1m2aSandbox

Cora, Maddie and I have all been suffering
from the season’s first cold, and as it lingered over the
weekend I found us doing just enough to stay a bit exhausted and
craving some true down time. So on Sunday night, I declared that
Monday would be a No-Labor Day: we would make it an official Pajama
Day Staycation. Pajamas all day long, with plenty of lounging
around. The girls were, um, enthusiastic.


Monday morning the girls awoke to find the living room had been
rearranged; the coffee table was moved and several blankets piled
on one another to make a picnic-blanket-like spot right in front of
our couch, with lots of big pillows lined up to lean against during
television-watching. I’d also posted the following
notice:

Wednesday night my throat began to feel a
suspicious sharpness, right about the time my shoulders began
aching. By Thursday morning, it was confirmed: I had a cold coming
on.


Now, this is not (thus far) a whopper of a cold, but it’s
clearly something non-allergy-related, and it’s just annoying
enough as it continues to come on that I got out of bed Thursday
morning dreading the day. When you’re not soooooooo sick that
you can lock yourself miserably in your bedroom, you are still
expected by your kids to perform all your Mommy Duties, and with
the same amount of good cheer and grace. Grumble, grumble.


So I got out of bed, cheered Maddie through her morning routine,
and walked her to school with little difficulty. Then I turned
around, came home, and repeated the process with Cora: finish up
breakfast, snuggle and read books, then head to preschool. I
dropped Cora off, got in the car, and sighed as I ran through my
mental to-do list, exhausted just by the thought of it: make
several mini breakfast casseroles to freeze for the girls; hit the
eye doctor; chat with a new client; return some stuff; make more
granola; clean the desk; and more.


And then I realized –


I could take a nap right now, and no one would be put out by
it.

As I was walking Maddie home from school
one of the first days of school, I asked her what she did during
recess. Recess time, I have learned, is a little window into her
day: if something good happens at recess, she’s had a good
day, and if something bad happens there, chances are her entire day
tanked. It’s become a rather good barometer of her
post-school mood.


This day, Maddie was in a good mood, and she said, “I played
with a couple of my friends, but not on the playground – on
the dirt near it. We’re digging a hole.”


“What kind of hole?” I wondered aloud, bemused.


“We’re digging a hole to China.”

I’ve been filled with optimism these
first few days of school; Maddie seems to be handling it well, and
we’ve had a virtual absence of meltdowns after school, so
I’ve been enjoying seeing my sunny, lighthearted girl from
the summer continue on into the school year.


Yesterday, unfortunately, we did seem to hit a bit of a speed bump.
Nothing major; a boy teasing her during gym class, and a point in
class when she almost got in trouble for something she didn’t
do. On their own, nothing major, completely doable.

Well, it’s official. I now have two
girls in school.


And I’m still alive.


Cora started preschool yesterday – pre-kindergarten, three
days a week – and she loved every single minute of it.
She’s in the purple room, and so was decked out in a purple
dress, as was her flamingo named Cinderella. She had her Monday
underwear on when she went to bed Sunday night so she
wouldn’t forget. Her bag was packed.


She was ready with a capital “Read”.

Do not. Talk to me.

Cora starts preschool on Monday –
pre-kindergarten, three days a week. To say that she is ready is an
understatement.


Cora cried – tears of rage, not sadness – when she
learned that Maddie would be starting school a whole week before
she would. “Not FAIR!” she screamed, and stormed off to
take a break. I do believe she’s the only kid who’s
asking for MORE days of school.