If you're formulaic, at least you chose a good formula way back at the beginning!
I was actually wondering if you'd decided to write less about Juniper now that she's getting older. The content here is different than it used to be--no judgement, it's just different--but I couldn't quite put my finger on why. Maybe you've stumbled on the familiar blog crisis of feeling like everything you want to say you've already said here before?
Anyway, here's wishing you luck in getting your groove back, Stella.
Amen. I'd personally like to thank the aunt who sat my grandmother down in front of a computer the day I chose to discuss herpes.
I'm frankly a little surprised Juniper isn't working on her own interpretive Grapes of Wrath screenplay.
It's because the zoo is actually in Royal Oak. Geez... In all seriousness, I cannot believe you toted 2 kids around the zoo. You are going to be sore tomorrow. Did you get to see swimming polar bears at least?
Ha!
At least you draw connections from your experience to the outer world. My blog is pure navel contemplating drivel.
I love your formulaic, bourgeois, intellectual and sometimes saccharine musings. Please don't knock them.
Her shoes, her shoes, you can't remember her shoes! Nice going, Melvin.
I cant tell you how good it is for a SAHM to read that you have the exact same issues as "us" that the experience is the same regardless which gender is the care provider.
I dont need you to plan out a post for it to be worth something to me, its worthy in honesty. What more could we as readers want?
Okay- so we're in a rut... I'll try not to heap on the platitudes but, two observations:
I find your family incredibly interesting. Firstly, you are relatively young breeders who have managed to start a family while accomplishing your career goals AND have the wit and intelligence to very creatively parent your two children. I receive daily inspiration from your tales of how you regale your child with chaplin movies and tennyson in the tub. Heck, you've even inspired me to start reading poetry to my three year old.
Second, don't underestimate the power of Proustian writing. Even the most mundane tales of vacuuming the house and dragging a kicking toddler around the city bring value added blog readership when they are written so well. Proust had his madeline's; you have rancid processed-breastmilk diapers and moldering text books...
Oh Dutch. We love you! But you really should put shoes on poor little Juney! 
At least you pretend like you can write a tidy little conclusion. Or you're not like those who write, give up because they wonder why anybody could be bothered so they stop writing, then write again and moan about how nobody cares any more.
Whew, mouthful.
Anywho, I've liked your writing for about 2 years now. So, to answer your question, no I am not sick of reading it. I don't think I could really.
I think this is the point where I give the internet thumbs up and tell you to keep it up. So, keep it up.
I think part of the charm is that we are also living rather boring lives and can identify with you.
You know, there's a reason "Law and Order" is in its 4,562th season. We like formula.
Really, I think what you're seeing as formulaic can also be taken as your editorial style. Sweet Juniper has a distinctive voice, and that's a good thing.
Beyond that, you can add me to the legions of parents who rushed out to get some poetry for the tot after reading the "Rattle Bag" post.
Hey Dutch, be gentle with your perfectionist self and cut a little slack on the housecleaning too.
Your at a stage which is be so tough with a new baby and a toddler.
You might check out mommy blogging. I don't know if you've heard of it, but you can find out that other people go through pretty similar experiences whether they shop at Wal-mart or Target.
I've been reading your blog for several months and obsessively check back for new content. I am the working wife of a husband who stays home with a 3 1/2 year old. We are overeducated intellectuals who live in a minor struggling-to-reinvent-itself former factory city. We try to parent differently: no TV, no Thomas the Train, etc. We don't know many parents who share our values/obsessions, so your blog inspires us and fortifies our resolve to do this the way we want to, against the commercial tide.
And anyway, aren't distinctive narrative patterns precisely the defining trait of an individual, recognizable style? Did Hemingway berate himself for his lack of adjectives? Did Austen wish she could lighten up on the irony, already?
but... but... but you're funny - and those of us non-intellectuals just skip over the big words ;cp
keep up the good work.
nicky, cedar and juniper x
See? You couldn't help yourself! You still ended with a tidy conclusion!
I'm certain most of us will keep reading whatever you write, whether it's about Mumbai or shoeless preschoolers or the Green Doggy (how is that thing, by the way?).
Dude...as a SJ fan since day one, this might be your funniest post ever. The self-deprecating references to Greek mythology and the Grapes of Wrath had me laughing out loud.
Stay cool, brother. Shoes, radiators, and organized parenting are all highly overrated.
I enjoy your random ranting blog posts even more than the closely edited theme posts - but to me they are all smart and funny and I'll keep reading whatever you write.
If you need ideas though, here's something I've been wondering. I think about moving back to Detroit sometimes and I can't help but wonder - where is Juniper going to go to school? (not in a stalkery way, just in a "where would I send my kids to school if we lived in Detroit" kind of way).
As a parent who's just a couple steps behind you (moved from SF to Mountain View, first girl turns 3 in Aug., second due in a couple weeks), I get a lot out of reading your blog: ideas, inspiration, reassurance, commiseration... You definitely make parenting cooler. I wish I could be a stay-at-home dad! I have a separate category in Google Reader set aside just for your blog. Please keep it up.
Also, if you're looking for some more fuel, take a trip to St. Louis and go to the City Museum. Don't forget your camera. It's insane. Like, book depository insane.
If you send me your address, I will send you the gi-normous bottle of meds that got me through this same period with my two kids. I am a new-ish, old-ish reader and it pains me to see you bummed or antsy or frustrated or whatever it is that is mixing into the mix. I love your work.
Sometimes the house being clean is worth all of the other crap that you have to do to work around it.
Take care of yourself. The minuscule shit will be there tomorrow too...
See whatcha did there? All meta? Yer smart.
And also hilarious.
this right here is why i continue to read your blog. you're able to make a "normal" life very interesting to readers, and the fact that you can sit back and question yourself and your life in a serious yet somewhat self-deprecating manner speaks very highly of you.
OMG, please tell me this isn't foreshadowing.
The day to day tedium of life and it's routine is not very interesting. It is however quite fascinating to share with each other the way in which we perceive our own crazy lives and the world around us. Keep it up...
I found your blog shortly after I found out I was pregnant with twins (thank god for Google!) and have been a reader for the past 2 years. I’m now delurking to say I love what you write and how you write it. Please don’t stop, if only for my sanity. I have read through all your archives and seriously get excited when there is a new post.
As a parent of 15 month old boy girl twins, I can tell you that staying inside the house wihtout the help of another adult is not an option and shoes are highly overrated.
Blogs are weird - after you read them for a while you kind of get to know the authors and start to feel like you have a connection with them, almost like a one-sided friendship. So, just like nobody would expect their friends to constantly have amazing adventures and interesting revelations, nobody really expects blog writers to constantly have them either.
It must be kind of hard though, to know that so many people from your real life are reading your writing. It's probably a lot easier to just be anonymous - that way you can just let your thoughts flow without imagining everyone's reactions. Even so, I still enjoy reading your blog just as much as I did before you outed yourself.
You could have cut a hole in the toe of one sock and let her just walk around like that-- you probably would have made some nice spending money!
I, too, love your style and hope you don't stop, but as for fresh content, I think you're right on track-- start a series of posts wherein you make stuff up about a similar but better life, and another about a similar but worse life.
In either case, you could yourself be a part-time freelance coxswain.
still think your interesting.
bummer about your parents finding out about the blog...I very much wish my parents and in-laws didn't know about ours.
Hey, as long as you didn't start breasfeeding the old man, then I'd call it a good day. (Now there's an image that left me scared as a young women.....Thanks Steinbeck.)
I've been a reader for several years now because of the quality of your writing. You both have a unique way of telling your stories, and have made me question many of my own assumptions about parenting, couplehood, Detroit, and so much more. Take a breather, a break as long as you need... but please keep at it!
I live in fear of people I know, particularly my mother, finding my blog. I'm not sure she can even access the internet without the assistance of her husband, but it's just a little bit closer than I want to let her.
I did, however, recognize your freshman year roommate by your description. I didn't tip him to the existence of your blog, but his best friend from high school happens to be engaged to another of your readers. Small world.
I'm just super impressed that out of your self-proclaimed boring life you manage to draw some pretty fucking awesome observations. You clearly make us all feel better with our own boredom and lack of shoes. Or whatever symbolic thing the shoes must surely represent!
i don't know how long i've been reading, but i think you've done a wonderful job of making urban parenthood seem interesting (intriguing even for those of us who have yet to produce offspring). formula/no formula, it's clear that you take the time to write a thoughtful, creative interpretation of your day-to-day life. that's a heck of a lot of work! add to that the various faces you imagine peering back back at you through the internets, and you have quite a dilly of pickle. (i just wanted an excuse to write that...) good luck!
Year One. 12 months. That's how long it takes to adjust and be a parent who feels like they've got enough of a grip to be a real person again after baby #2 with a newlyish 3 yo. Or at least that's what worked for me.
It happens gradually, but once the baby's about one you suddenly realize that you're not always in that weird fugue state.
Like others have said before me - you could never invent your own reinvention of your site better than the natural one that occurs as your children grow and change. That's why we come back. It's always fresh. And as an urban dweller with a young child I can't wait to read your take on the school choices and how your opinions and stances change as these decisions have to be made. (I know ours do on a weekly basis.) Thanks for continually articulating the delicate balance in this love/hate relationship we all have with our own cities and homes - and for doing it with such humor.
And - I'll second the request for you to hit the City Museum here in St. Louis with your camera and your kids. It's fantastic, and always changing, just as your photos of deterioration are.
I'm a new reader so if your writing is formulaic, I haven't noticed yet.
I'm a new reader too, so I'm with Rachel before me--haven't noticed. I'm not even sure how I found your site (come to think of it) but now it seems you're all famous and everything...I'm always the last to know these things.
Omg, you are too funny. Even if you don't think the formula is working, I was laughing so hard that I'm sure it makes up for it!
I've been reading SJ for almost 2 years, and I do like your writing Jim, otherwise why would I keep checking it daily?
However I must be honest. I like Wood's writing more than yours. And the reason is exactly what you've talked about. Perhaps I'm wrong, but my perception is that Wood is just more raw and spontaneous. And I like it and I think things should be simple and true, or else what's the point?
But I will always be back, even if you stick with your TM blog posts ad eternum. (Although I do prefer the honesty, Wood's or yours.)
Blogs are always kinda mundane but people like me have a weird addiction to them.
The more people who read this, the more money you'll make from ad revenue and then Wood won't need to work so much and can stay home and help with the kids!
I'll keep reading no matter what. You get my revenge of the nerds references (PIE!) and for that, I am eternally yours.
What do you mean *you* forgot to put shoes on the kid? Juniper is a very smart cookie, and certainly old enough to know about putting shoes on before going on an outing. She's playing you, man!
And as for not liking strollers, why not do what mimismartypants did and get a wagon? Those Radio Flyers are so retro -- right up your alley.
I wish that instead of my blog, I had been the first to think up the Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks. Now THAT is a near perfect blog. Nice digestible chunks of amusement, and people do all your shit for you.
http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/
I have to say, not sure how you forget her shoes.
But I find your blog very interesting. Don't worry so much; just write. The rest will come.
I'm going to be honest and say that I'm mostly here for the baby pictures.
I don't mind the eloquent posts that Probe Deep Thinky Questions, but I much prefer it when you blog about your son's spit up.
Dutch, you know you are a very talented writer. And this post was just perfect pomo, self-aware irony. I look forward to a book of some kind that i can buy.
Forget mundane details, maybe you should just write some more about Mitch Albom.
Write about Gram!! We've heard not a peep from him so far. What is he up to these days?
And yeah, I like your writing when it is tailored and exquisite and full of obscure references... but I also like it when it's straightforward and honest, when it sounds like you talking. I don't think anyone expects or wants theses on themes of Greek tragedy in Chaplin movies every day. Just talk to us
At the end of the day, I'd say about 98% of the population don't lead "interesting" lives, but it's the perspective and spin we put on our lives that make it so. It's all relative! You might think your life is "boring", what with a smart, attractive wife, an adorable daughter and a cute new son who all love you endlessly, but to me, a single girl, living in Chicago, hating her job and how perpetually poor she is, wishing she didn't have such a sweet tooth and that her metabolism didn't give out on her when she turned 30 and who can't get a date if her life depended on it, it seems pretty cool. Sometimes I look at my life and I'm like "WOE IS ME, IT'S ALL SO BORING!", but then I remember I live less than three blocks from Wrigley Field, get to cut to the front of the line at clubs, get to go to a lot of concerts and theater performances for free and essentially have the world as my oyster, and realize a lot of people are super envious of my station in life.
But still...I get what you're going through. Keep blogging, however you want to do it.
Dude, I was wondering about your recent posts, honestly. I know this is going to get me jumped all over, but they just didn't seem as raw, ridiculous, or funny. Your latest post, and Wood's, too, have seemed more like the real you. I was worried you had slipped into some sort of funk with the new baby and all, and just...lost it.
I am glad to have the sarcastic, bitch-ass Dutch who got mugged by a bunch of guys, lived in a decrepit duplex, and is hopelessly drawn by any pile of crap marked "free" back.
fabulous! you just had me laughing at loud at my desk in a still empty office! As for the trademark posts of yours, the undertone of self-deprecation is palpable even in the most yuppie ones, and the cultural references are sorely missed in this one!
Thanks for the no-shoe story : two weekends ago, my husband and I tried to take the kids (one 3yo and 10mo twins) out of the city for a nice relaxing weekend in the country. nevermind that one twin had scarlet fever and all three had some sort of vomitvirus of doom. We arrived after a fun car trip, duly exhausted and pissed of in the fresh air, only 2 find that we had forgotten everybodys meds. now try and find an open pharmacy on a weekend in rural Brandenburg (the countryside surrounding Berlin). Needless to say we had fun and left the next morning after an entirely sleepless night! We did have shoes and strollers though, but I don't remember that having helped!
Too much, much too much overthinking!
Shoes are overrated. And I love this blog. Don't change a thing.
While I enjoy the blog regardless of the post style, I gotta admit that I particularly like these kinds of posts, the ones that don't wrap up nicely. Maybe it's something about perceiving them as more immediate and genuine or something -- more conversational and person. I don't know what I'm saying here, but I feel like blog posts and articles are two different animals, and I'd rather read blog posts on a regular basis (but don't get me wrong, I love the articles too -- I learned a ton from the Depository explanation post).
Anyway, regardless of what the people want, just keep doing what you're doing as long as it makes you happy and don't let the pressure get to you. You aren't supposed to be writing for the audience anyway, right?
what's the net-acronym for laughing on the inside? because that's what this post made me do.
(laughing very near you, of course.)
Not only is your life in fact very interesting to me, you write about it very eloquently... I doubt those meth addicts could hold a pen long enough to write anything. Your writing style is why I keep coming back for more.
I love that both you and your wife contribute.
Shoes are for amateur parents. Earlier this week I showed up at Edan's preschool without a carseat. Then, half an hour later returning to preschool after I'd gone home and retrieved it, we waited in line at the pet store to my goddamn dog of fleas for 30 minutes before I realized I'd forgotten my wallet in the car. Then I remembered all the work I'd forgot to do before I left to pick her up without the car seat.
Dude, with two of them to look after, it's a wonder you don't write these posts weeks in advance and just schedule the funny references to random books I've never heard of.
I'm amazed that you manage to make these posts so damn good with all you have going on.
It's a good thing Juniper weighs less than my cat.
Funny.
Stop beating yourself up.
I'm here (reading Sweet Juniper) because my life is just as "boring", but you so beautifully express some of the feelings and experiences I share, and I suspect others are here for the same reason.
Keep doing what you're doing and I'll keep reading.
P.S. "Boring" is seriously underrated.
You are entering that part of parenting that is boring and crazy all at the same time. We read this because many of us are in the same spot. I love knowing I'm not alone.
P.S. Keep an extra diaper bag in the car with clothes and shoes for both kids. This has saved my ass many times.
God I love this post. It's my absolute favorite thus far. For whatever reason, it articulates the feelings I myself have when I blog, which is that sometimes, I do it (and I suspect that others do it too) in order to create out of the monotony of the day-to-day the persona or the story of the life that we are often too tired to be living. It's about writing stories in order to create perceptions about how and who we want to be, especially during those times when we feel so far away from that perception.
your kids are so lucky.
Jim, my life is so boring that my journal stays empty for days at a time. But you could take my life and make it sound like an adventure.
Keep doing what you're doing. Please.
I can't relate to life with kids, but I do relate to feeling that life sometimes feels formulaic (and wondering if every post on my own blog doesn't sound exactly like the last).
Why do people read your blog? Apart from enjoying the way you string words together to convey your message, we read because we can see bits of ourselves in your life. We read because you let us in.
You share just enough of yourselves, make me smile, cover interesting topics, and frankly, have taught me a ton about the detroit area.
And you do it beautifully, with such wonderful choices of words. Thank you.
You write so well, you make anything sound interesting. It's the way you put it all together, thought-out or not, that makes the difference. Interesting things happen to me every day, but on paper it would read: woke up, did things, went to sleep. Really, the things were interesting. You have a great gift of storytelling and it's fantastic.
You underestimate your talent with the written word.
about eleven years ago, i totally took my then toddler nephew (who is taller than me and going into hs in the fall) to the mall with no shoes. whatever. he seems to be fine.
i'm hoping your dad didn't find the post about the blue pants (edit this if you need to!). reason #217 why i couldn't ever blog, i mean, what would i write about if i couldn't comment about my families nutty eccentricities and my random rants about crap that annoys me? the necessity for self-editing would leave me with what, exactly, to write about?
i do miss stuff that you used to write about, but totally get why it's had to evolve. we'll be here while you figure it all out.
Please, please, please don't stop blogging! I love reading your blog!
I don't know, but I feel like you could write about watching paint dry and I'd still like to read it. Please keep writing, even if you think people aren't interested. People ARE.
Geez, my life must be really boring because I always read about yours and think either "these people turn the mundane into the best stories" or "those four live the most exciting lives".
Flattery will probably make you feel MORE uncomfortable with this whole "why are people interested in my boring life?" and "have I become a parody of myself?" thing, but I'll say it anyway -- you make boring pretty goddamned interesting.
Sorry, dude, you just can't help it.
I discovered Sweet Juniper about four months ago, just as I was starting to write my PhD thesis. And since the alternative was actually *writing* my thesis, I read all of your posts chronologically in the space of about two weeks. I've been a loyal reader since (and miraculously the thesis got done anyway).
Having read the whole blog in a short period of time, I don't find the posts formulaic. I think some are more structured, polished, and tidied-up than others. I think that there are periods when series of posts are relatively similar in structure and theme, and periods when they're more varied and some posts are more casual. They're almost all very good.
I don't mean to criticize your more free-form posts in any way, but I don't think that you should apologize for posting planned, structured, thematically-linked writing that has been edited for impact. There are specific forms and elements of good prose that make it successful and define a particular writer's style. It's only natural to return to those forms. The allusions to mythology and the recurring theme of urban decay are part of the reason that your prose is consistently high quality. Of course, clean syntax and varied content -- crazy alphabet books, new lyrics to the diarrhea song, and masturbating farm hands -- help, too.
If what I've read so far is any indication, if you think you're in a rut, you're going to get out of it. In the mean time, I'll be refreshing the Sweet Juniper tab in my browser, just in case Google Reader isn't working.
The story's really all in the telling, isn't it? And you, dear sir, could write "I'm so f'ing tired" thirty times in a row and we'd decide you were playing Beckett or something.
We love you for the telling. So just keep at it.
Oooh, you're all sucked into the desi blogosphere, I'm guessing? Isn't it so drama? You should check on the schedule of the Desi Yuppie club at UMich. Almost all campus desi yuppies put on a really good end of the year diwali show that I bet Juniper would love. Or, like, be terrified of.
okay guys, I've been blushing for more than 24 hours now. thank you all.
I once forgot my daughter's shoes on a flight from Georgia to New York. Had to carry her (and all of her crap AND my crap) every. damn. step. of. the. way.
Here's the thing about parenting - especially a newborn - you're busy ALL of the time, but you're usually bored out of your mind. We tend to equate busy with stimulating. It's just often not the case with parenting little ones. So many of the tasks are mundane and tiresome and it can wear on the mind, body and soul. S-ucks.
My daughter is twelve now and we're on to new problems. I look back on that time when she was younger and it's kind of like middle school - you make the best of it but you'd never want to do it over again.
I know this is probably not all of that helpful, but try to remember that this too shall pass.
Oh cut it out. Keep writing. As you can see, we all love reading your wonderfully constructed essays.
I began reading you about 2 years ago, when I first started to read blogs, and as my exploration of the blogosphere grew, I acquired a pretty long list of blogs I'd read regularly. A few months ago, I noticed that I was visiting only about 25% of this list on a regular basis, and recently, as my life gets busier and I can't afford to sleep any less than I already do, I've pruned this list even more, to where I'm regularly reading only 4 or 5 blogs, and guess what, yours is one of them. Your writing has staying power. Sure, you wow us with the mythological and poetic references, but that's what makes your writing so rich. Sure, your quirky avoidance of the stroller is mind-boggling, but hey, it's your back, not mine. Sure your deliberate parenting is so...deliberate, but so is mine, in slightly different ways. It's fun to compare!
Now that you've moved "down the street" (I live in Ann Arbor), my particular delight is your fantastic take on Detroit. I teach 7th and 8th graders, and every two years, we focus on Detroit and its history. My teaching team is entranced by what is going on there, and it's great to expose our students to it and have them say, after a 3 day Detroit field trip "Wow. I never knew." And it's all changing, all the time. I've shared some of your Detroit writing and your Chaplin writing with my colleagues (one of whom teaches a silent film elective to our students), and they've really appreciated your posts/essays.
So thanks.
I just need to know, if we do cross paths in Detroit sometime, (very possible now that I got my DIA membership) do I just keep going, or can I say "hi, love your writing"?
Your life is interesting simply because you are aware of your own struggles and triumphs and because you process a skill set that few have for describing the epiphanies inherent in often non-eventful events with humor, wit and a good grasp of your own heroism vs. ego.
Never underestimate the infinite possibilities of self awareness, the human condition and a glib pen.
Thank you for sharing.
I'd like to hear the story behind the name Gram. Please keep writing.
Dutch, please don't stop writing! You are [awesome, amazing, totally cool, the bee's knee]. Whenever I feel crushed by the weight of bourgeois parenting orthodoxy, I come back here and refresh obsessively for another sweet hit of [validation/commiseration/quasi-hipster ennui/copyright-free photos]. It's hard enough being on the vanguard of gentrification in [blighted urban center]; can I get an amen? I know that I am a better [SAHD/SAHM/WAHM/WAHD] to my unschooled brood of Goodwill-bedighted moppets as a result of the time I spend loitering in this weird circle jerk of [affirmation/indier-than-thou one-upsmanship/degree-acronym bingo/buggy HaloScan hell]!
Oops, I almost forgot to casually drop in a ham-handed reference to a favorite mythical figure!
[Kidding, kidding, kidding. I've said it here before and I'll say it again -- critical self-awareness is HOT. The long-term validity and viability of blogging as a rhetorical mode of expression, though? I don't know. I really don't.]
Ouch!
Dude (did I type dude??) - you are the parent of a newborn and have a toddler. I am in the exact same boat, and life is hard. I haven't written in my blog for 2 months, and rarely wrote through my ridiculously horrible pregnancy. I always have viewed my writing as a creative outlet - something that only feels good to do, when my to-do list isn't a mile long. I simply can't justify a few hours writing about how crazy my life is when my life is too crazy to write. Your recent posts have made me feel really good, because misery loves company, and your truth in the midst of chaos is truly perfect.
Sure glad to see generic SJ commenter out there. You know I was always sorry you and p-man failed to stay tight for just these reasons.
You need a chorus.
There, satisfied?
You walked right into that one, man.
You know we love you. Though it's reassuring to hear that even you totally awesome writers out there feel like you've scraped the bottom of the barrel and there's nothing new to say.
Personally, I think it's time for some Gram graffiti pictures.
My favorite post of yours was the one wear you laid into Mitch Albom. Because Mitch Albom is an asshole and needs laid into. Truly. But on a serious note, I enjoy reading your blog, and I'm not making suggestions. But if I was, I would say that another post ragging on Mitchy would definitely make my day.
It takes a good writer to parody himself.
As a former resident of downtown Detroit, your photos of the book depository on Etsy caught my eye. My curiosity about the photographer behind the shots led me to Sweet Juniper! As I work my way through your past archives and read your current posts I have to say I find you most entertaining. I am also the mother of a 20 month old son that we are trying to raise sans (as you so eloquently put it) the "modern children's media clusterfuck" so your struggles as a parent and the outside influences you try to steer clear of really resonate. I look forward to reading more and I hope you continue your most enjoyable posts. Your way of story telling makes perfect sense to me.
that's it. I'm totally starting a feature here called Mondays With Mitch where we deconstruct his Sunday lifestyle column.
You know, my single and/or childless friends are always sending me blogs about their yoga retreats or exotic trips to third-world countries. The topics should be interesting, especially since I know them, but I never get past the first two. Yet I read your blog every day and thank the blog gods I have it! The lives of SAH may not be glamorous, but we've got a witty, intellectual hero in you, so don't give up!
once when i was about six or seven, i rode shoeless in the car with my dad to the grocery store. i asked him casually about whether you have to wear shoes to shop there, since at the time they had a sign posted that there would be no service if your feet were bare (no shirt, no shoes, no service). he said that nothing would happen. he lied. as soon as i hopped out of the car and onto the asphalt with my bare feet, he ordered me back in and drove me all the way back home. kids always ask for a reason!
you know we love you just the way you are. those of us who really don't KNOW you. but hey, I like reading what you write. really. and I forwarded your post last week about reading poetry to Juniper in the bath to some friends, and they enjoyed it too. it was inspiring. so don't be so down on yourself. we wouldn't keep reading if we didn't want to.
This is one of my favorite posts of yours.
How do you get the house clean? I'm still marvelling at that. A three year old and a three month old and the house is clean.
It helps me in my sad insecurity to realize that you forgot the shoes. Because I think I want another baby and then I forget the shoes and think 'should someone who forgets the shoes have another baby?' But if you can do it, I can do it. Except your house is clean. I'm trying not to think about that one.
But yeah, I do think this is a truly great post. I worry about the old man, though. Did the carrion birds eat him?
Please, please, please, please, do Mondays with Mitch. Because after your last post about him I always read his Sunday column imagining your mocking. Is that weird? Probably. But please do it anyway.
Welcome to the world of staying home with more than one.
I agree with someone up there who says it take a good writer to parody themselves.
I often leave the house to keep it clean. It's very tiring.
you're doing great.
I loved this post. I was meaning to tell you some days ago, but I had to go breastfeed my baby while trying to write my feedback. In any case, I just wanted to tell you that I loved your straightforwardness, and can completely relate to the stories you tell, in particular this one, because my husband forgot to put on shoes the other day he went out for a stroll with our son. I'm happy to hear we are not alone in forgetting to put on shoes! As we say in Spanish, santa paciencia, good luck, hang on!
See, I read this because it's exactly what I'm going through, too. And call me self-centered, but I think that's interesting. So I'll keep reading no matter what.
I do however understand the desire to self-censor content when family and friends are reading. We started our blog for our parents, who live hundreds of miles from us. But there are many, many times I've wanted to write about them and haven't because I'm too chicken.
I think your blog is interesting and I don't even have kids of my own.
I mostly wanted to comment on the 5/26 post with Juniper's three-types-of-stripes outfit. Way cool! reminds me of a favorite outfit I used to wear - striped dress with striped tights. In brights/primaries, just like Juney!
You and Holly are the token cool grown-ups that us dumb kids like to hang around. If you stopped blogging we would go back to cringing at yuppies without being able to cite any examples of tolerable adulthood. Suck it up old man.
you are far more intellectually superior than i, sometimes on the verge of going over my head, but not quite and it keeps me stimulated and amused. and i learn something new from you everyday, even if it's a reference to something long forgotten...like a barcalounger. i can't remember the last time i heard that, and i think i might very well have lived the rest of my life without remembering. so, thank you. i love the way you write and your choice of words, and i've seen through you a different, better?, way of parenting.
oh, P.S. the rainbow stripey picture of juniper is so freakin' adorable!!! i can't stand it!!
Did I miss Mondays with Mitch? I was sooooo looking forward to it.
I actually wanted to comment on Monday the 26th's post - Rainbows - but did not see the link. New to blogging myself and new your site - my daughter showed it to me. Great stuff.
On Rainbows: Good job braving the random and presumptuous parenting assessments of strangers. Many, many children are over-mothered and under-fathered. Lucky Juniper seems to get the rare balance. As for matching clothes: My kids are big now - 22, 19, 14 - and I can honestly say - I can't think of one thing a cute outfit ever did for them. Picking their own funky outfits though - that was an esteem booster. And REAL family relationships? Nothing from the Carter's outlet can compare. just my two cents.
I just wish you would write more. It doesn't matter what. I'm disappointed when I check in and ... I just have to read the comments. : )
If you're really starting to feel like you're a hack, I'm guessing all this praise just make it worse - like you were fishing for it, or something. So I'll take a different tack.
There really isn't any easy way out of the problem you're facing with your writing, and yeah, it's a problem, and it isn't just a problem with blogging, but a problem blogging reveals to us about ourselves.
But for me, as an occasional reader of this blog, what saves you from the precipice of being just a formula blogger ("Parent Differently" notwithstanding) is that you occasionally whip out observations or emotions that I feel are just plain dangerous. That's how I know you're honest, and that's why I keep dropping by when I am looking for something interesting to read.
You will be most successful at maintaining that edge - which is sharpness borne of real relevance, and of art, not just another aspect of the Brand that is Sweet Juniper - if you accept that your problems with the blog posts that you're writing are not just about the blog.
If you can do that, the Brand is your greatest asset, because it gives you leverage to say the things you really want to say, which, when the pomo meta clouds drift away, will probably be as good as your best posts have been. And wow, audience waiting. Doesn't get much better for a writer than that.
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