my hero, my role model, my protector (and ward at the same time!). She has become my best friend and biggest crutch. She is the most remarkable person I have ever met.

It was a pretty sad and unfortunate series of events that brought us to where we are...but I can't help thinking that the whole thing has been the biggest blessing that a girl could ever hope for. She has been a gift, a blessing and a joy, and living with her will always be the most rewarding thing I ever do.

Happy Birthday Munchkin!!!

(Tomorrow we can talk about the wildly inappropriate birthday gift from her other older sisters...ahem...this conversation is not over!!!)