I've said before that I am not crafty. I am not patient. Anything I try to do of an artistic bent turns into a hoary black mess with glue everywhere. There is usually swearing involved. I do not scrapbook (and when exactly did Gen X-
ers decide that word should be a verb?).
What I can do, sometimes passably well, is pay attention. Lots of people hate the Christmas/Holiday season. I do too...sometimes. Honestly though, I really hate the back-to-school season most of all. I fear change. I hate feeling like a hamster in a wheel all the time. I don't want that to sound like complaining, call it merely an observation. That said, this evening, we had a moment that I think I'm probably going to remember for pretty much ever.
When we started, I had a feeling like maybe I shouldn't even try today. We added a layer of
CCD frosting to the Weekly Activities Cake. It was 8:00. I wanted to absolutely positively get them into bed by 8:30. But...we had to do our spelling words. I'd promised to finish the Halloween chapter of Harry Potter #1 (there are troll boogers...we've been waiting for the troll boogers!) It was go time.
My 7 year old sat next to me, like he always does. My daughter the
squirel draped herself on the other side hanging upside down with her feet resting on my shoulder (what can I do...it's kind of how she sits). She ended up sitting next to her dad in the recliner so he could keep her still. First, we did our spelling words. He did pretty well. 6 out of 8 and we've still got a few days before the quiz. Then I read the rest of our chapter. As expected, the troll boogers were a huge hit and even made my daughter sit upright like a normal human, for once. I was asking my son if he remembered why Harry and Ron didn't like Hermione at first ("she was bossy") and what she did to make them like her ("kept 'em out of trouble with the teachers...but you're not supposed to lie!")
Quietly at first, my daughter started singing a song she's learned this week about an alligator and some monkeys in a tree. She remembered every word and intricate gesture. It's a song I'd never heard before tonight. Then she started on a silly song called
tooty-ta. My son knows that one so they did it together. Then, he realized she was REALLY silly, so he sat down next to me again and watched her finish. By the time she did, we all had laughing tears streaming down our faces. We stood up and clapped. She's going to perform again at her Open House (which I have to miss...but Daddy's going so it's all good)
They went upstairs. They brushed their teeth without me asking and went straight to bed.
I should have gotten a camera or my camcorder. But, if I had, I probably would have missed it (remember, I'm not patient or crafty).
It was a good day.
Robin
