The next morning found Jamie at an activity table with a tub of small blocks, isolated from the room by the best headphones he’d ever listened to, let alone owned. It felt good to listen to music from home again. He’d downloaded a little bit of everything. Just at that moment, he was listenin...
2022-06-10 12:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post‘Yeah, fine’ my ass. When I knocked on the Rooney’s door, I was expecting Gordy to greet me rather than his harried stepmonster who was apparently running late.
“Come in,” Mrs. Rooney said not out of breath but putting in some aerobic work effort as she tried to get out the door f...
2022-06-09 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostAmanda unloaded the car herself and took the various bags to where they belonged, remembering to bring in Jamie’s bear. She tossed Jamie’s new clothes in the washer along with some laundry while Becky alternately fussed over Jamie and dinner. Jamie was just glad to be home. Dinner brought the...
2022-06-08 21:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“Mary, come look at this.”
“Do you really need me to come look, or are you laying on the bed naked,” she called back from wherever she was doing whatever she was doing. I really did need her to come look, sorta but not really but yes, but she did give me an idea for the future. Mayb...
2022-06-07 13:54:51 +0000 UTC View PostI knew something was off when we were at the student union. We were part studying, part talking about the weekend when Gordy suddenly made this face like something was not alright in his world. In his twenty years on this planet, the boy has apparently never learned to not telegraph his feelings ...
2022-06-05 21:38:14 +0000 UTC View Post“Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be right there waiting for you.”
“Hmmm (snore) singing.”
“Who’s my sleepy girl?”
“Huh? O … Is the movie over?” I was very alert in a groggy, consciousness-is-overrated kinda way.
“Mhmm.” 2022-06-05 17:43:26 +0000 UTC View Post
For those of you who like having a copy of a complete story, The Best Babysitter in Town is now on Amazon.
Please leave a rating or review even if you don't buy a copy.
Many thanks!
2022-06-03 17:03:26 +0000 UTC View PostAmanda arrived shortly and was surprised to see Jamie sitting at the front desk. He felt his heart flutter when he saw her. Deliverance! Jamie wanted to get down and jump on her, but he felt the stool would fly out from under him if he tried it.
“Hey, buddy!” She wrapped him up...
2022-06-01 00:53:18 +0000 UTC View PostA nap followed lunch, and Jamie found his mat to not be nearly so comfortable as his crib. The lunch wasn’t very good, but the little food they served was enough to take the edge off the stress of the day’s newness so he could sleep for a little while. He felt odd sleeping out in the open, no...
2022-05-28 18:43:49 +0000 UTC View PostI was discharged from the hospital yesterday, accompanied by an upper respiratory infection and badly upset stomach. My hired caregiver went home today, and I’m glad to have some privacy to recover and rest. But I’m already fed up with using crutches and got 5 weeks to go 😅
Well, things did not go as planned. I was supposed to have an outpatient procedure, and I ended up being rushed to the ER when both of my lungs partially collapsed. I have double pneumonia.
I’m still in the hospital. The doctors are concerned about some mystery fluid that was building up ...
2022-05-25 16:26:47 +0000 UTC View PostWe make mistakes in life. I am certainly not immune. As a for instance, I put Mary in charge and gave her full disciplinary control. I may not have done that if I had known then that diapers, according to weird people named Mary, are a behavior improvement tool. Worse, I didn’t know Mary would ...
2022-05-25 00:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostHey Patrons,
First, thank you so much your patronage! There's been so much growth this year, and I'm so glad you enjoy my work enough to support me. I love the comments and messages you send me. You guys are really too kind 🥰.
I know I haven't been as active recently, and part of t...
2022-05-22 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostJamie knew how to fight, or at least protect himself. The neighborhoods he grew up in, and the group homes, that was something he had learned, and as a social worker in those same environments, he had been trained to safely restrain a violent child or teen. He’d done it a few times, most often ...
2022-05-21 20:09:02 +0000 UTC View PostThere was an awkward moment. Jamie decided to fill it with a little fun on his part. “It’s a bear, by the way, on my shirt.”
“Every little says that. So weird.” Jamie laughed on the inside. “Anyway, welcome to the Guppies.”
“Guppies?”
“We’re the Guppies. Jo...
2022-05-16 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostJamie may as well have buried his head in her armpit for how bright the place was. Primary colors everywhere – it was like a fire truck and school bus crashed into a tanker full of blue paint. The reception area was small and had three doors inside, one that went to an office, and one to the le...
2022-05-14 22:08:25 +0000 UTC View Post“We need to talk,” Mary said to me.
“No.”
“No?”
“I don’t wanna talk. Besides, we’re married. It’s too late to break up.”
“We’re very married. That’s why I want to help you with your problem.”
How the heck did I end up as the one always a...
2022-05-12 00:49:42 +0000 UTC View PostInspired by a real brush.
____________________
The mail arrived. That is literally all that happened. Mary was the one who went and got it. I merely walked into the kitchen to see if my mail-order med...
2022-05-07 21:41:13 +0000 UTC View PostJamie couldn’t make out much from his car seat, but he could see from the passing cars that it was busy at the daycare. Bigs dropping off their littles; a couple, it appeared, for their first time just like they were. He could tell the ones who were experienced at this; they looked like it was ...
2022-05-04 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostNone of them slept very well, each for their own reasons. Back to work; back to school; and for Jamie, way, way back to daycare. And knowing they had to get up earlier than they normally did made falling asleep harder. Unfair it what that is: the sooner you need to get up, the more your body won...
2022-05-02 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostDoes anyone remember when the ASPCA was airing those Sarah McLachlan Angel commercials? All those pictures of sick and injured and malnourished dogs and that saccharine song playing ...
2022-05-01 16:15:38 +0000 UTC View PostWhen you’re single, Valentine’s Day sucks. No two ways about it: it sucks. When you have a partner, you get to choose whether it sucks. Some people think it’s just a greeting card holiday, and some people see it as an opportunity to be all lovey dovey and stuff. I take the latter approach, ...
2022-04-25 21:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day was spent in preparation. Becky had considered throwing an end-of-summer party, but she decided not to. She didn’t want it to seem like a momentous event. Just another day, followed by another and another. The logic – live today like tomorrow will not be so so different – made ...
2022-04-24 21:50:33 +0000 UTC View PostThe three of them opted to stay in all day instead of going out. They were content just to be in each other’s company. While Jamie was curious what Amanda and Becky had said to Marsha, as they were about what he had said to her, by silent agreement they didn’t ask or volunteer. Marsha had bee...
2022-04-21 19:53:55 +0000 UTC View PostAs much as you appreciate everything your partner does for you, there are times when they go a little too far. It used to be that you could have a rational discussion about those things, but ever since Thanksgiving when they unilaterally put you back in diapers, those sorts of rational conversati...
2022-04-17 21:12:32 +0000 UTC View PostDoes anyone besides me ever notice how often I’m just minding my own business? “Where’s Daphne,” people say. “I don’t know,” their conversation partner answers. “That’s probably cuz she’s off somewhere minding her own business,” they reply, “She usually is.”
Yep, t...
2022-04-16 15:09:21 +0000 UTC View PostIt was the first day of the weekend before school started for Becky and Amanda. The two of them and Jamie were finishing their breakfast. Becky knew something was up with her little and daughter. Neither looked happy. Becky assumed it was the prospect of not getting to spend the entire day togeth...
2022-04-13 00:30:48 +0000 UTC View PostJamie spent the rest of the evening alone his room except for dinner and a bedtime bath. He was glad it was Becky who gave it to him and got him ready for bed. In a way, she was blameless. She didn’t and couldn’t, apparently, know. Amanda, on the other hand, didn’t have that excuse.
H...
2022-04-12 23:38:19 +0000 UTC View PostJamie woke up in his crib feeling especially well rested. A bottle of water was there with him, and he drank without stopping until half of it was gone. As after every afternoon nap, he did his business knowing someone would be in soon to change him. As it very nearly always was, Amanda came in.<...
2022-04-10 22:14:16 +0000 UTC View PostMe and Mary live a lifestyle relationship. If she says jump, I decide whether to jump or not, but if not, she decides whether and what consequence to give me for my disobedience (or half assed hop, cuz there’s degrees of obedience just like there are of consequences). But as you may have notice...
2022-04-08 00:06:32 +0000 UTC View Post