Navigating the hilly terrain of motherhood
The other day, Grace got out her yoga book and started teaching Tess some poses (in this case, the butterfly). Tess had her own ideas — she was rowing a boat, just like she had done in her own yoga class earlier that day. At any rate, it was a sweet, and calm, moment of sisterly togetherness. Now if I could only figure out how to get them to do yoga on command — it would be the perfect antidote to bouncing off the walls!
We recently started a new Sunday evening tradition around here — a nice fire in the fireplace, and some fort building nearby. The girls like to cover their little chairs with blankets, and then hang out underneath with flashlights, books and animal friends. While this is going on, Adam tries to take in some football, and I make soup (tonight, potato leek) and bread (wheat honey oat). Creating this warm, cozy space makes the long, mid-winter evenings seem a little less… long.
Tonight we went to Grace's school for a parent meeting about next year, and since Adam and I both wanted to go, we decided to take advantage of the school's free childcare for the event. This was an iffy move, since we never leave Tess with anyone but family, but Tess understood that we would be right down the hall, and Grace seemed eager to show her little sister the ropes. After we took off their coats, Grace grabbed Tess's hand and marched into the childcare room with her. Tess looked back at us once, flashed a sweet, uncertain smile, and didn't look back again. A couple of minutes later, Adam and I walked by and peeked in, and the two of them were still standing together, hand in hand. We felt proud — proud of Tess for being so brave, and proud of Grace for being such a caring and protective big sister. It was a heart-melting moment, one that I will carry with me and try to remember next time one makes the other cry. It's nice to know that they will always have each other's hand to hold.
Today was yet another snow day — we got at least a foot, and the roads were a mess. Another advantage of this wintry weather (besides having good conditions for snow tunnels) is that Grace has plenty of inside time to be creative (when she's not jumping off furniture). Today, she made her own game board, complete with little smiley-face game pieces and dice of her own design. Of course, she also made up her own rules, which meant that she was always the winner, but I didn't mind — I'm getting pretty used to losing.
The other day, Grace made her own flag, and taped it to a spatula so that she could wave it around. Before she made it, though, she wrote down the steps for making a flag so she knew how to properly go about it. I'm not sure what I love more — watching her mind work in new ways, or watching her sit still long enough to complete these projects. [And no, the photo is not backwards — it's her numbers that are backwards.]
Apparently, Adam and I spend too much time on our computers, because Grace has insisted on having her own laptop. Now I just need to teach her to type so she can take my dictation.
Travelingjenny 