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Callie Feyen

Harper’s New Favorite Color and Other Things

in Uncategorized on 18/04/13

Bye-bye, blue.

It’s been real but there’s a new color in town.

Can we also talk about what’s going on in these pictures?

Come and knock on our door!

Harper’s new past time is getting dressed.  She picks outfits out all by herself, then lays them on the floor of her bedroom to “see how they look.”

She does it for Hadley, too.

Hadley’s a good sport and puts on anything Harper lays out for her.  Besides, Hadley’s more interested in organizing her paperbacks.

I believe the ones on their spines have been read. The others are “to be read.”

Hadley also likes to read what I’m reading.

I highly recommend Booked, by the way.  It is a must read, and after you read it you are going to want to write just like Ms Swallow Prior.  And when I write “you” I mean me.

Speaking of what we want to be when we grow up, here’s a gem of a conversation between the girls and me.  Hadley expressed interest in becoming a teacher.  I told her being a teacher is a great job.

“Does it cost a lot of money?”

“To be a teacher?”

“Yes. How much do you have to pay to be a teacher?”

“No, no,” I said to Hadley, “you get PAID to be a teacher.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really!”

“So, jobs pay you?” Hadley spoke as though she might have won the lotto. “Hairdressers get paid?  And those people who stand on the side of the road dressed like smoothies and hot dogs?  They get paid, too?”

“Yes, they all get paid.” 

“Great,” Hadley said with relief.

“Mom?” Harper asked.

“Yes?”

“When I grow up can I get paid to be a princess?”

So we have the hot dog guy, a teacher, and being a princess as possible careers so far. That’s cool. I wanted to be a Luv-a-Bull when I grew up. And Scarlet O’Hara. Or somebody who shops for a living.  No, no. Not a personal shopper. Just somebody who gets paid to shop for herself. This is why I always failed those career surveys in high school. Those kinds of things are not on career lists.

11 Comments

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Comments

  1. Sarah says

    April 18, 2013 at 6:03 am

    Hahaha! What is it with little girls and outfits? Love the career options.

    Reply
    • calliefeyen says

      April 19, 2013 at 1:05 pm

      Thanks, Sarah! I was highly motivated back then. Haha!

      Reply
  2. Jesse says

    April 18, 2013 at 6:34 am

    You are luv-a-ble. And you can get those sequined pants and poms you’ve been wanting.

    Reply
    • calliefeyen says

      April 19, 2013 at 1:05 pm

      So, shopping trip?

      Reply
  3. mallory feyen says

    April 18, 2013 at 4:05 pm

    Holy cow, Harper looks so much older all of a sudden! and nice outfits, props to her. 🙂 Can’t wait to see you all soon!

    Reply
    • calliefeyen says

      April 19, 2013 at 1:04 pm

      She’s getting big, isn’t she?

      Reply
      • mallory feyen says

        April 21, 2013 at 11:54 am

        yes! wow. and that stance sure helps, too. 🙂

        Reply
  4. alison says

    April 20, 2013 at 10:21 am

    we lay out outfits like that too. except it takes four or five before we find the *right* one. and even though they can get the shirts down, they can’t hang them back up again. naturally.

    Reply
    • calliefeyen says

      April 21, 2013 at 7:19 am

      I’m impressed that you hang your shirts. Ours usually look like wadded up Kleenex.

      Reply
  5. Mary E (I work with Jesse) says

    April 24, 2013 at 11:53 am

    I read “Harper’s New Favorite Color” over lunch– what a delightful break, and refreshing perspective — I will smile each time I think about your career conversations!! When we talk about leadership, we often say … “when YOU are queen (or king)”… this puts a new spin on that!!!

    Reply
    • calliefeyen says

      April 24, 2013 at 12:53 pm

      Thanks, Mary! Yes, we have some interesting conversations in the Feyen household. Thanks for reading and for taking the time to comment!

      Reply

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Hi! I’m Callie. I’m a writer and teacher living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I write Creative Nonfiction, and in my oldest daughter Hadley’s words, I “use my imagination to add a bit of sparkle to the story.” I’m a contributor for Coffee+Crumbs, Off the Page, Makes You Mom, and Relief Journal. My writing has also been featured on Art House America, Tweetspeak Poetry, Good Letters, and Altarwork, and in 2014 I was one of the cast members of the Listen To Your Mother DC show.

I hold an MFA in Creative Writing from Seattle Pacific University, and I am working on my first book that will be published through TS Poetry Press.

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When I was in fourth grade, I got my front tooth k When I was in fourth grade, I got my front tooth knock out during a baseball game. I was in the dugout, trying to make a butterfly in the dirt with my shoe. The batter, who’d hit not just a home run, but a grand slam, came running in and everyone cheered and so did I because I’d gotten really good at reading cues for when a good thing happens in sports. I even attempted a high five, and somehow I knocked my face into her batting helmet, thus spending the good part of that weekend summer day in the dentist’s office getting a root canal.

No teeth were lost in this latest incident, but I was lost in a bit of imagining on Sunday when I tripped and fell on Packard while running. I look like I’ve been in a bar fight and my shoulder looks similar to how Wesley’s looked after being attacked by an ROUS. 

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So, here I am with a story. Thanks to all my friends and family who’ve been so kind and keeping me laughing.
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