Even though Charlie sleeps in a "big boy" bed, he has somehow been trained to believe that he can't get out of bed until I open his bedroom door and give him permission to get up. (I didn't deliberately train him to do this, but it sure has its perks.)
During our morning scurryings to get the six other kids off to school, we attempt to be as quiet as little mice--mice who need to eat breakfast and make six sack lunches and gather their homework. If I'm lucky, Charlie sleeps in long enough for me to exercise and get ready for the day.
If Charlie catches me mid-routine or mid-shower, sometimes he has to wait for me to open his door, and he will shout, "Moooom!" in intervals that, much like contractions, get louder and angrier with each passing minute.
One March morning, Eric happened to be standing right outside Charlie's door when he bellowed his first, "Mom!" Eric immediately opened the door and Charlie looked at him in shock and exclaimed, "Well, that was magical!"
Occasionally, once again if we are very lucky, Charlie will serenade us from his bedroom for a while before he starts screaming my name. I captured this particular morning's song (which sounds more like a Gregorian Chant than anything else). The lyrics are "It's time to be morning" repeated roughly a few dozen times.
* * *
Charlie was spinning some cute little blonde yarn about something whose plot escapes me. When he got to his assessment of the situation, he said with disappointment, "It was awkward. I thought it was magical, but it wasn't."
* * *
As Charlie and Eric were inspecting some sad and empty pots just waiting to be filled with spring flowers, they looked at the dirt thoughtfully.
Eric asked Charlie, "If we planted you in these pots what would grow?"
Charlie thought about it and quickly replied, "Dinosaurs and cookies."
My littlest Leprechaun helped me to make rainbow cupcakes
for his preschool class to celebrate St Patrick's Day.
Eve excitedly tried out for her Middle School's production of Aladdin this year and was happy to be chosen as one of the Agrabah guards. She was as happy as if someone had given her three wishes since she considered it to be evidence that this was an equal opportunity production.
Originally she was cast as the "third guard," but after one of her rehearsals, she climbed happily into the car and said proudly, "I got a promotion today! Now I'm the second guard!" This meant that she got to have a speaking part with three lines, which she was thrilled about.
Since she is about a head taller than most of the other kids in the play (as you can see in the above photo with her friend), she did look pretty tough up there on stage.
Happy Easter-versary!
This year our wedding anniversary fell on Easter, which couldn't have been more appropriate. Eric gives me such complete comfort, such a feeling of home, and yet he helps to consistently renew me with each passing year. It astonishes me that our marriage could feel so simultaneously ageless and yet so brand new, so sacredly ritualized and yet so beautifully spontaneous.
