1, 2, 3's

Well, it's that time again... tax preparation season. All I can say is thank god for inventing accountants. I used to do my taxes on my own and after all of the events of this past year... moving from MD to VA, selling investments to buy our new house, etc. I am so grateful that we have assistance - even of the paid variety!

Part of the reason is that I've come to realize that I now lack the ability to count past 10 - or maybe I can make it to 20 (after all most Sesame Street episodes feature a number of the day between 10 and 20 and I'm not ashamed to admit that I watch enough Sesame Street to know that!). I spend most of my days counting only to 3 for Jonah - how many trees do you see, how many grapes are left in the bowl, etc. So when our accountant and I spoke today and she started talking about fair market values (albeit in the form of an acronym - FMV), reinvested dividends, and capital gains and losses I found myself totally overwhelmed. Ahhhhhhhhh!

I've come to realize that being a mommy - really a parent of any variety - means starting your education all over again from scratch. Frankly, I'm looking forward to learning how to add, multiply and such again. And yes, dad, I remember that 9 times 7 is 63 and vice versa - thanks for grilling that one into my head! So let the counting begin and accountants beware... I will be back on your level in about 15-20 years.

Who's That?

I used to call my grandmother "who's that?" - she lived across the country in California and I didn't see her very often, but spoke with her on the phone often. My parents would hand me the phone and tell me that Grandma was on the other line - in response I would always say "who's that?" and it stuck.

It makes me think about how interesting our name choices are when we are able to pick what we would like to be called... for example Jonah has a Nonnie and Papi, a Grandma Red and Pika, and a Nana and Pop (lucky boy gets 3 sets of grandparents!). No one is simply Grandma and Grandpa.

Now that Jonah and his toddler friends are starting to speak (whether we understand them or not is another thing...) I struggle with what I would like to be called by his friends and what Jonah should call my adult friends. Am I Auntie Laura, Mrs. Harwin, Ms. Laura, or some other alternative? It almost becomes a question of identity! At the same time that I want to respect tradition and instill respect in younger generations by requesting to be called Mrs. Harwin, I struggle with my personal comfort with a more casual attitude and being referred to as Auntie Laura or Ms. Laura. And of course, now that I am an aunt to Jonah's Cousin Max, I can't seem to get comfortable with the idea of being anyone else's auntie. So I have chosen to be called Ms. Laura.

Of course when I run into a childhood friend's mother at the grocery store and call them Mrs. Last Name I will begin to question this all over again! I guess only time will tell.