These lovely little things made my week this week.
Rain, cats, dogs, poodles
The rain pounded at the roof and the windows. It drenched the yard and soaked the roads and the sidewalks. Surprised that the sheer power of it alone hadn’t woken her already, I walked into her dark room to start her day. Opened the shades even though welcoming in the world outside brought no light and did nothing to lift her out of slumber.
I sat on her bed and gently pulled her out of sleep.
“It’s raining this morning.” I told her, “It’s raining cats and dogs in fact. You’ll have to be careful not to step in any poodles.”
She giggled. M made the same joke over breakfast and she giggled again. And I love that even the oldest, most overdone jokes, the only ones that come to mind before a full cup of coffee settles in, are new to her and make her giggle.
And it poured like that all morning. And normally I’d lament the rain and the chore of getting two children into and out of the car when there is no space to duck between the rain drops. But this morning, I was just thankful that the rain was not snow. And so I didn’t mind.
And on the way to school, she gazed out the window. “Mommy, I don’t see any poodles!”
Scootin
Scooters gifted for Christmas often still gleam and shine in March. It’s hard to scoot in the snow and ice.
But she got lucky. 60 degrees on Groundhog day and so out we went.
And these moments are always so unsettling for me. I can watch her draw her letters and string beads onto a tiny thread of string demonstrate any number of fine motor skills all day long. But these gross motor skill moments always throw me for a loop. Riding a scooter seems like such a big kid thing. It just seems so big.
But she tried, tentatively. And then she fell. This is how it always goes. I can almost set my watch by it. And then she walked away. It’s ok, I said for both our benefits. By the next warm day this pain and fear will have faded and she’ll hop back on again.
But she didn’t wait that long. She hopped back on before we headed home. And now her blessedly dirty scooter waits for her and another warm day.
Assembly days
Assembly days mean a lot of things. A small upset in our schedule. Trying to contain a baby boy who wants nothing more to run and play and join the school kids as they stand up and perform their songs (all in due time, my love). Arriving at work a bit late.
But they also mean starting my day watching my girl in her element. Singing and dancing and living her life smiling amongst her friends.
They mean feeling with absolute certainty that this is where we are meant to be right now. This school. These lovely teachers. This environment.
Favorite words this week
“I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck all the marrow out of life.” ~Henry David Thoreau
I linger on this quote from Notes from a Blue Bike often. In fact, I’ve lingered over this quote for years. Live deep. Suck the marrow. Yes, I want that. I used to think those words meant such big things. Bigger than me. Bigger than this life I’m living. I used to think I was doing it wrong. But each day, I’m getting closer to defining what those words mean to me. Defining my own depth. And so I continue to linger on Mr. Thoreau’s words.
What lovely little things made your week?
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