Navigating the hilly terrain of motherhood
I know, this is just too sweet for words. The moment didn’t last very long, but it did happen, and it was adorable. I hope the future holds many more moments of sweet, quiet togetherness for them.
Of course, the sisters have fun together every day, but it is usually more rambunctious, like this:
I suppose that it’s not the kind of fun that’s important – it’s the togetherness that counts.
I had many reasons for wanting to start a vegetable garden this year, despite my complete lack of a green thumb. One of the main reasons was to begin to teach the girls where food comes from – that it does not really come from the grocery store – it comes from the earth. That’s an important lesson when attempting to raise children with a connection to, and compassion for, our environment. I would also like them to see how plants grow, and to learn the importance of sun and rain. And perhaps they’ll even develop a sense of the seasons – beyond just knowing that summer is when Toots is open, and winter is when we make snow angels. Perhaps most important, though, is the chance for us to create something together, something we can work on and enjoy as a family. And yesterday, Gracie came up with her very own reason to love the garden – it’s a great place to dig for worms!
Today, Grace attended story time at our local library while Tess and I played and selected books. One of the books we brought home, The Peace Book (by Todd Parr), has been an instant hit. It is filled with sweet statements and colorful illustrations to attempt to convey the different kinds of peace to young children. Some excerpts:
"Peace is giving shoes to someone who needs them."
"Peace is watching it snow."
"Peace is saying you’re sorry when you hurt someone."
"Peace is wearing different clothes." This is illustrated by a character wearing a burqa (Grace said: "I think that one is from China"), and a character with a huge yellow afro and crazy clothes ("I think that one’s from Ohio," she said. Do I really dress that badly?).
"Peace is offering a hug to a friend." Upon hearing this, Grace hugged me and said: "We’re doing peace!" Then it struck me that the first, and perhaps best, way to teach peace is within our own family. We started this right away, by having family dance time. Tess found this very amusing since her daddy, as you know, has got some pretty awesome dance moves (and I must say, Gracie seems to be following in his very nimble footsteps). Then, before bed, we had a group hug. "Doing peace" together is pretty fun.
Apple Day at Maine Audubon is probably our favorite fall event. There are great activities for kids, and the setting is beautiful. Gracie helped make apple cider by throwing apples into the mill, and she had a crow (her selection!) painted on her face. She also climbed a tree and did some contra dancing with a friend. She and Tess colored paper-plate apples and did duck decoy puzzles together (after all, ‘duck’ is one of Tess’s favorite words!). To top it all off, we all walked down to the water to hang out and take in the vibrant fall colors. Oh, and we ate freshly picked local apples. Tess, in particular, loved that aspect of the event – she held onto her apple for the entire two hours we were there, and during the ride home. And she wasn’t very happy when I removed it from her iron grip so that she could eat lunch…
Today I was lucky enough to have a much-needed afternoon out and about on the town – without children! My mom and I indulged in a relaxing foot soak together, complete with hot chocolate (I really don’t think I could have asked for anything more!), followed by some shopping in Portland’s Old Port. My sweet husband spent the afternoon with the girls, and while Tess was enjoying a lengthy nap, he and Gracie carved a pumpkin. Pretty cool! Please make note of the beautiful "jewels," which compose his "crown." Gracie’s talented daddy even cooked up some freshly harvested pumpkin seeds as a snack. Those two really enjoyed their special time together… maybe I should leave them alone more often!
Occasionally Gracie comes downstairs and into our room in the middle of the night, for no apparent reason. So Adam takes her upstairs and puts her right back into bed. Last night, however, there was a pretty loud thunderstorm in the middle of the night – 3am to be exact. Gracie came into our room and I pulled her into bed with us, something I normally never do. But lately she has developed a fear of thunderstorms (I blame it on a book entitled, The Wild Wind), and it was the middle of the night, after all. So I told her to sleep with us for a little while. Of course, being the restless little soul that she is, she decided she wanted to talk instead. So, we listened to the storm and had a sweet little conversation in the dark:
Grace: "Mommy, are all of our things inside?"
Mommy: "Yes, honey, we put all of the toys away in the shed."
Grace: "But not the swingset."
Mommy: "That’s true, but it lives outside, so it’ll be okay."
Grace: "When the lightening comes, I can see Daddy." (Note: Daddy was sawing logs.)
Mommy: "Yeah, that’s pretty cool."
Grace: "When I came downstairs, my dog was at the bottom of the stairs."
Mommy: "That’s funny. She doesn’t like thunderstorms."
Grace: "I don’t either…Mommy, do you sleep with your socks on?"
Mommy: "No, honey."
Grace: "I do."
Mommy: "I know, honey."
Grace: "Mommy, the thunder sounds like it’s in a faraway place."
As much as I enjoyed our middle-of-the-night chat, I was tired. Since it was obvious that she was not going to go to sleep in our bed, and since the thunderstorm had moved on, Adam took Gracie back upstairs to her room. And before he made it back to bed, Tess woke up, and it was my turn to go upstairs… Tonight we’re all going to bed early, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for no more thunderstorms!
Tess seems to have developed a fascination with my computer. Maybe it’s because of all of the buttons, or maybe it’s because she sees that I am fascinated by it. I wonder what she would write about if she could start her own blog? Her crazy, cool big sister, who shares snacks with her and is teaching her how to jump? Her fun daddy, who gives her horsey rides on his back and reads her stories for the 30 seconds that she can sit still? The big, hairy black creature that enjoys watching her eat? Her silly mommy, who dances whenever the blender is turned on and makes her wear a barrette in her hair? Or maybe she’d write about how fun it is to climb up the stairs when no one is looking, and how awesome it was to pet a kitty for the first time… I would really love to know what goes on in that sweet little head!
Gracie dressed herself yesterday! With absolutely no help from me – I wasn’t even in the same room! She has been able to put on her own clothes for quite a while now, but this time she chose her own outfit – and it actually matched!! I am so proud, and a little surprised. Maybe it’s time for me to let go of my control freakishness and just let her get dressed on her own (OK, maybe I’m not really ready for that yet). But doesn’t she look cute?!
I would love to be able to say that these pumpkins were grown in our own pumpkin patch, but that’s not the case. My ‘garden experiment’ this summer was a true learning experience. We do have pumpkins, but they are still small and very yellow. They won’t be ready before the first frost. (Note to self: plant garden earlier next year.) The good news is that Gracie and I went on a very fun Friends School excursion on Friday to a local farm, and Gracie got to pick her own pumpkin out of a field. Being the sweet big sister that she is, she also picked one for Tess. So Tess has added a new word to her growing vocabulary: "bum-bah."
Travelingjenny 
