Solo parenting alert: my children are still breathing and I’m still functional. Right now my salvation comes in the form of Dragon Riders of Berk, season 2. Jesse and Nick even smothered me with kisses in exchange for the season purchase on Amazon. It seemed like a good barter to me, about a dollar a kiss.

I ate a delicious salad for dinner, with things like avocados and a grated carrot and mushrooms. Nick had a grilled cheese and Jesse had baked apples, and also she tasted one piece of lettuce from my salad. I’m a classy mom.

Nick became very noisy as our 3-minute sit-down-together meal winded down, subjecting me to all manner of screeching as he careened happily about our tiny kitchen. I was getting increasingly upset until Jesse giggled and rebuked me mildly. “You should just laugh, mommy. We can’t understand anything he’s saying anyway, and he’s actually really funny.”

I hate it when my kids are right. I’m not sure how I’m going to survive 3 more days of this sickening cuteness without Anthony.