Some days, they give me the lesson in giving
Today we went to the Arboretum. Lilly walked next to the stroller, doing a great job of staying with us (with some regular reminders and a few near-misses from the old folks’ golf cart). She stopped a lot to admire the flowers, which for Lilly means gently wrapping her arms around them and giving them a kiss. When we came to the huge hill that bottoms out at the lake, Nolan so, so wanted to run down that hill. I had misgivings. But, hey, life is short. I sprung him from the stroller and let him go. He ran fast, with total, exuberant abandon. When he fell, it was one of those toppling, head-over-heels falls. It had to take his breath away. He got up onto his knees for a bit. I ran toward him and waited for the cry. But before I could get there, he was up and running again. With absolutely no misgivings. Just the same wild abandon. Freedom! Speed! It was a beautiful moment with my beautiful child. Oh sure, it all ended with him getting seriously muddy in the pit at the bottom of the hill; refusing to leave; me carrying a screaming toddler to the stroller. But even as the spectator, I’d say it was all worth that glorious run.
I read a blog tonight by a Mom who’s diagnosed herself as a “pre-mourner.” Wasting time being sad about the days gone by while missing the days still there. She ended her post by saying that what she’s really mourning is her failure to live in the moment. This makes all the sense in the world to me.
I’ll remember today for those shining moments: flower kissing and flying down the hill like a kite. Some days, the 2-year-olds give me the lesson in giving.
Putting some food in the bank
We’ve been working on our little projects here and there, but between my work and our crazy life (also, a bit of laziness most likely), I haven’t gotten around to blogging much at all lately.
The big news is that a couple of weeks ago we received our adopted grandparent assignment. I excitedly phoned her up! She lives in our neighborhood, within walking distance. Hooray! … Except, things haven’t gone quite as planned. First of all, she’s not at all interested in terribly excited about kids. Secondly, she doesn’t really need much help because she has a cook who shops for her and a housekeeper who also drives for her. Oh, and a gardener. Also, turns out that her first two volunteers quit. So, we haven’t done much with that so far. I’ve had a few (looooong) chats with her on the phone and we are planning to drop by for a visit in the next week or so. I’ll keep you posted, but I’m thinking a re-assignment may be in the works. Also, we need someone who has the patience of the Dalai Lama enjoys being around kids.
The latest giving project that we worked on was donating to the food pantry at the kids’ school. My big idea was to look through the grocery store ads to choose food for “people who are hungry.” The kids were excited about this project and eagerly fought over flipped through the ads choosing foods. I should have been prepared for the foods they chose: Blueberries, strawberries, bananas, cheese, cucumbers. All of their favorites, of course. Yet, all lovely perishable items that you can’t drop off at most food banks. Sad reminder that poor kids don’t get much fresh, healthy food. All this was a little much to explain to two 2-year-olds, so I let them choose and choose until finally they spotted peanut butter and granola bars. We went to the store and they helped put each item in our cart. Baby girl even insisted on giving “those kids” some of her favorite goldfish crackers. Success! Thinking they were psyched up for this mission, back in the car, I said “Do you want to go by school to drop off the food now or go home?” In stereo: “Go home!” I don’t want to be the Mommie Dearest of Giving, so home we went.
A few days later, we made it to their school to put everything in the collection baskets…
I think our little projects are making an impression. Driving down the road the other day, some guy cut me off. I yelled. I probably used expletives. Both kids asked, “What happened, Mommy?” I explained, “That man doesn’t know how to drive!” Baby girl replied, “We need to help him, Mommy. We help him drive.” Ahem. Score one for Baby Girl.
Next up, finding a way to help get fresh produce to people who can’t afford it. Watch out community gardens, we may be headed your way …
theyearofgiving 