Happy Birthday M! It’s a big one (forty!), but he wants an understated celebration with minimal hullabaloo so we’ll keep it simple: a little sushi dinner, some cake, a date night.

A few weeks ago, I made one of our kitchen walls into a chalkboard and we have been loving it.

I use it to write to-do lists, M scrawled his life goals, and K doodles away. At first, M called it the “wall of death” and it’s true – the shiny blackness seemed to darken the already tiny kitchen and was rather oppressive. Now, I love the convenience of writing down grocery items as soon as I think of it and it’s like having a humongous sketchpad for ideas and drawings. We’ll have to update the wall with a pithy birthday wish today.

This morning I had a few memorable exchanges with my almost-six-year-old:

K: Mama?

Me: Yes, sweetie?

K: Do boys poop standing up?

Me: No honey, but that’s a good question.

K: Yeah, I wanted to make sure.

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Me: {Singing some random song}

K: Mama, can you stop singing?

Me: {Pause} Why, honey?

K: You’re embarrassing me.

Me: Oh, OK.

{Silence}

K: {Starts singing at full-blast and totally off-key}

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K: Mommy, did you know that you snore?

Me: I do? Am I loud?

K: Yes…but I love you just the way you are.