2012
was the start of parenting 3.0 in our house. With all kids in double digits, a waning interest in legos
and increasing requests for electronics and privacy, we’ve definitely stepped
into the PG13 phase of life. Half
the time I don’t know whether to ground the kids for their awful jokes or choke
with laughter.
For
me, this year was magic. I would
happily rewind to January and start over. Multiple ski trips to
Tahoe and Bear Valley, even one with three moms and ten kids! Three weeks in France, 10 days in
Hawaii, camping with friends, Portland/Seattle and a fall trip to mountain bike
in Moab with an accidental day hiking in Zion (because I mixed up the time of
my flight home). These trips were
all such brilliant gifts, and I expect it will be a long time before I get a
chance to travel so lavishly again.
However,
to fund more potential trips, I gave up the
freelancing/tennis/ French-classes/semi-working mom life in October and took a full time
job at Cisco doing marketing communications for partner services. The transition wasn’t seamless and I’ve
never been good at balancing and organization, but I’ve landed on a great team
and I have the flexibility to work from home when I need to. It was time to go back, and I’m
grateful for the chance to earn a regular paycheck without the feast or famine
rhythm of freelancing.
Skyler marked his last year
in middle school by moving into his own room. He’s claimed our guest room, and as the neatest Colwell kid,
if we have to kick him out to host friends, at least it doesn’t take long to
get the room ready. He continues
to fence at Stanford and compete in local tournaments. He’s also taking German, tennis, and
fixes my computer. At thirteen,
he’s threatening to become a responsible adult, although his logic and sarcasm
still need some refinement.
Soon, I’m sure.
Liam
loves middle school because it’s much harder for me to locate and talk to his
teachers. I haven’t gotten any
phone calls yet, and he spends enough time doing homework so he appears to be
managing just fine. This year,
Liam took up tennis, joined the wrestling team, and played in the band -- dabbled
with the tuba, but has resettled on the more manageable baritone horn. His goals are to wear the least amount
of clothing that is socially acceptable, grow his hair back out, and acquire an
alpaca.
Tracy
has gradually shifted his primary athletic pursuit from cycling to fencing, and
climbed back through the competitive ranks past the class he held in
college. He still manages to
ride some locals off his wheel, but the new contenders are getting faster. At work, the government’s lack of
ability to agree on anything has kept Lockheed treading water, so he had to
make up for it by joining me in Grenoble for a week. If things are miserable this year, we’ll have to plan
another international trip, but he’s cautiously optimistic.
Thank
you for being part of our village.
We love our community and we are so grateful that we are in this
together. Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year!
With
love,
The
Colwells
Tracy,
Julie, Skyler, Liam, and Hadley
Flynn
(the only cat since Malarkey moved into the Greater Neighborhood)
Xavier
and Yuki (the bunnies)
The
geckos in Liam’s terrarium
1 comment:
Merry Christmas! Glad to have been a part of this amazing year for you and your family! I love this "online" method of Christmas cards. It appeals to my "less stuff to manage" trend.
You and your family are such inspiration for all of us. I baked cookies the other day, I now own a bike, and right now I've got my Breadman Ultimate making bread! I think I need to look into tennis now. Need to use that membership! :D
Thank you for being the amazing people you are!
Brenda
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