Ella is dressing herself these days thus a new chapter begins in our lives. Today is the coldest day of the year so I planned ahead for the 15 to 20 minute process of Ella picking her own outfits. I cleared the closet of her short sleeve shirts, dresses without tights or pants, princess dresses, etc. All that was left were the more “appropriate” outfits for her choosing. We are becoming more used to the colorful matches and conflicting patterns she always seems to choose. Whatever….. We have a finite of time in the morning to get ready and go so I learned to say “uncle” long ago and move on with our day.
Sidebar: This morning we woke to a cool 32 degrees and a north wind. When did we start having winter in Texas? Better question, when will we go back to normal?
Ella chose her hot pink multi color polka dot pants and her brown sweater top with pink and white hearts to wear. I, as always, said it does not match but okay. Her, as always, response was, “Yes it dues”. (She means to say “does” but cannot understand why “do” cannot be made plural. I do not either so I let it go thinking she will grow out it eventually—that is what English teachers are for, right?)
After putting on her unique attire she informed with a miserable cry that she does not like the color brown and this top simply will not work. She wants pink. Always pink. With her still crying I grab a pink turtleneck and pull it over her head thinking problem was solved. Wrong again. “This neck is bothersome,” she complained during a brief break from the whiny cry. No lie-she said it. I am losing patience at this point. Pick your clothes or don’t but let’s get on with this show.
Finally, she digs in the bottom of her closet- the corner where unknown things lie and I am saving to clean out on a day when I have nothing to do (knowing that day is not likely to come anytime soon). Drum roll please…..she pulls out another pink shirt that was long sleeved but was also one size too small. Again, whatever. She put in on, I slipped her coat around her and we were off to school. Once there, she removed her coat and to my surprise the shirt is not only one size too small but is somewhat of a belly shirt (i.e. it shows her toddler belly).
“Nice” was my only comment and I cut my eyes to her teacher. Ms. Margaret is too sweet to make a smart aleck comment like mine and simply said that it is too cold to go out side anyway and Ella will be fine in her “perfectly PINK outfit”. Good. Done. We all have lived to fight the battle another day! My family will say Ella comes by her hard head naturally. Hunt will say Ella’s mother does not always match perfectly. So if she is so much like me maybe tomorrow I will stuff candy in the pockets of the outfit I want her to choose and we can end he war before the battle starts. To be continued…..
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Across the Miles
I received a note today from my penpal. She and I have never met but her family and I have been Pen Pals all my life. As a child, her father would send me birthday cards every year. Apparently, I was the only person he ever knew to be born on his birthday. I remember when I was a kid I looked forward to the card from the man I never met with the same inscription each year. "Across the miles" was always on the cover and inside was always say with a simple "Happy Birthday" and his name. He was a friend of my grandfather's and a war hero from what I am told.
My initial Pen Pal past away some years back so I assumed I would be receiving one less card on June 10th. You can imagine my suprise when the very next brithday I received a card from an unfamiliar address. I opened it to find a birthday card from his daughter! It was not an "Across the miles" card but had the same simple inscription inside only with her signature. I was touched on so many levels. First, the fact this man, a man I never met, must have told his kids about me and the cards. I only received his generosity, I never sent him a card celebrating our joint birthday. Second, his family cared enough about him to continue his tradition and so our families continue to stay in touch.
After that card, I sat down and wrote to his daughter. In this age of cell phones and the Internet, it would have been much easier to call or email her but that felt cheap to me so I contacted her the "old fashioned" way. I told her about my life, my family and how much I appreciated her continuing the tradition. She wrote back with sweet words about my grandparents and shared things with me about her dad. I cried and smiled as my heart burst with affection for this woman I would never meet. I decided to expand the tradition some and began sending her our Christmas cards, Valentine cards, etc and occasionally a randome note with pictures of the family.
The year E was born I received a Valentines Day card from her. It may not seem like a big deal but the card was sent days before Valentine's and my loving husband just forgot to give it to me until then. In it were the most kind words about my grandmother and how proud she would be of me, how much she would love my daughter, etc. It may not seem like much but my grandmother had passsed away years before on Valentine's Day and while it is a day for love it is also one of rememberance for my family. No one can tell me that was NOT my grandmother speaking to me from the grave.
Today I received her a simple thank you note for our Happy New Year card but in it she shared another fun joint family fact: my due date of April 1st is also her sister's birthday! She is hopeful, as am I, that we can extend our little tradition to other family members.
Funny thing is my Pen Pal lives just 30 miles away and has a daughter that lives less than 10 minutes from me. We may never meet but we will always be connected from "Across the miles".
My initial Pen Pal past away some years back so I assumed I would be receiving one less card on June 10th. You can imagine my suprise when the very next brithday I received a card from an unfamiliar address. I opened it to find a birthday card from his daughter! It was not an "Across the miles" card but had the same simple inscription inside only with her signature. I was touched on so many levels. First, the fact this man, a man I never met, must have told his kids about me and the cards. I only received his generosity, I never sent him a card celebrating our joint birthday. Second, his family cared enough about him to continue his tradition and so our families continue to stay in touch.
After that card, I sat down and wrote to his daughter. In this age of cell phones and the Internet, it would have been much easier to call or email her but that felt cheap to me so I contacted her the "old fashioned" way. I told her about my life, my family and how much I appreciated her continuing the tradition. She wrote back with sweet words about my grandparents and shared things with me about her dad. I cried and smiled as my heart burst with affection for this woman I would never meet. I decided to expand the tradition some and began sending her our Christmas cards, Valentine cards, etc and occasionally a randome note with pictures of the family.
The year E was born I received a Valentines Day card from her. It may not seem like a big deal but the card was sent days before Valentine's and my loving husband just forgot to give it to me until then. In it were the most kind words about my grandmother and how proud she would be of me, how much she would love my daughter, etc. It may not seem like much but my grandmother had passsed away years before on Valentine's Day and while it is a day for love it is also one of rememberance for my family. No one can tell me that was NOT my grandmother speaking to me from the grave.
Today I received her a simple thank you note for our Happy New Year card but in it she shared another fun joint family fact: my due date of April 1st is also her sister's birthday! She is hopeful, as am I, that we can extend our little tradition to other family members.
Funny thing is my Pen Pal lives just 30 miles away and has a daughter that lives less than 10 minutes from me. We may never meet but we will always be connected from "Across the miles".
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