HI THERE!
It's been truly loony over here. In light of said lunacy, I'd like to document for posterity the following sweet, calm moments and small pleasures:
1) Brand new cake of soap. Ahhhhhh.....
2) A HUGE, long, beautifully hand-written letter from Yucaree. JOY!!
3) Taking a shower with Charlotte, and holding her small, silent, slippery body close while we stood rocking slightly under the warm water, with her wet little head on my shoulder. Communion.
4) Spinning a penny on the floor with Simon, over and over yesterday, while Andy and Charlotte slept. Simple, fun, communion.
5) Sitting for a few uninterrupted minutes in Andy's lap, like newly dating people, before Charlotte demanded to join us. Missed that.
6) Opening the windows during yesterday's rain. It's been raining for DAYS now (Andy had to vacuum the ponds out of our basement - sigh) and it's been freakishly warm (I guess we aren't getting a winter, after all) so our house got really stuffy and hot, and the open windows were delightful. Especially with the soft rain outside. Nice. One forgets how great fresh air is.
7) Got to wear my orchid-colored raincoat. I LOVE my orchid-colored raincoat.
8) Simon started reading by himself last weekend. Like, all of a sudden, he just started sounding things out, like you're supposed to, and he even read the word "stretch"! Andy and I didn't want to freak out too much in his presence, because we didn't want to stress him out with pressure, and you're suposed to make those moments all about their own ownership of their achievement ("I bet you feel PROUD of yourself, don't you?") rather than about pleasing you. But DANG! Privately, I did a very VERY ecstatic dance and promptly called up everyone I know to brag. He's so smart, you guys. We never really sat down and, like taught him. We just read to him all the time. I knew all those books sitting around here would pay off!
After Ethan's chaperones posted some pictures on the school website of the kids over in France, I finally felt the full force of missing him, and called him for the first time. I was all, "Bonjour! Je suis la mere d'Ethan! Je voudrais parler a mon fils!" Or some such old-lady-sounding, stilted version of French. He was happily playing Le Connect Quatre with the girls, and super excited about the dinner his host mom was preparing. Some kind of quiche with ham AND bacon. His salt-loving heart was thrilled. He told me she buys him a special round loaf of bread every day, because he eats so much of it. Also, they toured the downtown area of the town in which they're staying, which has many traces of its medieval past, including a cathedral that left him awestruck. He said it was the most beautiful thing he's ever seen, when the sun came in through the stained glass and colored the air and the floor. He's my boy. I remember entering St. Chapelle in Paris and just bursting into tears from the sheer beauty of the place. All by myself, sitting on a bench, crying. He's also spending all his money on gifts for us. Such a sweetheart. They've been to a cheese factory and the local market, and the Normandy beaches and American and German cemeteries, and several other points of local interest, and they'll be going to a carmel factory this week. He went to Mt. St. Michel with his family! In short, he's having a totally awesome time. He comes home Friday evening. I can't wait to see him, and to take in the changes I'm sure will have taken place.
I'm still freelancing. It's so weird. The lady who is the boss of me likes me, no matter how screwy and behind the deadline I get. She keeps offering me more work, and trying to schedule things around my life, and figuring out how to get me more money, and talking about future managerial positions, and stuff. I must be good at this, for all it totally and utterly terrifies me. I'm thinking about having someone watch Simon and Charlotte a couple days a week so that I can work during the day rather than overnight, because that's killing me. It's so hard to trust your kids with someone else. I've done institutional daycare, as well as in-home, and none of them have worked out well. Ack. More stress. But we totally need the money, and it's a way for me to build a resume, and, you know, Charlotte at least would probably LOVE daycare. Other kids, other environments, stiumLAtion!!! Geez. Yet another thing for me to have the heebies about.
Love you, internets. I couldn't stay away for long!
1) Brand new cake of soap. Ahhhhhh.....
2) A HUGE, long, beautifully hand-written letter from Yucaree. JOY!!
3) Taking a shower with Charlotte, and holding her small, silent, slippery body close while we stood rocking slightly under the warm water, with her wet little head on my shoulder. Communion.
4) Spinning a penny on the floor with Simon, over and over yesterday, while Andy and Charlotte slept. Simple, fun, communion.
5) Sitting for a few uninterrupted minutes in Andy's lap, like newly dating people, before Charlotte demanded to join us. Missed that.
6) Opening the windows during yesterday's rain. It's been raining for DAYS now (Andy had to vacuum the ponds out of our basement - sigh) and it's been freakishly warm (I guess we aren't getting a winter, after all) so our house got really stuffy and hot, and the open windows were delightful. Especially with the soft rain outside. Nice. One forgets how great fresh air is.
7) Got to wear my orchid-colored raincoat. I LOVE my orchid-colored raincoat.
8) Simon started reading by himself last weekend. Like, all of a sudden, he just started sounding things out, like you're supposed to, and he even read the word "stretch"! Andy and I didn't want to freak out too much in his presence, because we didn't want to stress him out with pressure, and you're suposed to make those moments all about their own ownership of their achievement ("I bet you feel PROUD of yourself, don't you?") rather than about pleasing you. But DANG! Privately, I did a very VERY ecstatic dance and promptly called up everyone I know to brag. He's so smart, you guys. We never really sat down and, like taught him. We just read to him all the time. I knew all those books sitting around here would pay off!
After Ethan's chaperones posted some pictures on the school website of the kids over in France, I finally felt the full force of missing him, and called him for the first time. I was all, "Bonjour! Je suis la mere d'Ethan! Je voudrais parler a mon fils!" Or some such old-lady-sounding, stilted version of French. He was happily playing Le Connect Quatre with the girls, and super excited about the dinner his host mom was preparing. Some kind of quiche with ham AND bacon. His salt-loving heart was thrilled. He told me she buys him a special round loaf of bread every day, because he eats so much of it. Also, they toured the downtown area of the town in which they're staying, which has many traces of its medieval past, including a cathedral that left him awestruck. He said it was the most beautiful thing he's ever seen, when the sun came in through the stained glass and colored the air and the floor. He's my boy. I remember entering St. Chapelle in Paris and just bursting into tears from the sheer beauty of the place. All by myself, sitting on a bench, crying. He's also spending all his money on gifts for us. Such a sweetheart. They've been to a cheese factory and the local market, and the Normandy beaches and American and German cemeteries, and several other points of local interest, and they'll be going to a carmel factory this week. He went to Mt. St. Michel with his family! In short, he's having a totally awesome time. He comes home Friday evening. I can't wait to see him, and to take in the changes I'm sure will have taken place.
I'm still freelancing. It's so weird. The lady who is the boss of me likes me, no matter how screwy and behind the deadline I get. She keeps offering me more work, and trying to schedule things around my life, and figuring out how to get me more money, and talking about future managerial positions, and stuff. I must be good at this, for all it totally and utterly terrifies me. I'm thinking about having someone watch Simon and Charlotte a couple days a week so that I can work during the day rather than overnight, because that's killing me. It's so hard to trust your kids with someone else. I've done institutional daycare, as well as in-home, and none of them have worked out well. Ack. More stress. But we totally need the money, and it's a way for me to build a resume, and, you know, Charlotte at least would probably LOVE daycare. Other kids, other environments, stiumLAtion!!! Geez. Yet another thing for me to have the heebies about.
Love you, internets. I couldn't stay away for long!
posted by grudge girl at 11:15 AM
5 Comments:
Love you, too, kiddo. Let us know if you need anything. I, personally, am good at witty banter and random violence. I think it's from my French ancestors.
i am SO glad to see you back. totally needed to see that you got and enjoyed my overly verbose, pointless letter to you! that makes me happy. :)
extremely cool that simon has picked up reading on his own. it's so bewildering to watch and hear your child read crazy non-phonetic words ALL ON HIS OWN. it's a beautiful sight and you MUST brag about it. hurray for simon! i really believe that he and ian would get along so great.
don't ever second-guess that you do a great job. your boss isn't doing this just to be nice (although i'm sure she is nice); it's a business and she wouldn't push so hard for you if it didn't make business sense to do so. that means you're a wonderful writer, teacher, and person to work with.
i'm with you about leaving your kids in daycare, but it can be a wonderful thing for your kids too. the hard part is finding the right daycare for your children. good luck!
Hah! You don't have to tell me about the floods on 2006 in Central Indiana. What a mess! And warm weather, then cold. Crazy Midwest weather.
Sounds like Ethan is having such a wonderful time. What a great experience for him.
Daycare? It's hard to find a good daycare person but if you are ever fortunate enough to find one never let her (or him) go.
Wow! So much great news. First, I am really impressed your son learned to read on his own. That is amazing. You have great parenting ideas. I have a hard time not freaking my daughter out by how smart she is and her dad is kind of into that and we need to just calm down. You are so right about what to say and how to be.
Second, how incredible for Ethan to get to do those marvelous things at such a young age. He's going to be the coolest grown up. He's already getting a taste for the bread of the french? (As opposed to French Bread or the French of the Bread.) Watch out world.
Finally, I'm not at all surprised to hear this person is impressed with you. You are obviously smart and you take this so seriously. It is obvious you are conscientious and trying. You must be quite good if she keeps giving you work.
Great photos. Your children are beautiful, as are you.
(I could go on even more because there is lots to think about--like I love your list of life affirming activities--but I'm supposed to be writing something. You'll get that, I know!)
ethan's back now, right? can't wait to hear all about his trip and how he must've loved his adventure!
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