When I was seventeen I went to college and then I went to med school and then I got married and had a baby. Then I realized that I had to go back to work and still take care of the baby and I had no idea how I was going to make that happen. I worked strange hours - evenings, overnights - and daycare was pricey and we would pay for it even on the days we didn't need to use it. This is, I know, simply the way it works and lots of families make it work for them. So I'm not proud of what I did next, but neither can I deny it.
I had a little bit of a break down. On the phone. With my mother. And then she went and quit her job and my father did too and they moved back to New England to help take care of Miss Emmaline. Of course it actually took months, more than six months, from my panicked ramblings on the phone that night to the moment the enormous truck showed up with all my parents things and the seemingly enormous house my husband and I had just bought seemed not so enormous after all.
Now, more than a decade after I last lived with my parents full time we are under one roof once again - all in an effort to minimize daycare costs, maximize pajama time, and take another look at what we in this new millenium think of as family.
Meghan. Read more about me in the About the Author section.
Daryl. Man of the Manor, fixer of wobbly electrical boxes, he-who-owns-power-tools, and blow torcher of creme brulee.
Emmaline Abigail. Sweetest of all sweet babies, thrower of peas, tail puller, upside-down giggler, and FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH.
Nanny Janny. Camera avoider, stuffed animal surgeon and ear sew-back-on-er and former school social worker who brings us such phrases as "get out of my grill" and "shut the f*@% up you f$#@&^ b&^#%."
Papa. Formerly Father Dan: Episcopal Priest, now an enthusiastic retiree, lovable curmudgeon, reader of library books and starter of smoky fires.
Oryx and Crake. Our fearless feline companions who ask only to be rubbed occasionally and then left alone.
Scout the Destructor. Snowbank conquerer, beach lover, shredder of all things stuffed and beloved by the baby, stealer of pizzas, and general instigator of both foul smells and language.
