the OTHER mother: Holiday Greetings w/ Pop Quiz

Smith Magazine is encouraging readers to submit their six-word memoirs. Inspired by that challenge, here is the recap of our year in Grrrlville:

Dear World—almost is close enough.

Yes, we have lost a number of things and made a few mistakes this year. The word "perfect" left our family vocabulary once and for all. I'd never liked that word anyway. For those of you who check in regularly, the following pop quiz will be a breeze. We’ve summarized a few highlights of the year for each family member. Find the one FALSE statement for each of us in this multiple-choice bonanza.

Carrie, age 13 months

a. walked at 9 months, just like sister Pearl
b. uttered her first words, including Mama, Baba, Riah (the cat), ball, and tree
c. never used a pacifier, no, not once
d. deposited wallets and keys in the trash can and a flashlight in the toilet

Pearl, age 33 months

a. received stitches in her eyelid after dancing in a Mexican restaurant
b. mastered the monkey bars at Donovan Park

c. learned the difference between a Pachycephalosaurus & Parasaurolophus d. acted out Where the Wild Things Are and A Hat for Minerva Louise

Marcia, age 466 months

a. breastfed on a Delta airplane
b. mangled new minivan with less than 1,000 miles on it
c. led poetry writing lessons in a hematology laboratory
d. heard from the IRS twice about her tax return (oops)

Robin, age 531 months

a. logged over 200,000 hits on her 2 blogs, The Other Mother and Big Window
b. fried 68 potato latkes for the children in Pearl’s class at preschool
c. published an essay in a book called Confessions of the Other Mother (Beacon Press)
d. planted a fig tree in the backyard

Answers will be posted in 2 days. Feel free to log your answers as comments below.

Robin continues as director of Writers in the Schools; she writes in the wee hours when the rest of us are zonked. Marcia teaches writing to cancer patients and juvenile offenders two mornings a week. Pearl attends a Montessori pre-school and rides a red bike with training wheels. Carrie hangs out with Mommy at home and makes gluey, kaleidoscopic messes on the floor.

Sure, this year we didn’t visit the Trevi Fountain, the Bilbao, or even Mount Rushmore, but we did enjoy a Brazilian drum corps, drink margaritas at a cantina, and eat sticky rice with mango—right in our own neighborhood. With 75% of us out of diapers, we’re hopeful that the New Year will take us to more exotic, far-flung destinations. Are you taking reservations?
Love,

Marcia, Robin, Pearl & Carrie