June 14: Nice Mice Rolling Dice in a Trice as their only Vice

Hello there!

Sarah’s love of “mice mice mice” snuggles and play has evolved. I enjoy coming up with sentences in which most of the words rhyme with mice. Now Sarah likes to pull the bedsheet over her head to pretend to be mice in a trice rolling dice and eating rice. I repeatedly explain that “in a trice” means doing something quickly rather than being something you can physically be in, but that doesn’t change her sheet “trice.” We also like to talk about nice mice rolling dice; it is their only vice. They are eating rice or ice, sometimes twice. It will suffice. It is amazing how many words rhyme with mice!

In addition to wanting to be “Kiddo,” Sarah now loves it when I say “Hello there!” Both are inspired by the cartoon Caillou. Sarah loves snuggling and saying “hello there” or “hi there” or “hey there” to each other. She requests time with me by asking to do Hello There. Her face lights up, suffused with so much joy you couldn’t squeeze any more joy into her. Sometimes Amy snuggles with us too and then I am the one filled to the brim with joy. There’s nothing better than feeling so loved.

Sarah’s room doesn’t have an official desk, but recently it seemed like Sarah wanted one because she kept going into Amy’s room and sitting at the desk. As a temporary measure I moved a small folding table and a stool into Sarah’s room. She promptly sat down to write as if she was doing school work. At some point we will get her a real desk.

Sarah’s physical abilities seem to be getting stronger across the board. She is swinging higher than she ever has. Carl and Amy have been playing soccer almost every night after dinner and one night Sarah joined them, blocking and kicking with more skill than previously demonstrated. Yesterday we went to a beach in the Laurel Highlands and Sarah asked to play with the frisbee. Carl gave her a few reminders on how to throw and catch it. She and I tossed it back and forth many times and our skill levels are well matched.

Amy has been swinging on our tree swing, which has a single rope and a flat plastic disc on which to sit. She swings on our regular swing set daily as her ride on the bus to get to and from school. She also cartwheels so often that yesterday she dubbed herself Amy Why-walk-when-you-can-Cartwheel.

I’ve started working in my office, seeing only one client per day if I see anyone. It is easier than I expected to wear a mask the whole time. Sarah continues to miss me when I’m away unless she is with her sitter A or on Facetime with Sc, in which case, “mom who?” It’s not as if we are always together at home, but she likes knowing that I’m around.

I continue to think about the anti-racist changes that need to be made across the board. I often feel overwhelmed because the changes needed are so massive. What I know from my Hello There snuggle sessions is that sometimes pouring love and time into one area has ripples to other areas that may be unexpected. So maybe if all of us pour our love and energy into the changes that we can see in front of us, into the calls that we can make, then there will be ripples overall.  If we let ourselves be overwhelmed into inaction then that isn’t so useful. Individually, we don’t have to solve everything but collectively we can make some positive changes in a trice.