Reading: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for the umpteenth time. I brought it with me to Maine and started it on Saturday after finishing Commonwealth Avenue. This is one of my all-time favorite books. I reread it probably once a year.

Weather: Torrential rains and four separate thunderstorms between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Watching: The series finale of Mad About You. Tab and I used to watch that show, back when it was actually funny. Though I haven't seen it in years, I thought I should at least watch its sendoff episode. Based on the finale, I'd say we haven't missed much.

Stupid Nose

This will be a hectic week for Tab. He has to be in NYC every day this week except Wednesday. One of our neighbors has very kindly agreed to take him to the train station at 7 every day on her way to work so that we don't have to get the boys up too early. This morning I got up with Tab at 6:30 though I could have slept longer. It was a dreary, rainy morning, with a forecast that promised continuing rain and thunderstorms throughout the day.

About 15 minutes after Tab left for the train station, Mr. Byron, one of our neighbors, called to tell me we had a flat tire. Oh, great, I thought. Why do these things always happen when Tab is gone? And how long will it take AAA to arrive and put on the spare for me?

Fortunately, Mr. Byron is a mechanic, and he kindly offered to fix it for me. He and his wife, Miss Samantha, are wonderful neighbors. They have an extra wide driveway in which they allow us to park our minivan alongside their two cars. Mr. Byron found the leak, patched it, and refilled the tire, all before I even had a chance to find out which tire it was.

I had picked up a few things for the boys when I was in Maine. Mother guilt gifts, I guess you could call them. I bought each of the twins a "Handy Dandy Notebook," much like the one Steve uses on Blue's Clues, except that the pages are plastic and can be wiped off. They were thrilled with them. They flipped through the pages, scribbling away. Then they asked to watch Blue's Clues. I wish I had thought to videotape them. They were so cute sitting on the couch, notebooks in hand, drawing the same things Steve was drawing.

I bought Daniel a set of round stamps shaped like a Crayola crayon, another well-received gift. I thought he would want to stamp them on paper, but they apparently reminded him of the hand stamps you get at places like Discovery Zone, so he decorated his own hands and those of his brothers with stamps.

5:15 p.m. I'm in the kitchen, fixing dinner. Matthew is playing with his cars, Stephen is playing Reader Rabbit on the computer, and Daniel is hovering near Stephen, watching the game.

A sudden wail from Daniel. "Ste-PHEN!" He runs into the kitchen. "Mama, Stephen stuck his finger up my nose and called it 'stupid!' "

"Well, don't stand so close to him when he is on the computer," I respond to Daniel. "Stephen, don't stick your finger up Daniel's nose."

"And don't call it 'stupid,' " adds Daniel.

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