Love Under the Weather

Gracie may love Christmas and her birthday, but she talks about Valentine's Day more than any other day of the year. She even chose to be "Valentine Girl" for her Kindergarten Art Open House, while most of the other girls chose to be princesses or queens. Sadly, Valentine Girl woke up this morning a little under the weather. I did what teachers hate (I know better-I've been a teacher), and let her go to school with a cough in the morning since she didn't have a fever. It was a half day and they were exchanging valentines of course. She made it until noon, and then the school called and said she was coughing too much. So we spent the rest of the day eating noodle soup with carrots and edamame, watching movies, finding the right cough drops, taking Grace's temperature about 10 times (she was eager to see if it would get to 100, which it did eventually), and sleeping. It is so completely obvious when Grace is sick because she stops bouncing and she doesn't eat much - she didn't even eat a speck of her Valentine candy or cookies today. As you can tell from the photo above, she totally played it up. We both did, actually. I remember doing the same thing as a child. My mom saved a note I wrote to her when I stayed home from school sick one day. In the note I made it clear that I was very weak and could barely write. I then continued to outline in great detail exactly what I wanted for lunch. I believe that a good part of the reason we get sick is because it brings us closer together. It's easy to say this right now because Grace is quietly sleeping with a humidifier, and she's been such a sweet little Valentine today. But think about it - taking care of someone who isn't well forces us to slow down. Somehow that force pushes love deeper too. When we get to that level we often realize that life isn't really about checking off the to-do list every day. It's a good thing, because the checks on my lists have been rare as of late. LIFE is about LIVING, and sometimes it takes getting sick to realize it. Other times it just takes letting go and having fun.



Valentine Girl

Speaking of having fun, I have consistently been so impressed with Olivia and Isaac's after school program, Youth City (which I am praying doesn't get its funding cut). Every day I am surprised by some amazing thing that has occurred there. Some examples: Isaac recently finished putting together his own bike for one of his classes. Both the kids have sewn pillows, bags, pajamas, curtains, hats, and other random things (Olivia's "SAVE THE RAIN FOREST" bag and Isaac's pillow in the photos below are just two examples). They have participated in drama and Copoeira classes, furniture painting, mural painting, and computer game creating. It is literally its own community - small, but powerful- with so many opportunities for kids who might otherwise be home alone in the afternoons. We are so grateful to Liz, the director of the Liberty Park program (Uncle Ben's sister-in-law), for letting Olivia and Isaac join. I wish Grace and I could join too, but we are too young and old, respectively.