Jan Eliot's funny and irreverent Stone Soup follows the saga of an extended, blended family, starring two working-mom sisters living just across the fence from each other. Val and Joan share life with their opinionated mother, a middle-school diva and 10-year-old tomboy, a reclusive teenage boy, a wild preschooler and his new baby sister...and of course Wally, the ultimate nice guy who steps into his stepdad shoes with grace amid the chaos. Working-parent hassles, pre-school tantrums, middle-school angst, love and the single mom... it's all here in Stone Soup.
© Jan Eliot - All Rights Reserved.
Starslip by Kris Straub
Strange Brew by John Deering
Comments (14) (Please sign in to comment)
Saskfan said, 11 months ago
Multi-tasking – Joan is doing it right.
Thirdguy said, 11 months ago
Just look down once in a while, and make sure the baby’s head is still above water!
Kab Buch said, 11 months ago
Water not that deep. Just folding clothes she can watch.
Saskfan said, 11 months ago
@Kab Buch
Actually, Thirdguy is right; Luci COULD drown there. But I’m sure she’s watching, and she’s close enough that Luci is in no real danger.
Our oldest son fell in a swimming pool a few days before his third birthday. He wanted to dabble his feet, so my Bloved took his shoes and socks off and sat beside him while he swung his feet in the shallow end. When she looked away to speak to someone, he went PLOP, she looked down, and he was already coming up, looking startled. She hauled him out, dried him off, and then he tried to climb the ladder leading to the slide – that would have landed him in the deep end.
ghostkeeper said, 11 months ago
On the one hand, Joan is taking advantage of Wally’s good nature by making him feel guilty about all the work she will be ‘handling’. . . on the other hand, she is sending him off to work feeling he’s better off than her . . . well, I guess we’ll go with the good wife interpretation . . .
flagfly
said, 11 months ago
And all’s well with the family….except the kids seem to take a long time to grow. But that’s o.k…Jan Eliot is a good writer.
route66paul said, 10 months ago
Moms have a secret – when it is quiet, you check on the kids.
iced tea said, 10 months ago
I remember the long hot summer of ’80. I was pregnant with our second child and my year old daughter played in her little wading pool. I just sat with my feet in the water nearly every day.
Night-Gaunt49 said, 10 months ago
All it takes is for water to be where the air should be to drown. Parents need tethers for their young children tied to their wrists.
KenTheCoffinDweller said, 10 months ago
@Night-Gaunt49 – Mom used to have one of those for me. Harness fit around the back and chest much like they used for sled-dogs. Now if a mother did something like that the busy bodies would be on the phone to Child Protective Services.
INGSOC
said, 10 months ago
It’s about time he had left, so that she can enjoy the kids and the outdoors peacefully….!!
Violet Bay said, 10 months ago
Has she been taking lessons from the mom in Curtis? lol
Ceeg22
said, 10 months ago
Why does he have to go to work on a Sunday?
water_moon said, 10 months ago
@KenTheCoffinDweller
No they’re as popular as ever! You can find ’em in the baby/toddler section, and I used one for my daughter and then son when they were toddlers to get through the airport at X-mas and when wanted to walk on her own at the fair. It looks more like a backpack than just a harness, and I always made sure she held my hand, but it was a great back up for safety in crowds.