Dear Kid,

I hope you had a great weekend. I know you were spending time with friends and that has a way of making a college weekend better than not spending time with friends.

I spent part of the weekend with friends too (even though I’m not in college).

The big news is that the amazing Girlfriendology is moving closer.

This has the dual advantage of having her not be as far away as well as having her be closer. See how that works out?

So I went over to their new house to help them move in (and by “help them move in” I mean get the grand tour, deliver toys for the puppy, and visit for a few minutes. I am a huge help to my friends.).

Wishing them many happy and healthy years in their new digs.

I also spent some time hanging out with Sue at her community pool before it closes for the season.

Sue’s pool has the distinct advantage of having shaded areas and Sue, so it is a good place to visit on occasion (and by “on occasion” I mean once a year or so). I’m not a huge hanger-outer-at-the-pool these days but it was good to spend some time catching up.

The thing about being friends is knowing when to be blindly loyal to a friend’s POV (Point of View—if you watched enough bad reality TV, you’d know that) and when to share your own.

Sometimes you get luck and they are one and the same.

Like, “There’s that girl with the perfect body and I don’t think she does anything to keep her looks. And she’s really sweet.” “Hate her.” “Exactly.”

It’s why Sue and I are friends.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

It’s hard when your college kid is sick.

Let me back up. It’s hard when your kid is in college. But it’s even harder when said child isn’t healthy.

When you’re home, I can baby you for a day, refill your glass with apple juice, tuck blankets around you, serve you chicken soup, and tell you not to worry about your homework—just get some sleep. After 24 hours, I have generally ruled out most Major Illnesses and then nudge you back to health and activity. Don’t all mothers say, “I understand you have a cold. Here’s a tissue. Get your homework done and take out the garbage.”?

But when you’re at college, I can’t do much. I can’t kiss your forehead to see if you have a fever (forehead kissing is much more accurate than a thermometer or “Mom, I’m fine”), I can’t insist you drink more (let’s face it—“insisting” by text only goes so far), and I can’t check on you whenever I want to make sure you’re still breathing.

I can’t do the check-on-you-mom-thing. I can’t do the take-care-of-you-mom-thing. I can do the put-money-in-your-account-to-pay-for-antibiotics-and-Nyquil-thing but that’s more of a banking function than a mom function.

Which leaves the fretting-mom-thing and the texting-mom-thing neither of which are as effective as chicken soup.

It’s very hard to be a mom when your college kid is sick.

Hope you’re feeling better, kiddo.

Love, Mom

 Dear Kid,

Thoughts from His Furriness, in all his wonderful quirkiness.

Puppy: You’re eating carrots
Me: Yes, I am
Puppy: Carrots are my favorite
Me: I thought your favorite was peanut butter or cheese
Puppy: You’re not eating peanut butter or cheese
Me: True
Puppy: Which means carrots are my favorite right now
Me: Ah, I see
Puppy: You’re not very good at taking hints, are you?

Puppy: I heard that, I’m coming!
Me: You were sleeping at the other end of the house! How could you possibly have heard me break a banana off the bunch?
Puppy: I have super sensitive banana hearing ears
Me: I guess you do
Puppy: So I’m here
Me: I couldn’t possibly eat an entire banana by myself. Do you suppose you could help me?
Puppy: I guess I’m not too busy for that

Puppy: Throw the toy
Me: You never bring them back
Puppy: Throw the toy
Me: You just chase the toy and chew on it
Puppy: Throw the toy
Me: Will you bring it back?
Puppy: Throw the toy
Me: OK….I knew it. You’re just chewing on it
Puppy: But you threw it really well

Me: You want to play?
Puppy: I love to play, of course I want to play, let’s play!!!
Me: Ok, go fetch the toy
Puppy: I got the toy, I got the toy, I got the… I have to go look out the back window for a while
Me: I thought you wanted to play?
Puppy: I am guarding the house. Much more important.
Me: Ok, if you’re sure
Puppy: You’re not going to wait for me to come back?

Hope you have a wonderful, quirky day!

Love, Mom

For more puppy conversations see Puppy Conversations and Food Observations, Spring Puppy Conversations, New Puppy Conversations, Winter WonderPuppy | Baby It’s Cold Outside,  Puppy Conversations Translated for the College Kid, and Puppy Conversations and FIFA World Cup Soccer