We now have a rising eight grader in the house! Baby Crocodile had her last day of school on Tuesday, with dismissal at 10 am. Basically the last day is just going in for Mass and goodbyes. I had a few work things for the rest of the week, and Carl worked from home to make that possible. Sarah spent much of her time with babysitter Caillou and babysitter Daniel Tiger (aka tv shows), which was what we had hoped since Carl had lots of meetings to attend. Overall this went smoothly, but Sarah did miss me some of the time and another time got into the nail polish with some messy results that required intervention and nail polish remover.
Swim lessons on Monday were full of crocodiles. Sarah’s enthusiasm for crocodiles is contagious. She has no problem correcting anyone and everyone, from her dentist to her swim teacher, to make sure they call her Baby Crocodile instead of Sarah. They all seem to delight in doing so. When we arrived at swimming, her teacher called out, “Hi, Baby Crocodile!” Then another kid in Sarah’s class wanted to be a baby crocodile too. The swim teacher has now adjusted her instructions to Sarah to be all about crocodile things. At one point she asked Sarah, “Baby Crocodile, what is your favorite food?” Sarah replied, “crocodile food.” Then during playtime at the end of the lesson, the teacher pretended to be a crocodile chasing and chomping after the kids, much to their delight.
On Friday morning Sarah went with me to Target. The original mission did not involve crocodiles but when she asked for clothing with such animals I said we could look. As often happens, the girls’ section offers no help. Thank goodness for the boys’ section. There we found pink swim shorts with crocodiles eating ice cream and pizza. We also found a polo shirt that is covered with lizards or crocodiles, so of course we see crocodiles. My only wish is that Target would some day get rid of having boy and girl sections and simply have kid clothing. It would also really help if they made the sizing consistent. For girls’ clothes the sizes are 7/8, 10/12, and 14/16. Meanwhile, the boys’ sizes are numbered more like 8/10, 12/14. This makes it hard to know what size Sarah needs, whereas if they had consistent sizing I wouldn’t need to make her go to the changing room. Not that going to the changing room was a hardship (although it has been in the past), but why? Why must Target do things this way? Also, why are girls’ shorts so short?! I know it’s not just Target opting for short shorts, but still. They are the recipient of my rant today.
Friday evening I had a staff meeting to attend for the massage school and then yesterday and today I’m taking a class that is 9-6 each day. So, Carl decided to take the kids to the mountain house for a Dad weekend. It began with Carl taking Sarah to the Aurora Family day Friday afternoon for an hour. Aurora is where Carl works on automating trucks. When they arrived Sarah went into hostess mode, gesturing (with her arm out and palm up) to the food trucks and automated trucks saying, “We have funnel cakes, meatballs, and robot trucks.” Sarah loved sitting in the truck, painting part of a rainbow picture, eating meatballs, and flavoring her snow cone with a little bit of syrup from each of the ten options.
The Dad weekend continued yesterday with sleeping in to an hour rarely seen! (8:30?) It was truly remarkable that Sarah slept past her normal 5:30 inner rooster. Later in the day they went bowling – and the alley even had crocodile supports for little kids who need to start with the ball up high. Sarah didn’t use it, but still! Crocodiles! After much standing in line they enjoyed a giant trampoline, then had treats from a bakery, and finished the day with pizza and a movie. Meanwhile, I’m having a wonderful time learning new things, seeing former students, and having quiet time at home.
For a few afternoons earlier in the week, Sarah and I walked out to an intersection nearby where we could watch for buses and crocodiles. It is about a five minute walk and there is a bus shelter with a bench so it’s a perfect resting place for me. So far we have seen many buses but the only crocodiles have been on Sarah’s clothing or Baby Crocodile herself. Yesterday when I got home from class I decided to go for a walk. In my head I was anticipating going on a longer walk. In actuality, I made it to the bus shelter and gratefully rested and then went home. It all felt much harder on my own than when I am strolling along with my favorite crocodile. But in case I haven’t mentioned it earlier, I am no longer using a cane at all.
Grammy sent Amy the dress that Grammy’s mom was married in, many years ago. Remarkably, it fits Amy perfectly in terms of length and girth. It has about 5000 buttons up the back so I didn’t actually button it, but I could tell it would be an exact fit. Amy loves it and thinks it is the prettiest dress she’s ever seen.
I hope you are all well. May you be as assured as our Baby Crocodile in asking for what you want.
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