A Better Day
Today has been better.
I'm sorry I got so overwrought yesterday when my daughter Ana broke her collar bone. It's just that I was being so calm and soothing in front of HER that I needed an outlet for my angst and then there IS, of course, my own penchant for high drama. Y'all might not have known about that, huh?
Ana had a pretty good night but I didn't get much sleep. (Every time I say that, I think of the line from Elf. You know, the one where the wife asks Buddy if he slept well and he says, "Oh, yes! I got a full forty minutes!") I slept on the couch outside of the spare room because ANA was sleeping in the spare bedroom. There's a bigger bed in there (she's already lobbying to have this bigger bed in our new house in New York and naturally, this is a VERY good time to be asking Mom for things.) We propped her up with pillows and I gave her the Funny Tylenol right before she went to sleep.
And then, because I am the Sap of the World, I had to keep getting up and checking on her. What is it about standing in the dark watching a sleeping child with the moonlight playing on her face that is so indescribably beautiful? I don't care if the kid has been a perfect DEMON all day, as soon as you see her sleeping, you HAVE to just forgive everything and get all squishy inside. Well, okay, maybe it's just me. I have forgiven one Jane Cooper some sincerely heinous kicks to my shin just by watching her sleep for a few moments.
(Oh, here's my Jane-ism for today: She got off the bus, very concerned about Ana, who had stayed home. She told me that whenever she felt like crying about Ana today, she would just excuse herself and go to the bathroom until she was back in control. Isn't that so cute? Of course, she also told me that at lunch, one of her friends dared her to swallow a noodle from her chicken noodle soup WHOLE. "And Mom! It wasn't even that hard! Because noodles are really soft so you just kind of open your throat and swallow it down!"
We had a little talk about doing what people DARED her to do and how it is bad to swallow food whole because chewing is how we help our stomachs begin the digestion process. But in the back of my mind, I was thinking about how much trouble I am in if Jane ever finds out that some tequilas come with that worm in the bottle... Gosh, is anyone else terrified of Jane's adolescence/young adulthood?)
So anyway, every time I got up to check on Ana, Thomas (thebigfatcat) would sneak in and curl up in the middle of my covers. And then I'd have to relocate him and then occasionally, we had the Changing of the Cats and twice, Scout came in and licked me on the face. Because my face was just perfect height for licking, I guess, and he just couldn't resist, despite my efforts to cuff him away.
But guess what? My painters came back today! They didn't turn the shutters right side up yet but they did power-wash the whole back of my house, including all three decks, which now look like new. Well, except this one, which shows some scars from the countless meals we've grilled out. (Guess maybe that flat metal circle would have come in handy. Too bad we can't even FIND it now.)
The painters are coming back tomorrow. No, really!
I actually almost finished painting Ana's room today, finished painting my bedroom and most of the bathroom and painted the cabinets in the kids' bathroom. Things are shaping up. The realtor is coming on Friday to have a looksy so I'm hoping to have all painting done by then.
Ana spent the day in her pajamas, mostly watching television or reading. She was more sore today than yesterday and took some pain medication occasionally but we were pretty fortunate. It wasn't her clavicle that was broken, it was the other bone that is part of the collar bone, that runs along her shoulder. And it wasn't broken in two so we don't have to worry about it not healing in alignment (those were some terrible stories in the comments.) We go back in two weeks to check to make sure it's healing properly, and if it's not, we'll go to see a specialist.
Naturally, I just spoiled the heck out of her. And my good friend Michelle (whose son shares the same birthday as Ana) sent her an edible bouquet--composed of all of her favorite fruits. It was so lovely and unexpected and Ana was so excited. She said she felt like "a Princess or a teenager or something." And she said, "Hey, this isn't ALL bad!"
Ana's friend Nicole came over and kept her company after school. I heard Ana say, "I know I can't do much but I could really use some human companionship."
She is SO going to school tomorrow.
I'm sorry I got so overwrought yesterday when my daughter Ana broke her collar bone. It's just that I was being so calm and soothing in front of HER that I needed an outlet for my angst and then there IS, of course, my own penchant for high drama. Y'all might not have known about that, huh?
Ana had a pretty good night but I didn't get much sleep. (Every time I say that, I think of the line from Elf. You know, the one where the wife asks Buddy if he slept well and he says, "Oh, yes! I got a full forty minutes!") I slept on the couch outside of the spare room because ANA was sleeping in the spare bedroom. There's a bigger bed in there (she's already lobbying to have this bigger bed in our new house in New York and naturally, this is a VERY good time to be asking Mom for things.) We propped her up with pillows and I gave her the Funny Tylenol right before she went to sleep.
And then, because I am the Sap of the World, I had to keep getting up and checking on her. What is it about standing in the dark watching a sleeping child with the moonlight playing on her face that is so indescribably beautiful? I don't care if the kid has been a perfect DEMON all day, as soon as you see her sleeping, you HAVE to just forgive everything and get all squishy inside. Well, okay, maybe it's just me. I have forgiven one Jane Cooper some sincerely heinous kicks to my shin just by watching her sleep for a few moments.
(Oh, here's my Jane-ism for today: She got off the bus, very concerned about Ana, who had stayed home. She told me that whenever she felt like crying about Ana today, she would just excuse herself and go to the bathroom until she was back in control. Isn't that so cute? Of course, she also told me that at lunch, one of her friends dared her to swallow a noodle from her chicken noodle soup WHOLE. "And Mom! It wasn't even that hard! Because noodles are really soft so you just kind of open your throat and swallow it down!"
We had a little talk about doing what people DARED her to do and how it is bad to swallow food whole because chewing is how we help our stomachs begin the digestion process. But in the back of my mind, I was thinking about how much trouble I am in if Jane ever finds out that some tequilas come with that worm in the bottle... Gosh, is anyone else terrified of Jane's adolescence/young adulthood?)
So anyway, every time I got up to check on Ana, Thomas (thebigfatcat) would sneak in and curl up in the middle of my covers. And then I'd have to relocate him and then occasionally, we had the Changing of the Cats and twice, Scout came in and licked me on the face. Because my face was just perfect height for licking, I guess, and he just couldn't resist, despite my efforts to cuff him away.
But guess what? My painters came back today! They didn't turn the shutters right side up yet but they did power-wash the whole back of my house, including all three decks, which now look like new. Well, except this one, which shows some scars from the countless meals we've grilled out. (Guess maybe that flat metal circle would have come in handy. Too bad we can't even FIND it now.)
The painters are coming back tomorrow. No, really!
I actually almost finished painting Ana's room today, finished painting my bedroom and most of the bathroom and painted the cabinets in the kids' bathroom. Things are shaping up. The realtor is coming on Friday to have a looksy so I'm hoping to have all painting done by then.
Ana spent the day in her pajamas, mostly watching television or reading. She was more sore today than yesterday and took some pain medication occasionally but we were pretty fortunate. It wasn't her clavicle that was broken, it was the other bone that is part of the collar bone, that runs along her shoulder. And it wasn't broken in two so we don't have to worry about it not healing in alignment (those were some terrible stories in the comments.) We go back in two weeks to check to make sure it's healing properly, and if it's not, we'll go to see a specialist.
Naturally, I just spoiled the heck out of her. And my good friend Michelle (whose son shares the same birthday as Ana) sent her an edible bouquet--composed of all of her favorite fruits. It was so lovely and unexpected and Ana was so excited. She said she felt like "a Princess or a teenager or something." And she said, "Hey, this isn't ALL bad!"
Ana's friend Nicole came over and kept her company after school. I heard Ana say, "I know I can't do much but I could really use some human companionship."
She is SO going to school tomorrow.
Comments
I have a picture from about a year ago when Dev fell asleep on my bed while reading Encyclopedia Brown. I keep it on my desktop, next to my bed, and on the fridge...because it saves his life from time to time.
You say Sap of the World, I say good mom.....
Love the edible bouquet. What a treat.
And yes, they do show their angelic sides when they sleep! Marissa used to crawl into Mike (my hubby)'s lap and fall asleep. She still does every now and then. I have a whole collection of pics of the two of them napping together. So precious!
See, it's just like the sling I was in myself two years ago when I broke my shoulder at the gas station and that was unfreakingbelievablepainlikei'dneverreallyknownexisted.
I wholeheartedly reject the idea of someone that small experiencing that pain--especially in view of how brave she's been.
I'm closing my eyes now, until she's out of that thing.