yesterday, true to my clutzy self
i tripped over my two year old in a parking lot
and fell flat over on my side
on the asphalt
no holds barred
i clambered to my feet
feeling stiff and bruised
but mostly grateful
i hadn’t crushed my daughter
at least not completely
it left me feeling battered today
so i found myself taking a bath
in water swirling with epsom salts
lavender oil
and sparkly heart stickers
ah, motherhood…
It’s taken me a while to write this post because it involves my doing something pretty out of the ordinary – which turned into a learning experience for my oldest daughter. She was not yet four.
On a beautiful, spring morning in March (you have to remember that March IS spring in AZ), we were on our way to go “thrifting” when we saw the overflow parking lot of a nearby church filled with several hundred motorcycles. It was an amazing sight. I turned into the parking lot so we could check them out safely and find out why they were there. We learned they were Patriot Guard members, an honor guard escorting the memorial procession of a motorcyclist who’d been killed in a brutal car accident weeks earlier. While we were taking this all in – the call came to follow the funeral hearse. We watched quietly as the entire procession of motorcycles passed us. Then, the person in charge of the processional yelled at me and motioned for us to follow.
And, then, things got a bit out of the ordinary. Not wanting to be rude or explain, I just followed, thinking I would discretely pull out of the line within a few blocks. While I coasted in line, my daughter asked me to define “memorial”. I explained that it is a special service to remember a person who has died and to tell his family he will be missed. My oldest thought about this carefully for a moment, then said, “Mom, can we go to the memorial service?”
This is how we ended up at the burial of a person I’d never met. As we drove, we talked about how he died and how his family would miss him. It really struck me how connected we all are. I’d never met this man but I knew from experience the loss his family was feeling as they said goodbye. My heart was wrenched for them and I shared their grief. Since my daughter knows my parents and brother have died, I figured she’d get some of it but I couldn’t really tell how much she grasped of this subject. We followed the motorcade all the way to the Arizona National Cemetary, where the cyclist was honored with a veteran’s funeral.
As we left, she said, “Mom, can we sing the Barney song?” Thinking that it was an intense event for a little girl and that she was ready to change the subject, I sang it with her. When we finished, my eyes filled with tears because she said,
“That’s how I say, ‘I love you’ to that man who died.”
I guess she got it after all.
These past few weeks have been filled with fun and activity for me and my little tribe. Since we returned from vacation, it hasn’t stopped. Yesterday was no exception!
We started the morning by waking – LATE – on the morning I host a 9:30 am Storytime at a local coffee shop. OOPS! I had stayed up late the night before cleaning up the vestiges of returning home from vacation late Saturday (a “work night” for us). In the morning, I woke, not hearing an alarm and thinking, “Uh-oh, it seems awfully light in here!” (I know this never happens to you, right?) I turned to look at the clock – 8:37 am! I jumped up and nudged my little sleeping girls, “Guess what? We’re getting dressed and having breakfast at the coffee shop!” We hustled out the door and made it just in time for our lovely little meeting with the kids. And, bonus, two big kids (friends of mine) showed up for Storytime too. Nice.
Next, we headed to one of my favorite thrift stores. When we arrived, my oldest said, “Mom, I have to go pee – really bad!!!! I mean, really, REALLY, REALLY BAAADDDD!” I answered, “No problem,” and jumped out to unbuckle the girls. I lifted my youngest out of the car and she chortled happily and snuggled against me. Suddenly, I felt something wet and *squishy* on my hands. I pulled her away and, ugh, you can imagine what I found – all over her back, carseat, my hands and my shirt. “Uh-oh! Um, honey – can you wait on the bathroom just a minute?”
I quickly placed my baby on the front seat and after sponging off her entire body, changed her diaper and outfit. She kept saying, “Gross. Gross. Gross.” the entire time I was changing her so my oldest and I laughed hysterically all the way into the store where she proceeded to use the bathroom not once, but twice, during our 20 minute visit.
After the thrift store excitement – where I found three new shirts for my husband (my pooped-on attire notwithstanding!), we headed home for a shower and clean clothes before our next excursion. We had a brief “lunch” – cheese, apples, almonds and peanut butter. Then we left to check on a vacationing friend’s mini chicken farm. When we arrived, we confirmed her 75 chickens, the purpose of our visit, were fed and watered and discovered she had geese too! As we were leaving, I texted her that everyone was alive and she replied, “How was the horse?” “Horse?” So, we went looking for a horse too! (I should mention that we were just checking up on the little kid pet sitters she’d hired or I would have known about the horse.)
We finished horsing around and stopped by another friend’s to get our weekly delivery of goat milk from the farm where we partially own a goat. It’s super-delicious and my daughters LOVE it! Then, we raced home, put away all our good food and the girls played while I made a quick salad of spinach, apples, grapes and pecans with homemade strawberry champagne vinaigrette for dinner. And – out of the house again – to my inlaws’ where we enjoyed dinner with my sister in law’s family. Our kids raced around in Grandfather’s yard and in and out of the pool, generally exhausting themselves.
Finally, we made our way back home where we finished the night. My oldest drew a special picture for me while I filled bottles and my youngest ran around contributing to the general disorder of my dining room. After finishing our nightly ritual of showers and reading, I lost my resolve to get up and straighten my house. Instead, I wrapped my arms around my two funny little companions of the day and slipped off to a dreamy fairyland with them!
What did you do yesterday? 😉
