Pink eye blessing
Written Dec. 7, 2017
The teachers called and said Léoni had conjunctivitis. It was a Wednesday and I was on the move. So Junior picked her up and took her to the doctor; it was not yet conjunctivitis, but we were advised to keep her home nonetheless. On Thursday, she spent the day with me. After dropping Lucas off at school (and elaborate maneuvers to avoid him seeing Léoni leave school), she burst into skipping and was clearly not at all sad to have another day off of school. I had a morning yoga class, which she came to. It doesn't hurt that my yoga teacher gives a yoga class at her school on Fridays, and so she already knew him. We put her mat down next to mine, and she proceeded to hang in there for 45 minutes of an hour-long class. The teacher adjusted her as he did us, and she didn't make a peep. When she was tired, she took out her crayons and coloring book and silently sat on her mat until it was time for shivasana. After yoga we went to the barn. I have a noon lesson on Thursdays, and I told her she could help me with my horse but that I wouldn't be with her during my lesson. She sat patiently in the arena during the hour lesson, and then happily helped me bath, brush, and apply moisture to Haddock's hooves. Then it was lunch time. We ate at the barn cafe, and she had her first loose tooth barely hanging from her gums. For the previous several days she had been making fish lips, afraid to close her mouth because the edge of the tooth felt strange against her inner lip. Before lunch arrived at the table, she gingerly picked at the bread, and so I begged her to try pulling the tooth (up until that point, she seemed terrified to even wiggle the loose tooth with her tongue). She did, and it came right out between her fingers. She and I both squealed about what a big deal it was, and then, realizing something big had just happened and nobody around us knew about it, she turned and told her old coach and my coach. Everyone cheered, and she insisted I come with her from one table to the next showing off the tooth and the new gap in her mouth. By the time we left the barn, we could pick Lucas up early from school. We went home and had time to rebuild the PlayMobil stable, color, and cook dinner. That night I told Junior that I had had one of the best days I'd had in a long time. It was pure joy to spend the day with Léoni, and since Lucas was born, I don't recall having a full day with her alone. It made me remember a practice my mom had, which she called "special days." Each of us kids had one or two special days per year. On that day, we got to skip school and spend the day with her doing whatever we wanted to do. When I was young, I always chose to go to an art museum or art fair. As I got older, I also wanted to shop in Milwaukee, which was a really big deal then. The days with really young kids sometimes pass in a blur of not enough sleep, learning through new personalities, and what feels like barely getting by. But it is getting easier. And I realize how much my little girl is growing up and how important it is that I have time set aside to just be with her. Without her little brother around, she was more confident, patient, assertive, and mature than I think I've ever seen her. It was a beautiful glimpse into what's to come.
