the quotidian (7.9.12)

Quotidian: daily, usual or customary; 
everyday; ordinary; commonplace 

After weeks of begging and pleading,
my son finally let my husband cut off all his hair. 
Also, notice the wrapped toes.
Every summer, my kids get red spots/blisters on the bottoms of their toes from the pool.
We have yet to figure out a name and cure for this ailment. 
Insights appreciated.

Porch bathing.

Her first driving lesson. 
Notice that no one else is in the van with her. 
That’s because our teaching method is Sink or Swim. 
It’s rather effective.

My youngest watched the lesson from the porch, buck naked and wrapped in a towel. 
He kept covering his eyes because the situation was rather delightfully terrifying.

The wind storm trashed my parents’ camp site.
They rebounded right spryly, though.

Homes: it’s what my husband makes with a hammer, nails, and bits of wood 
(and a few other sundry tools and materials). 
It never ceases to amaze me. 

Flaunting his dish-washing procrastination technique.

A box of goodies from Mavis, the queen of gift boxes. 
She said she was sending a wig, but then she threw in a million other things, too.

Wiggin’ out: my daughter is wearing the one from Mavis. 
And now, thanks to Mavis, another dare is on the table.

Salt and pepper.

Painting his toenails red. 
His sister did his fingernails a fancy red and green stripe.
And then we went to church and no one batted an eye.

Drawing on their legs while humming “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?”

Talking to Grandmommy on the cellphone after the storm. 
He’s still dealing with the trauma. 
Just the other day he told me shyly that he wished he was me.  
Why? I asked. 
Because then I wouldn’t be afraid, he said.
I explained that lots of people are still afraid and that it takes time for the fear to go away. 
He did some quick calculations, realized that a whole week had passed, 
and then happily announced that he should soon be done being scared. 

One of our many heat-induced comas.

A fab hot weather up-do: it survived a whole day 
and a bunch of windy car rides (our van’s AC is out).

Pizzas on the grill: a fun meal, but I wasn’t sold on the idea 
because the toppings didn’t brown and bubble like they do in the oven. 
Process: grill one side of the dough, transfer to a tray with ungrilled side down and add toppings, slide pizzas back onto the grill to finish cooking.
Another summer supper. 

This same time, years previous: the green-eyed monster and me, quotes for writers (and how I do it), baked oatmeal (the kind my family likes), zucchini skillet with tomatoes and feta, zucchini with sausage, tomatoes, and oregano, simple creamy potato salad, French potato salad, tempero, vanilla pudding, apricot pandowdy

6 Comments

  • Farmers Wife

    My son gets those sores on his toes, too. It has to do with the texture on the bottom of the pool. A little Hydrocortizone clears them up in a day or two.
    Love the wigs 🙂

  • Kris

    Huh. I didn't realize older son's hair was so dark — I thought you had a quiver full of blondies, minus the redhead, of course. And I didn't even notice the painted nails yesterday…shucks. 🙂

    I washed the dishes on Saturday morning and had sweat running in rivulets down my front and back. Cheeks felt flushed from the heat like when I sit in front of a campfire. Yikes. Today is a cool balm on my parched self, even with the humidity.

  • jennifer

    I can relate to your kids' pool-toe issue. When I was a kid we swam at our cousin's pool nearly every day and our toes would end up raw and bleeding by the 4th of July. I think it just has to do with what the bottom of the pool is made of. ouch!

  • Anonymous

    My kids sometimes get blisters from the rough bottoms on the pool floor. Especially if they have to "bounce" to keep their heads above water.
    L in Elkton

  • kherbert

    I used to get the same thing on my feet. It seemed to be irritation from the texture of the bottom of the pool. I didn't get it at are swim club pool, would get it at hotel pools. Our solution was wearing sneakers, today I would just wear swim shoes.

    I was used t swimming in shoes, because I always wore sneakers when swimming in rivers. I have a genetic skin condition that leaves me classified as immune compromised. A cut from a rock is pretty much a guaranteed raging infection.

    Try having the kids soak their feet in Epson salts or use Epson salts in their baths. Helps my skin heal quickly.

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