13 Things I Love About my (Nuclear) Family Members

Today is my 13th wedding anniversary and in honor of this occasion, I present 13 things I love about my Nuclear Family Members. Without being overly gushy, and in no particular order, here they are:

1. Despite what The Hubbins says, none of my siblings paid him anything to marry me and get me out of the house. I'm fairly certain about this because my sibs tend to be rational actors in the market and none of them lived at home when I got married. Why would they pay? That's probably all I'm going to write about The Hubbins because the rest is just TMI...

2. Thing 1 is 11 years old and likes being 11 years old and doesn't seem to have any interest in being anything other than 11 years old. By which I mean that she acts like an 11 year old girl in middle school. Not a high school student or (dear me) a girl gone wild in any setting. You may scoff, but I've seen how some of her classmates dress and act.

3. Thing 2 figured out for herself that if you dig a hole straight through the center of the earth from the United States, you don't end up in China. She figured that from Connecticut, you'd end up in Australia. She was awful darn close. . . about 1000 mi off the coast of Australia. (Don't believe me? Check this out.)

4. Thing 3 will be the jock of the family. And maybe a nuclear physicist. I'm cool with latter -- I accepted long ago that I'd be dwarfed intellectually by kids -- but I'm not so cool with the former. With the exception of the last few years of sitting on my ass, I'd always been physically coordinated and strong. But Thing 3's got me beat.

5. Thing 1 has really blossomed in her school work this year. Her report cards were never bad, actually quite good, but the brain thing has all come together this year. I'm pleased that our evil plan of not making our kids freak out about academics in elementary school has worked.

6. Thing 2 asked to play Jesus in the Living Stations of the Cross that the 4th grade religion class does each year. She felt that since the role had always gone to a boy, the time was ripe for a female Jesus. She also suspected that no other girl had asked to play Jesus. She got the part.

7. Thing 3 loves her sisters and she's just about big enough now to give as good as she gets. I frequently find her wrestling with "her" girls. She isn't at all shy about diving into the scrum.

8. Thing 1 will jump up and down all day in her Moon Boots if I let her.

9. When not jumping up and down in Moon Boots, Thing 1 is reading.

10. Thing 2 hassles her religion teachers with questions about how dinosaurs fit into the Book of Genesis and whether communion = cannibalism.

11. Thing 3 won't sit still for meals, or for anything really, and I just don't care. She's got a rhythm in her brain and she's dancing to it. Someday we will harness her power for good. And she uses the word "fricken", as in, "Mommy, open the fricken door." Okay, so the last part isn't charming and we need to get her to stop, but it is awfully funny.

12. Thing 3 loves -- LOVES -- superheroes. Especially Superman. I was watching a DVD the other day that was produced by the same company as Superman Returns. Thing 3 heard the opening flourish from upstairs and starting clamouring to get to the TV because "her" Superman was on.

13. When they don't know anyone is looking, my daughters are caring and very considerate of each other.