These are among my favorite three little words to hear as I answer my phone. They tell me I am about to laugh so hard I just might forget the mind numbing pain I sometimes feel in my beloved role of mother to many little men and one little woman. Jen's brief "Phone Vignettes," with their witty and articulate life lessons, deserve a spot on NPR all their own. Between these narratives and her published and unpublished Op-Eds in the New York Times, Jen's voice rings with insight and encouragement for me throughout each day.
Since most of the things I love about Jen have already been mentioned (except her neuroticism with laundry... does anyone else sort into nine different categories including "camo" and light and dark khaki?), here are some of the things I love that Jen's boys can do: read the New York Times, sing the lyrics to Cold Play songs at the age of three, defend The Alamo (finding our sons shooting the "Mexicans" out of the back window of my car may be one of my more shocking preschool moments), tour Boston's MFA, explain the Electoral College, eat Gazpacho soup, narrate the history of the American Revolution, write school reports with vocabulary and punctuation the teacher has to look up, and do all of the Wiggles' dances on cue. Jen's boys ROCK!! And it is no wonder at all.
Happy birthday my dear Jen. You are changing the world!
xoxo Lisa
