This morning, during a surface-clearing interval in my studio,  I found the little ditty below.  It was held with a magnet to our basement fridge, under a photograph.  I offer it to you, dear readers, as a little something to smile at today.  If you are like me, you have already cried in front of the television at least a few times.

It was written in haste, I’m sure, during the very, very hectic years of raising the boys.  It is silly, and it also contains a few truths (I’ll say no more about that!!)  It somehow captures (better than most scribblings of that era) what my life was like then.  It was part reaction to all the advice people love to give you when you are a young parent, part reaction to a lot of the syrupy things one can read in print about being a parent, and part reaction to the boys themselves.

Not Quite a Prayer for Parents

Try not to kill your kids

scream when they scream

change rules daily

ketchup is a vegetable and belching is

to be encouraged

buy all the toys

TV works            so do seat belts

give them lots of love

let them see you mad        medication is

an option — for all parties

celebrate victories

[photo taken at the historic Ropes Mansion Garden in Salem, MA yesterday.  These girls’ mother was sitting in the shade of a crab apple tree nearby while I took their picture]