Swings and Unicorns
October seemed to tumble by rather hurriedly. The month was filled with … well, basically school. It feels REAL now. The spelling tests each week — one in English and another in French. Math homework. Just being a seven and a half year old seems more time-consuming. And interesting.
I am finding that we need more PLAY time. It’s hard when it’s 6:00p and I’m loaded down with three bags of groceries, a purse, and a work bag, walking from the garage to the house, and a certain someone is aimlessly wandering around the driveway pretending to be a blind zombie, and I snap, “I could use a little help here. Can you at the very least carry your own backpack?”
And she says reproachfully, “I just wanted to have a little fun, Mama.”
I consider how long my day is and recognize it must feel three times as long to her. Sit. Don’t talk. Don’t socialize. Focus on work, work, work. You can play later.
Three years ago, when we moved into The Park House, I decided I wanted More Yes in our lives. It’s easy to let More Yes slip away from you. There’s a million reasons why it happens. You have to be vigilant about regrouping and starting More Yes anew — because it may require you to change schedules or even create new ones, in order to gain that one-on-one time, which is the HEART of More Yes. It might mean starting bedtime earlier (yes, earlier!), quick dinners you didn’t cook, and figuring out how to make “homework” fun, so you can get to the good part of the day when your hearts are connecting.
November will be about more swing sets and doing things that make us laugh, like making sure we continue Tickle Time each night we’re together. Priorities!
Magical Unicorns
As for Halloween, there was a brief moment when she wanted to be a Devil, but the magical candy-cotton-color allure of unicorns prevailed. October went out on a high note with a class Halloween Party and divvying up candy loot with friends!
