I’ve been working on what I call the “blog book†a lot lately. It’s the “parenting book†I’m writing, using a lot of stories I’ve blogged about before. So, pretty much out of necessity, there’s been a lot of looking back on old posts and a little uncontrollable nostalgia. Then, this morning, one of those Facebook memories popped up from when we sold our farm house.
Two years ago, we moved from Austin (a little town north of Cabot, Arkansas) to Hot Springs, moving from the country to suburbia. I’d blogged about how the kids reacted to news of our move (Our Next Adventure) and looking back now, the story’s even funnier to me.
Wonder Boy was excited to no longer share a room with his “stinky†older brother. This is funny because Wonder Boy’s room most often has a “sweaty boy†smell to it, while the worst thing in brother’s room is excessive dog hair. And neither room tops the Girl’s, with its constant tornado-ran-through-here status and stench from the Chihuahua’s bad breath (seriously, it’s so strong it can stink up a room).
The Professor was distraught, worried that he takes too long to make friends and would never be happy. I remember the first day in the new house, he hid behind the couch almost in tears, rather than go out and introduce himself to neighborhood boys. Now, he’s got some of the best friends he’s ever had and won’t even joke about ever moving again.
The Girl was never really the farm type to begin with. She’s never liked getting sweaty and regularly complained about all the critters and pests (she has this exaggerated fear of dead spiders … really, it’s the dead ones that bother her, smh). So I’m pretty sure she was genuinely happy when we said we were moving. That and her being worried about her brother’s lack of enthusiasm, she said, “It’ll be like an adventure, but without the spiders and such.†When I read that quote again this morning, I laughed out loud. Since moving to Hot Springs, dad has acquired two new … pets … tarantulas. He captured the first in our driveway, bought a habitat for it and stuck it on our bookshelf. Then, as if one wasn’t enough, he special ordered the second one (which I might add, is actually pretty cool looking).
So basically we moved out of the country and brought all the critters indoors. Well, she was right: every day is an adventure … with spiders.