Lately, I've been feeling the weight of all the stuff I've got going on. Just getting out of the house in the morning (at 7:00 a.m., with four kids and all their gear) feels like a full-time job. I worry about the kids, I hate leaving Eddie. I still don't really understand middle schoolers, parents don't like the way I teach. My dissertation will just not write itself, and I feel like I'll never finish it in 30 minutes per day.
But then comes along a day like today. DJ greets me with his, "good mwoh-ning." We make it to school in time despite the snowy weather. The kindergarteners got to serve the high schoolers a "Thanksgiving feast" for hot lunch, so I bought my lunch and Annie served me cranberry sauce. I got to hear her veeeeery quietly ask teenagers if they wanted any fruit, and then they sang songs and recited poems in Native American outfits. She was barely tapping on her drum and not singing at all until she saw me smiling and waving like a madwoman.
And then after school I picked up the girls, then the boys, and Eddie has his first tooth! I didn't even know he was teething, he's so sweet. He was just a little fussy and didn't sleep well yesterday.
Then we went to church and had pizza and the kids raced their derby cars. Everyone was well-behaved and ate all their food. Nellie told everyone she saw about Eddie's tooth, and Annie went without me even saying anything to get me another of my favorite cookies. Even DJ raced a car (with no paint or stickers on it--he was much too busy playing to decorate it), and Annie won 1st place for her age group. Nellie wasn't the best sport about losing, but she got over it, and wanted to pray tonight for the girl who will get her Operation Christmas Child box, and told me about how she holds a drawing each night for her mini beanie babies (who are neatly lined up on the side of the top bunk) to see which one gets to snuggle with her.
This is our life, made up of these days, and I want to remember them.
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