Yesterday was a "wonky" day.
Especially for
Rease.
The
good thing about having cousins visit that are close in age is you get to "share" on a different level. Someone closer to your age. Someone who understands your "
girly things". That's how it is with
Rease and Hope - right now anyway.
But yesterday went south from the very beginning. The girls were ready for the pool as soon as they walked in the door from spending the night at Paul's - about 7:30
ish. I had to hold them off til near 9:00! The nerve of me. Well, Hope's bathing suit was in the laundry. I gave her one of
Rease's, but for some reason that didn't fly with her. She looked fine in it, but refused to wear it. Attitude big time - which resulted in loss of pool privileges for the day. I sent
Rease and Helena out to swim - which lasted a total of 15 minutes. For some odd, unknown reason they couldn't swim without Hope. Hm. . . strange
phenomenon here. So, in they came, changed their clothes and they too lost pool privileges. Thus starting the
bad of the day.
As time wore on, and Hope was able to play, things went farther south. They were on my sofa all busy with "
girly things" when Goldilocks came and snitched on them. They had been wrestling around and got RED chap stick on my couch and the load of clean sheets I had put on the end to be folded. I. WAS. NOT. HAPPY! !
Rease was devastated - they had broken the rules - no pens, pencils, markers, crayons or make up in the living room. (See why?) She does have a
tender heart and I knew she was mortified at what they had done - I could see it in her eyes - the remorse was punishment enough. She spent the better part of an hour (hiding outside) getting herself
togther.
Rease cannot for the life of her keep things
out of her mouth. Toys, pencils, erasers, pool noodles - you name it - if it's able, it goes in the mouth. So it was yesterday. A small plastic ring one of her friends had given her for her birthday - was her object of choice. She had been told to keep it out of her mouth. But did she
listen? Goldilocks came to me and told me
Rease had swallowed a ring! (see a pattern here -
Rease trouble - Goldilocks tattletale?) I called
Rease to me. I asked if she was
ok - did she hurt anywhere - yes, her chest (I'm thinking the ring was quite hard and hurt on the way down). I asked her if she understood why it was important to keep things out of her mouth. I told her it would be
ok - she would probably "poop" it out. Oh my - they anguish in this child's face. Of course now - Helena hearing this - wants to make sure she is around when the ring makes it's "exit"! She has a quirky mind - just let me tell ya. She is on pins and needles waiting the "blessed event"! She was actually wondering if we were going to fish it out?! ! Heck no! Good Gravy Marie! It's going to sewer heaven!! PERIOD. So poor
Rease spent
another hour or so (this time behind the sofa) pulling herself together.
All was well -or as well as could be expected for this particular day - for the remainder of the day. We had dinner, baths, dessert. Things then got
ugly for her. This poor child. Sarah had jumped out of the pantry and scared some of us. She wanted to "get "
Rease. I told her no - not
Rease - she would not do well with that.
Did Sarah listen? She waited until I went to the bathroom and she and Alicia set
Rease up. They sent her to the pantry to get crackers for Alicia because Alicia was holding
Alaina and couldn't do it herself, and
Rease being the tender heart was more than willing to help Alicia out. As soon as she opened the pantry door, Sarah jumped out and growled at her.
Rease burst into tears and lost all composure and screamed at Sarah. I heard the screams in the bathroom and knew instantly what had happened. When I came out, I found
Rease in the back room in a puddle of tears. I had warned them. She is NOT the one for those kind of pranks. Once she got herself together, apologies were made and accepted and laughs were had by all the girls.
Rease informed me this morning that she did not sleep well last night. She said she was cold - but I wonder if she was reliving the events of yesterday.
So. . . we will patiently - or not - await the exit of the ring. We will work on attitudes. We will have fun. We WILL survive! I think.
In the meantime - could I just have a boy or two?
Just askin'.
Wasn't it just last week I brought Jenny home? And just yesterday that she brought Alicia home? And now, Alicia has brought Alaina home. Where has the time gone? It's a blur in slow motion, a slow breath released too quickly, a stroll at blinding speed. A blink. . . . a yawn . . . . a sigh. It's the memory of her soft breath, her soft skin, her tiny body smelling of baby lotion, baby kisses and yawns. It was yesterday. It was forever ago. It's tomorrow that's already knocking. It's past, present and future so meshed together that it's hard to distinguish one from the other. It's a happy sadness. It's too real to be true, but too true to grasp. It's life moving behind me, in front of me and beside me. It is emotion raw and untapped, love contained and overflowing. It's holding on while letting go, looking back while moving forward. It is amazingly unpredictable. It is fear and courage in an unexplainable way. It is four generations.
Happy Birthday, to you!
My Goldilocks got her locks cropped! I'm in love! I want her hair - badly!
I got to meet my brand new - to me, anyway - great-granddaughter and give her her first "real" bath in the "tub"! I was suppose to be helping Alicia out, but I helped myself to that wonderful little task! Can I just say - I fell in love all over again!
Helena, Rease and Ben got to meet her too! Something about a little baby that brings out the "happy" in us! Can I hear an AMEN?!
Piper is smitten with her. She just needs to be around her, touching her - and her things.
The doctors had told Alicia the wrong formula to use, and she was very, I mean VERY, fussy for the first two weeks she was in Maryland. But. . . . for some reason, this little blossom loves laying on my washer! We can't for the life of us figure out what it is about this that makes her happy. I doesn't have to be on - she just has to be on it!
We had our yearly fireworks and "bicycle parade". I also had family and our next door neighbor over to enjoy the festivities with us. It was a very busy day. I need another whole post just for that. It was wonderful letting the girls swim, cooking out, and watching the explosive beauty - all from the comfort of our own deck! What more could one want? Hm?
And of course, Baby Girl has decided to stroll along by herself now. Her independence was also decided on the fourth when one little tyke played with her things and all she could do was crawl after him! Nothing like having to defend your turf to get you off your knees!
