How It Works Around Here – A Photo Documentary

As the name of my blog implies, we run a really tight ship. I jest.

But in all seriousness, Alexander and I did have several talks (both before and after marriage) regarding our thoughts on parenting and how we wanted our family to work. We discussed everything from discipline to family traditions. And we thought we had a pretty good game plan. Then we actually started having a family. With the addition of two little ankle biters (so far), we’ve begun to see the realization of our family dreams and their demise all at the same time. Children, we’ve found, will really throw a wrench into anything you have “planned.”

And so I present for your enjoyment (and ours) a photo documentary of the way we wanted things to work around here and how they’re actually working. Enjoy:

Eat every meal together at the table: Alexander and I both felt (and still do) that it’s important to gather together as a family at mealtimes. It helps families communicate better and eat a more balanced diet.

Elijah and Dylan having breakfast. At least it’s shredded wheat, right?

Eat a healthy, balanced diet: We wanted to begin feeding our kids all sorts of fruits and vegetables early on. We figured if they started as babies then it would be second nature by the time they reached adolescence. However, we neglected to research the fact that all kids apparently rebel at the sight of a healthy meal. Their meals must be all one food, all one color or all over the floor.

Fortunately, although morally opposed to vegetables, both boys are “fruit bats.” Here’s Dylan enjoying a nice slice of watermelon.

Establish and carry on family traditions: We always opened one present on Christmas Eve. Alexander’s family ate homemade waffles with fresh strawberries and whipped cream on Christmas morning. And both our families made their Halloween costumes. We’ve decided to carry on all of these traditions in our family, as well as establishing new ones.

Lij wanted to be Harry Potter this year – how could I refuse? Dylan was supposed to be Harry’s owl, Hedwig, but I got behind and so we recycled the bumble bee costume I made for Lij two years ago. At least it’s getting some good use!

Establish a (flexible) daily routine and stick with it: We read somewhere that kids thrive on routine. And it made sense to us. Why then do ours seem to want to buck the system?

Elijah decided back in August that he was through with napping. We now have a whole series of shots of him “not napping” in various places around the house. In this one, he fell asleep at the table during dinner. This gave me hope that he’d go back to napping. No such luck.

Love each other and play nicely: This was pretty much a no-brainer. I think every family dreams of the day when all the kids will love each other and their parents and peace and harmony will abound.

Elijah was excited at the thought of a baby brother but has since been dismayed by the reality of one. Occasionally however, he’ll give Dylan a kiss, as seen here. The problem with that is that Dylan, after repeated encounters with Lij and then the floor, has become resistant to any contact with him.

Read books to the kids: There are tons of studies about the benefits of reading to your children. I believe the going age for starting this lifelong process is sometime in the womb – when exactly do fetuses develop ear buds again?

Dylan is still at the “mobile” reading stage. While Lij is content to snuggle up next to us and read for hours, Dylan prefers to take his literature and run.



Teach good habits, like sharing: This one has been pretty easy to implement. It’s just getting the habits to stick that’s the tricky part.

Here Lij does a great job sharing a “healthy meal” with Grandma.


Take lots of pictures: Alexander and I both have an artistic background and enjoy photography. How could our children not be the most photographed kids in history?

Ah, the best laid plans… Fortunately, Grandpa visits and picks up the slack for two parents who are too tired, lazy, busy (insert favorite adjective here) to pick up the camera.

Say goodbye to Daddy everyday: Elijah got really attached to Alexander for awhile. When Alex would leave for work, Lij would cry inconsolably for nearly an hour and periodically break into moans throughout the rest of the day until Alex returned and all was again right with the world.

Now Lij accompanies Alex to the door every morning, closes it behind him (so he feels like part of the process) and stands by the front window, waving goodbye and calling Bye, Daddy, zshoe (I love you).

Spend time together and have fun: Alexander and I both agree that our favorite memories from childhood are those when we were having fun as a family. We want our kids to have similar memories to look back on.

Not everyone agrees that family portraits are fun. Dylan looks like that (or even more perturbed) in all our group shots. Lij is only happy in this one because Nana wisely brought a package of bribery (mini M&Ms).

Ah, the wisdom that comes from being a grandparent. Maybe by then we’ll have this parenting thing all figured out.