*Tuesday, the girls and I researched the candidates issues and the election process and then we went to vote and they helped fill out the ballot. When we got home at night we plopped down in front of MSNBC and I continued to hype them up. By the time the breaking news flashed on the screen that Obama had won, they were sleeping on me. I was filled with such a strong collective spirit of national pride and a sense of history happening that I started sobbing for the next five minutes. Eleanor sleepily told me to stop laughing. I tried to wake her up so she could get it, but no. For the first time in my life I felt so proud to be an American and for the first time in my life I prayed for the safety of the president. My emotion surpassed words and I got up and danced.
We also went to the zoo.
In class, I had my students watch the story of stuff and choose a suggestion from the end of the movie to make a public service announcement poster for. One of my students, who is one of my best and most delightful students, declined to make a poster about a green suggestion because it went against her philosophy. I thought 'change your lightbulbs' was pretty benign but I guess not. When she said she just cares about humans, I suggested that this is where we live - planet dies, we die. Nope. I let her do her thing, but I imagined making T shirts that said save the human habitat or something. It alarms me that being environmentally conscious is against a religion.
Wednesday we went to the park and we had pee pants drama. I thought about how Eleanor wants so badly to play with older kids in this group and how her not being quite old enough for them may be hard on her self esteem. This day was a little harder because I got up on the wrong side of the bed. I irrationally wanted Chris not to leave in the morning and then had trouble getting organized to get out the door. When we did get to the park, the weather was gorgeous again, very coastal feeling, windy. And the light was beautiful. I was sorry I forgot my camera. Gracie is still loving climbing the jungle gyms and wandering around to her own drummer. Charlotte played the whole time with her one friend, making a sand castle. And Eleanor played for a while with the older kids. I really hoped they didn't see her pants. She explained later that she was having fun and didn't want to stop and then she laughed. She screamed at me because I wouldn't take her to Old Navy right then for new pants and panties and then come back to the park. I don't even know how she ever imagined that was a possibility.
Today we had dinner for breakfast as a family. I was so pleased. I served rolls and the potato kale soup I made (with 5 pureed red peppers...) the girls and I went to the gym and after the elliptical, I swam and it felt great. It was this time last year that I decided I would do a summer sprint triathlon. I got up at 5 AM for awhile and then we all took turns getting sick and then we had Violet for a while... and I didn't care anymore. As usual, I'd told about 100 people I was going to do it. This time I will not even tell myself.
After the gym we went roller skating. I am really enjoying the friendships with the other moms I have met there. The girls have officially become much better skaters and thus enjoy it even more.
On the way to drop the kids off at Sue's, the weather was exactly the same as the first day I ever visited Chris at his parents and I told the girls about how I missed the turn here and there wasn't a light then. And that we played cards. Then Eleanor and Charlotte talked three times longer about how they like to play cards with Daddy.
Gracie said bubble today and is also, according to Sue, working on yellow, hello, and blue. She has been saying this and that and all done, but she is getting more consistent now. Bubble was the first word she repeated on demand. She also does a very solemn dance and will pull anyone's hand to demand that you join her. She raises her chubby arms over her big baby head and slowly turns around.
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