Today is...

*The day I got back in the swing of things after being in the city for the past three days for a fantastic speech therapy conference. I loved being surrounded by an inspirational teacher and wonderful classmates but it sure was nice to be home. Commuting into the city is not my cup of tea...

*A day to learn about play. The girls are huge pretend players which leaves one room messier than the one before. I love it philosophically but struggle sometimes with the chaos. I walked into a a room tonight and said something about the mess under my breath. Katherine looked very insulted and said, "I did not make a mess. Would you like to come to my store." What in my eyes was a mess, in her mind was her very own store front. Hopefully I will remember to see the fun in all the clutter.

*A day for cooking. As I was preparing dinner, Katherine asked if she could cook with me. Often, she is quite helpful. Peeling carrots is her speciality. Tonight though, she had a creative masterpiece in mind- cheese with butter melted together in the microwave. She stood staring at the buttons for a bit before asking me where the "Butter Button" was. When I looked confused, she said, "Like the popcorn button." Too bad the makers of the microwave did not see the need for a button pre-set to the temperature and time needed to melt cheese together with butter.

Today is...

*One of those fall days that makes fall my favorite season. It even smelled pretty.

*A session with one of my speech therapy clients where I saw truly noticeable improvement. What a thrill that is...

*A perfect play date for me and Katherine. A mom that I got along with, a girl who loves playing with dolls and even enjoyed running around the house naked for awhile. If truth be told, Katherine would be naked all day long... it appears her new little friend would happily live on a nudist colony with her.

*A day when two husbands were gone for dinner and two moms banded together to feed five children breakfast for dinner. A bit nutty but a bit fun too.

Today is...

*The second WE Series of the season. A wonderful writer, Tina Kelly from the NY Times spoke to our group about poetry, journalism and a hyperlocal blog for the NY Times.

*Katherine's first ear infection of the season. I had really hoped that this would be the year her eustachian tubes had finally matured enough to avoid a winter full of trips to the pediatrician. Not yet, I guess.

*A great quote from Katherine: As we were riding home this afternoon, Katherine began composing a song in the back seat. Here are the lyrics: "It's a wonderful day. Let go of me. I want to run in the sunshine."

Television

Caroline and Katherine watch very little tv. It's just one of my things... Somehow, though, this summer, our tv watching got way out of control. The girls were watching tons of tv. When school started I put the brakes back on. One program during the week and two on weekends. They fought us for a few days but settled quite quickly back into our old routine.

The other night, Caroline reminded me of why I limit tv. After dinner, she realized she hadn't watched her program yet. She had been headed outside to play when she made this realization. You could see the wheels turning in head as she struggled with what to do. A moment later, looking over her shoulder on the way to the swings, she said, "There is more to life than tv."

Right she is...

Lines

Caroline is having a tough time adjusting to a new school. We are not terribly surprised given her general distaste for change but it is still unsettling. She is not separating well at the start of the day and is complaining about not wanting to go and not liking school throughout the afternoon and evening.

Yesterday though, we had a glimmer of hope. When Rob asked her how her day was she replied, "Great! Oh, I mean, bad!" She had this conversation as she busily drew line pictures, the topic of her art class yesterday.

Caroline has always loved to draw and create but for some reason, I have never really considered art to be one of her true loves. Art, though, is what she is connecting with in her new school. Yesterday she talked on and on about her class as she drew beautiful pictures. She told me that had started the class with a story about lines. When I guessed that it had been Harold and the Purple Crayon, she said "No but that would have been a good one." At one point, she even told us that she wanted to be an artist when she grew up. I suppose this is not a huge leap from her previously chosen professions of "nail saloner" or "manicurer" but it was still exciting to hear.

As she drew and drew, first with colored pencil, then markers and crayons, she looked thoughtfully at her paper and said, "Where a line ends, a shape begins."

Maybe there is an artist-to-be in our house after all...

Talents

Yesterday afternoon, Caroline spent time organizing a "Chalk Marathon" on our sidewalk. The organization involved writing a list of participants along with activities they would engage in on the day of the marathon. All of her writing was done meticulously with sidewalk chalk.

The writing must have been tiring because when she was done, Caroline looked at me and said, "You must have to be really good at writing to write a chapter book."

Instead of reminding her that few people write chapter books with sidewalk chalk, I agreed with her... especially given the fact that I have been struggling lately to write my blog, a journal entry or even a sentence in my gratitude notebook.

As so often happens, the thoughts kept coming. "You would also have to like writing to write a chapter book. Because, you know, sometimes you can have a talent but not like it."

Wow. "Are there things you are good at that you don't like?" I asked.

I got a chuckle when her first response was "Singing and dancing." If anyone has ever seen Caroline dance, they will know that she is most definitely Rob's and my daughter and this means that dancing is, in fact, not one of her talents.

"Are there things you are good at that you also like?" I asked.

And then what a wonderful feeling for a mom who often worries that her daughter is too hard on herself, not confident enough, unsure of what a wonderful and talented person she is, to hear the long list of talents that Caroline believes she has... talents that she also likes...

Among items in a list too long for me to have remembered a day later were reading, writing, math, swimming and running.

And I suppose one day soon, she will be adding chalk marathoner to her list.

Another First Day

Katherine had her first day today at our new Montessori pre-school. We know many, many children at this school so it did not feel like the big transition it could have been.

Katherine did really well and seemed happy when she left after her hour long introduction. I asked her if she had a good time and with a huge smile on her face, she said, "No." I had watched her through a window for nearly the entire time so fortunately, I knew that her face spoke the truth.

At dinner tonight, when Rob asked her what she liked about school, Katherine did not talk about meeting her teacher or playing with a familiar friend. She did not talk about playing with play dough or completing a block work. She told Rob that the favorite part of her day was "When Mommy picked me up."

I wonder what tomorrow will bring?