1994 Dictionary

That was the year we reached critical mass as a family (#5, Julie, was born). My memories of that 12 month span are a bit hazy, the haze induced by not enough caffeine (#5, Julie, wasn't born until December) and entirely too much Raffi. But I do reflect back and recall some of the words that fill my life, now, that didn't exist in their current incarnations, then.

This is what I meant, in 1994, when I said:

Laptop: where the kids went to be cuddled and soothed; rapidly disappearing perch (#5, Julie, was making her fetal presence apparent). "PJ and Rose, you may each have a turn on my laptop, but not both at once."

Facebook: family photo album, chock-full to bursting with shots of our tiny treasures' mugs--sleeping, eating, playing, crying, covered with strained beets, covered with chicken pox, covered with lipstick from Nana's overenthusiastic smooches. "After we get the photos developed at CVS, we can put them in the facebook."

Blog: spit up, and the sound spit up makes when it hits the floor. "If I have to clean up any more blog I think I will scream."

Zip file: Lining them up to secure their snowsuits for a winter outing. "Rose, zip,  PJ, zip, etc."

Twitter: The race of my heart when the older ones began, reliably, to do chores. "Whenever Evan cleans up Julie's blog, I am all a-twitter."

Email: Letters I would write, on paper, and place in envelopes, and stamp, and take to the mailbox: "My sister C got an E (Elise) mail from me last week."

Hard drive: Atlanta to Philly with the whole fam, and the transmission acting up (we were afraid to stop much in case we couldn't start the car again). Add to that two kids blogging. Hard, hard drive.

Cell phone: dragging the cord into a closet (my little cell) so I could hear my caller over the shrieks of my rambunctious offspring.

iphone: What Rosie did at age 3, when she picked up the receiver and dialed my mother (long distance, middle of the day, $$$$). "Mommy, I phone Nana!"

Mac: a type of truck, the feeling of being run over by which I knew well, "When Sheridan woke me up for the 10th time, I felt like I was hit by a Mack truck."

ipad: Part of childproofing. iplug the outlets, ifence off the dining room, ipad the crib with a bumper. They still managed to get hurt.

Julie on Nana's laptop

It is fitting that we spoke with a different vocabulary. It was such a different time in our lives—so exhausting, so happy, so full. I note that every innovation I just wrote down has led to a speeding up of our days, and I have definite mixed emotions about that. I hope someday, when my five become parents, that they’ll take the time to slow down, gather their tiny ones on their laptops, and listen to a little “Baby Beluga” once in awhile.