This morning I was getting ready to leave the house for some things I planned to do today. I noticed as I walked by the girls' room that my elder daughter was up, but my 8-year-old was still in bed. That is their typical pattern, although very often they are both up early even on Saturdays, because then they get to watch videos from PBS kids on the computer before Mom and Dad are up. For whatever reason, though, she was still asleep. It has gotten cold and gloomy over the last week - a big change from the gorgeous, sunny 70-degreees we had last week - so I don't blame her for sleeping in.
I kissed her on the cheek before I went downstairs. She stirred a little, but didn't wake. I walked down the stairs, and then hesitated at the bottom. I felt a little nudge to go back up to their bedroom. I wasn't in a tremendous hurry this morning, anyway, so I decided to follow my "instinct." I walked back up to her room and lay down next to her on her mattress, which is on the floor. She woke up and said, "Hi, Mommy," with a groggy smile. Then she stretched her arm over and gave me a hug. I don't remember saying anything then, but soon she started talking about how excited she was about next Friday, when her class gets to have a pajama day. They earn "brownie points" (which show up as magnetic brownies in an actual brownie pan mounted on the board in the classroom) by having good behavior as a class. They got 7 brownie points the first day of school, and it has taken them this long to earn the remaining 13. Perhaps the teacher was lenient the first day.
So, having earned their brownie points, the class gets to have "pajama day" next Friday. The students get to wear their pajamas to school and bring a stuffed animal or a blanket or a pillow. My daughter was so excited about it, and really warmed to her subject as we lay there, looking at the ceiling, snuggled under her blanket. "The great thing about it is that we have our buddies that day." The older classes have buddies in the grades three lower than theirs - the third graders have kindergarten buddies. I asked her about her buddy and she said they rotate, so they don't have the same buddy every time. She told me about her latest one, and the two previous ones, and what they did together. With this last one, a "shy little girl with long brown hair," my daughter read her a book called "Too Many Mice," and she told me all about it, and the questions she asked her buddy about the book, and then what happened at recess.
I was completely charmed by this little exchange. I am not certain I would have gotten this information in the general melee of the day, or in the presence of anyone else in the family, or even by asking about it. Since she is the younger sister, I think she feels she has to vie for attention sometimes. I was the baby of the family and I remember wanting to be noticed and included sometimes, too. I think she appreciated the solo time with me. I did, too. Although the conversation wasn't anything that would bring down authoritarian regimes, or save an endangered species, or anything else "earth-shattering," it gave me a little window into her mind and what is important to her. That was more than worth the extra time. It was nice to have a "good mommy" moment.
I hope I can be quiet and humble enough to "listen" to those little nudges more often. They bring rich rewards when I do.
Lion bless
wb
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