It's 8:00 pm and I'm nestled under the covers surrounded by piles of picture books, Auggie clutching his bowl of rainbow goldfish and plastic straw cup of milk (Not too much, Lord help us, can we be done with Pull-Ups Yet??)
Auggie giggles profusely when I read the nonsense words in The Book With No Pictures, then meander into a sly lesson in acceptance told in the sing-song sway of Dr. Seuss and The Sneeches. I nuzzle his freshly washed hair as Charly sidles up to my other side, hair up in a towel, eager to tear through another dystopian tween novel series.
And who would be the wiser that it had been an utter crap show all day.
And today was a doozy. Let me tell you, having a masters degree in education and close to 20 years teaching under my belt means absolutely nothing in the face of bored kids dead-set on taking out the day's frustrations on each other. I'm grasping at rules and time outs like this is my first parenting rodeo, and truth be told- it's not pretty.
But books, man. They are magic. One thing I had no idea how much I would miss about teaching in person is reading aloud. It used to be I came home, so tired of talking from a day of teaching that I could scarcely stand the sound of my own voice. These days, I'm giving bedtime my best material. There are voices, sound effects, snuggles and giggles.... and its healing for us.
The other morning I sat down at the table to start my distance teaching for the day. Before I jumped in, I impulsively tapped Instagram. The first thing that popped up was a quote from Roald Dahl in the book Matilda. The quote was about books being comforting and hopeful. Being the fully-admitted book nerd that I am, I teared up a little, and thought- this is exactly what we need. So I will continue to ask my students incessantly what they are reading. Scott and I will continue to be parents who model books in our hands. And I will forever treasure that sweet smell of fresh shampoo, and the feel of a favorite page between my fingers; the balm for even the roughest of days.
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| King of the mulch pile! |
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| Sweet girl didn't even have to be asked to help! |
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| Driveway coffee chats with high school girls |
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| Ice cream sundaes and movie night |
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| Mother's Day cookie decorating... |
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| ...amazing kit from Kelly's Confectionary Creations |
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| The first of (Lord help me) many boys golf days (RIP Scott's beard...) |
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| Playing "Cross" |
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| Books in a tent even! |
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| If you look close, you'll see the guy is at his desk on his computer. Sign of our times. |
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| My life. Daily. Send me strength... |
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