Graceful Parenting in Austin

I’m at home with my favorite real estate agent, Winona Barron, trying to figure out how to buy a larger house in central Austin for less than a million dollars. We are doing all right, except that Baby Girl’s bedroom is technically a dining room and there are four of us sharing the same bathtub/shower. But we want an older cottage style house in an older, classic neighborhood with wood floors and an updated kitchen and we are one of a million people who want the same thing.

We are talking about the options when Baby Girl reaches for my pen and I tell her ‘no’ and explain to Winona how I have it all figured out. The pen was cute the first few times, when Baby Girl made her first ‘drawings’ of random scratches, until she started drawing on her head, in random and sudden movements that could take an eye out. So I went into the office and got her a crayon and talked about how perfect crayons were, not just because of the cool colors, but because they are strong enough to be held and to draw, but soft enough to not hurt a baby’s head.

So, just then, when talking about how I have it figured out, Baby Girl starts eating the crayon. The color was melon. I don’t know, maybe it tasted good.

And this is typical of my experience being a Mom. Most things I know last only about a week. Then something else happens. And that’s all right.