I can’t remember if I have written of this before, so it is possibly a repetition. Whenever we pass a Dairy Queen Sarah will whisper, “Dairy Queen.” For some reason this is hilarious. She often then whispers whatever she says next, which becomes equally hilarious because of being whispered.
This past week Sarah told me when she got her period. I almost didn’t believe her because she so recently had it, but her doctor informed me that this first year can be quite irregular. So to my credit, I didn’t tell Sarah that she was wrong. Instead we went to the bathroom and she got her special undies. I was most impressed by her body awareness and communication of it, which hasn’t happened before with respect to her period.
Sarah and I had a wonderful SR session. What made it wonderful was that I couldn’t make the trampoline Sarah wanted and she was upset about it for about 45 minutes. Because it was our SR time and Amy was playing with M., I didn’t feel any pressure to move past Sarah’s upset. I was also sleepy so I just sat and listened while she cried, screamed, pleaded, and whined. When our time was almost done I said it was time to take her shower. She protested for a few minutes and then switched to calm ease. She took her shower and washed her hair easily. She seemed calmer overall after her crying session. While I am well aware of how magical a big cry can be, I still marveled at it and was grateful for the reminder. The next morning also went extra smoothly in terms of her getting ready for school.
Sarah had been saying she wanted to be Santa and wanted to wear red and white stripes. She wanted to go to the Red and White Stripe Store, a creation of her imagination in which everything would be striped red and white. Friday morning I had some free time so I went to a thrift store and found a large red and white striped shirt with a matching hat. I also got red, white, and green plaid pajama bottoms. She looks adorably cuddly and has been wearing the whole ensemble since her return from school on Friday.
I started reading The Gratitude Diaries by Janice Kaplan. I have had it on my shelf for months and almost wanted to roll my eyes at it because of course I know that gratitude is a good thing and makes people feel better, blah, blah, blah. While I may know some of what is written, that is a very different thing from applying what I know to my life! I am so glad I have started reading it. It has already been helpful to shift my perspective in many situations to what I can appreciate rather than what I can judge or begrudge. This has helped me be happier more often. I’m also intrigued by the advice regarding showing gratitude more often to people in my life, especially those closest to me. This means focusing more on the adorable creative qualities of my favorite children rather than grumbling about the tissues and socks strewn about. Or possibly being grateful that we have such a snug, warm house with an ample supply of tissues and socks.
I made miniature gingerbread house pattern cookies, which the girls assembled and decorated, sampling their way through the decorations. Today we will decorate the giant house that takes multiple days for the frosting to set into enough stability to handle the pressure of decorating.
Amy has been drawing many animals using a how-to-draw book. I am amazed at her ability and her innate drive to create art.
Last weekend we got our tree and Sarah was the one most eager to start decorating it. She participated the whole time and then started taking ornaments off so she could rehang them. This is a shift from past years when she would lose interest part way through. Our cat thinks the tree is tasty despite repeated tummy-upsets because of eating it. She also climbed fully into the lower branches yesterday, which is a first in all of my years of having cats. I know many cats do it, but I was just hoping to have my cat refrain.
I am so grateful to all of you for witnessing our journey and my thoughts about it. I feel loved and supported knowing you are with us and interested in our tears and triumphs. The times that some of you write back mean a great deal too. And I love hearing about your own lives and journeys! I really do!!
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