The Hand-Print Turkey

Tessie had another rough drop-off at school today.  She stood in the hallway, crying loudly, demanding I carry her to class, for a good five minutes.  I insisted, all the while wishing I hadn’t, that she was a big girl and had to walk herself.  We eventually made it into the classroom, but Tes wouldn’t tell me goodbye, or even look at me.  Yes, that is the sound of my heart breaking.  I hate leaving her in a mood like that, and I found myself lingering by her classroom door, hoping for her to come running out, arms open wide.

I called to check on her about an hour later.  Her teacher said she was doing fine, and playing with her friends.  Even with the reassurance, her sad face was still floating before me as I painted, all day.  When it was time to pick the kids up I eagerly awaited seeing Tes, and hoped she was back to her happy self.

Sure enough, when I got to school, Tessie was all smiles to greet me.  We played a quick game of hide-and-seek, and then I got the daily report from her teacher.  They had been talking about Thanksgiving in class, and discussing the things they were grateful for.  Each child had made a turkey using their hand print, then were asked by their teacher what they were thankful for.  I had to see Tessie’s.

I walked out into the hall to see where the turkeys were displayed.  Right in the middle of the bulletin board, I found Tessie’s turkey.  He had pink tail feathers, of course, and across the bottom of the page it said “Tessie is thankful for her family.”  My heart swelled, and my hand rested on top of her head, as Tes threw her arms around my legs, and squeezed me tight.  For all the hard mornings, I am thankful for my sweet daughter, and all the beauty she gives me, even when I have to fight for it.

New Boots

One of the challenges that Christian faces is that his knees hyper-extend.  This means when he stands up, his knees bend backwards, making his top half lean forward, and his bottom stick out.  Basically, he can't stand up straight.  To aide him in training his muscles to hold his legs properly, he wears orthopedic braces. We call them his magic boots, and he wears them every time he stands or gets in his walker.

His magic boots were getting pretty small, and sometimes his feet would come right out of them while he was walking.  A few weeks ago, we had him re-fitted for new boots.  A cast was taken of both feet, so the new boots could be made specifically for him.  We have been anxiously awaiting their arrival.  Today was the big day.  Our appointment was early this morning, so we headed over on our way to school.  On the way Tes asked her brother if he was excited to get his new boots.  He looked at her, and in his most serious voice said "I'm excited to get my new boots, Tessie."

When Christian saw his new boots he broke out in a huge smile.  They had to be adjusted a little, so Christian waited with his therapist, while I tried to keep Tessie occupied.  When we finally got the boots and his shoes on, he stood up with his therapist supporting him, and they walked down the hall.  It seemed like the difference in his walking was immediate and huge.  Christian looked so proud as he took big steps all the way to the waiting room.  He loved his new boots, and when I picked him up from school today he was still wearing them.  His teacher told me she could hardly get him out of them all day.  He showed them off to his dad when we got home, and he walked around the living room and up the stairs with me.  As I was getting him ready for bath, he held one of the boots and gazed at it adoringly cooing "My boot!"  I never thought that I would have a child who had to wear orthopedic braces, let alone one who would be so excited about them.  Life is full of little surprises, and this one happens to be rather beautiful.

The Ride Home

After a fun-filled weekend away with friends, it was time to head home this morning.  After a mad-dash loading of the car, followed by Tessie slipping on ice and cutting her hand, we were not in the greatest mood leaving Pagosa Springs.  However, the drive to Taos is only about three hours, so we felt confident the kids would stop crying, and sleep most of the way home.  This proved to be true until we stopped for gas.  Both kids woke up, and I braced myself for an awful ride home. 

I was almost immediately proven wrong, when Christian started giggling at something his sister was doing.  She soon joined in, and Nick and I were right behind her.  We were then entertained by Tessie’s constant narrative, brief games of I-Spy, and Christian’s vast array of animal noises.  Now don’t get me wrong, it was by no means a perfect ride.  There were squabbles in the back seat, frustrated parent moments, and a couple minutes devoted to revisiting the boo-boos on Tessie’s hand.  But we were together, mostly having a wonderful time, and driving through some of the most beautiful country on earth. 

The kids marveled at the snow piled high in the forrest surrounding us, and the way it clung to the tall pines.  We gushed over the view from the top of the mountain pass, and we were even lucky enough to have a majestic buck prance across the road in front of the car.  As we neared home, the cheerful atmosphere started to deteriorate, but that was to be expected since the kids slept for such a short time.  Once we were home, and their little bodies were rested, they were happy once more.  And so I could look back on the car ride home fondly, and see it for the beautiful family moment that it was.

I Wanna Play That Guitar!

This evening, for dinner, we ate at a small restaurant, specializing in yummy tacos and great atmosphere.  It was a very small spot, and our party of four adults and four kids under the age of four, took up most of the floorspace.  As we were waiting for our food, a guitar and mandolin duo sat down next to our table, and prepared to play.  Christian, who had started to riot on account of his hot dog not arriving yet, was immediately intrigued.  He pointed at them and said “Momma there’s a guitar.” 

As they began to play, fun upbeat tunes along the lines of “Proud Mary” and the like, Christian clapped his hands and danced in his chair.  He was distracted from the music, only by his hot dog arriving.  After engulfing his dinner, he suddenly noticed something across the room.  This restaurant had a lot of paraphernalia hanging on the walls.  Photographs, license plates, and a couple of embellished acoustic guitars.  One of the guitars had gotten Christian’s attention, and he began to demand that we take it down.  “I wanna play that guitar!” he shouted. 

I had a hard time convincing him we couldn’t play that particular guitar, but he finally relented when I said we could play the guitar back at the house, later.  I love that my son loves music, and I love that he appreciates live music.  I especially love that he wanted to join in their set.  They would have been lucky to have such a beautiful second guitarist. 

Snow Day

Well my kids plotted another night of no sleep for mom last night.  I was up occasionally throughout the night, and then up for good around 5am.  Christian would not fall back asleep, and I was rapidly running out of ideas.  Finally, after he begged me to let him sleep with his sister, we both crawled in bed with her.  Of course, this plan did not work, and I ended up with two children awake instead of just one. 

Luckily, Tessie woke up happy, and tried sweetly to soothe her little brother.  After giving up on trying to get them back to sleep, I turned all three of us around on the bed so they could see the TV, and put on some cartoons.  They both were instantly happy, but I was still holding a grudge about not getting to go back to sleep.  When I woke up at five I had glanced out the window, hoping to see the snow we promised Tes.  Nothing.  It added to my sour mood.  Now at 6:30, I again looked outside, this time to see the ground covered in a white blanket, and it was still snowing.

My mood was instantly better, and I jumped out of bed to yank the curtains back.  “Look guys, snow!” I proclaimed as the kids turned their heads towards the window and then broke out in smiles.  I was no longer mad about being up early, instead I was all of a sudden in a great mood.  I made a pot of coffee, and happily watched cartoons with the kids.  We talked about what we could do in the snow, and how excited we were to go outside.  My whole morning was turned around thanks to the fresh layer of powdery snow, and that was a beautiful thing. 

Story Time With Tes

Today we left on a mini vacation to Pagosa Springs for the weekend.  The kids have been very excited about the trip, and started talking about it from the moment they woke up this morning.  However, as was expected, packing and loading the car took way longer than we planned, and Christian’s patience started to wear thin.  I kept assuring him that we were almost ready to leave, and continued to try and distract him with toys and his sister. 

It was drawing dangerously close to nap time, and we were almost ready to go, but not quite.  Christian had been playing with Tes in her room, but was now laying back and just yelling, at no one in particular.  I picked him up and asked him what he wanted.  He replied that he wanted to go in the living room, so I carried him out and set him on the couch.  Grabbing at one last straw, I asked Tessie if she would read him a book.  By some miracle, she climbed up on the couch and started to read to him.  He leaned his head closer to hers, and gave her his full attention.  Tes talked in detail about each page, and held the pictures up for Christian to see.  I was able to finish loading the car, and then just stood and gazed in awe at my children.  My poor son had been waiting for us all morning, and all he wanted was attention.  His sister gave him just what he wanted, and it was beautiful to watch. 

What Little Sneaks

I had a rough day with the kids.  Most of the day anyway.  As I predicted, Christian was up at 4:45 this morning after his super early bedtime last night.  I tried everything in my bag of tricks to get him to fall back asleep, even crawling in bed with him, but it all proved fruitless.  Finally around 5:30, I put an episode of "Dora" on my phone and let him watch while I tried to snooze.  No luck.  After one episode Christian was done with being in bed.  We moved our operation to the living room, where I could do nothing right, and Christian just yelled at me.  I was on the verge of a breakdown, when Nick came to the rescue.  He took over parent duty, and sent me back to bed.

I slept for almost two hours, which was amazing, and came back downstairs to find the rest of my family in great moods.  Unfortunately for me, the great moods left when Nick left for work.  The kids, especially my boy, pushed me on every issue, all day.  When I got them down for naps, I breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Both kids woke up complaining, and I braced myself for a tough afternoon.  But then something amazing happened.  As soon as I set both of them on the couch, they were happy.  They snuggled under a blanket together, and agreed on a movie, with no complaining on either end.  I made them hot cocoa and popcorn, and they smiled, said thank you, and basically made me fall back in love with them and forget all about the torture they dished out earlier.  What little sneaks.  Even though I'm a seasoned veteran in the trenches of parenthood, a moment like this can still take me completely by surprise.  It's a beautiful trap, and one I'm happy to fall for, every time.