Yesterday I took Anna and Alexander on a quick grocery trip.
Sunday at noon is quite the busy time. Apparently it's the time to see and be seen. I ran into my choral director and also a city councilwoman who usually sits next to me during singing practice (though they weren't together). Who knows who else was in the store that I might have known but didn't make eye contact with because I was trying to maneuver the extra long firetruck-shaped shopping cart through the narrowish aisles.
It wasn't a weekly sort of shopping trip for me. I try to avoid those with the children whenever possible, which often means going after they're in bed. (Yes, mom, I get out at night sometimes!)
This trip had a specific purpose. Alexander needed to pick out a bouquet of flowers, and Anna needed to pick out snacks to share with her school friends in celebration of her half birthday (another summer birthday child).
Students at Alexander's school are assigned one week out of the school year to bring a bouquet of flowers. They are to be responsible for these flowers all week. Trimming the stems, arranging them in vases and watering them. It would take a lot away from the experience if the parent picked out the flowers and simply handed them to the student to take to school. Alexander picked out the most dyed, unnatural looking bunch of flowers in the whole store. But it was his choice. That's the important thing.
Anna picked out fruit juice pouches with straws and individually packaged cookies in a variety of flavors to take for her school birthday treat. Unfortunately, that's pretty much all that's done to celebrate the birthday at her school. We won't even get to go inside with her. I think the teacher hands out the treats after recess.
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I overheard this little exchange this afternoon while the children were supposed to be in their separate quiet times (which we have right after lunch so that we all can have some time to quietly read, do homework, play in our rooms, etc.). Even though they weren't causing a ruckus, I could tell they were not in their own rooms as they were supposed to be. So I tiptoed upstairs and listened outside Alexander's door:
Alexander: Today I fell down on the playground and hurted myself so bad.
Anna: Did you cry?
Alexander: No, I didn't cry. But it hurted so bad.
Anna: Were you OK? ....
It wasn't so much what they were talking about as how they were talking. When I opened the door she was lying on his bed and he was just sitting there. They were talking like best friends. Very calmly, very non rambunctiously. So sweet. So I made a deal with them. If they would keep up this manner of quiet time, then they didn't have to be separated. They held up their end of the bargain. For a good while anyway.
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They also did a great job of sharing today. He came home with treats from one of his classmates who celebrated a birthday. She gave everyone a little pack of Skittles candy and a little glitter glue stick. When Alexander got into the car he immediately gave Anna the glitter stick without her even asking about it. He knows she likes to do art stuff, and he's not as much into that. Then, he even shared many of his Skittles with her. I was a little shocked but very pleased. When we got home, after lunch, Anna cut her brownie (that she bought from a school fundraiser) in half and shared it with her brother for dessert.
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Finally, does your town have drive-up library service? Ours does. Kind of lazy, I know.
I called the public library the other day to ask if they had a book in stock that I need for a novel report. They did and asked if they should hold it for me. I told them sure, thank you very much. "Should I pick it up at the main desk when you first walk in?" "We'll have it there but you can just drive through and pick it up. You don't have to come in."
I knew they had a drive-through return-books-in-the-slot service and had seen that they had these bank-teller-like drawers. But I didn't know they actually worked like a bank teller's does. I know I should have set a better example and taken the kids into the library with me. But we've been inside the library tons of times and we were in a hurry to get to the Y.
I give Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech a 10 out of 10. I was stunned by the ending and proceeded to cry my eyeballs out. Lots of rich layers. Highly insightful and touching. The kids were wondering what was going on. But it's OK for them to see how moving a book can be.
'Course I've always been pretty sensitive. I remember when my mom came home and told me about the movie, "The Champ." I couldn't stop crying then, either. And that was just from her telling me about it.
That's all for today.
