More thoughts from mom
As a follow-up to my recent post, a few miscellaneous thoughts about life these days:
-I’ve always counted myself lucky that the girls get along so well. Lately, though, they’re been quibbling a lot: For the last few weeks there has been at least one big incident a day, and I’ve even seen some hitting and wrestling. Q and I try to stay out of their feuds and let them work things out themselves, but more than not, one of the girls will come to us to complain, tattle or ask for help in resolving the situation. And whether that happens or not, it’s no fun when both girls are crying and/or screaming. I’m really hoping this is just a phase – and not the new normal!
-Speaking of things not quite normal, Zoe – as I mentioned earlier – had a really hard time her first week of camp. “I don’t want to go,” she told me more than once, and she even got in trouble with her counselor a few times for not behaving. Now she loves it – as well as her counselor, Geoff – but there were a few days there when I found myself in new territory. I’m not used to Zoe not wanting to go to school or camp, and I’m certainly not used to her getting in trouble. We got through it, of course, and it was a good reminder that there are going to be times when she acts “un-Zoe like” and we need to respond accordingly. As old as she sometimes seems, she’s still a kid!
-I’ve mentioned this before, too, but Avery has really blossomed – and we’re seeing it so much this summer at camp. My (once-on-the-shy-side) girl has made so many new friends and talks constantly about them. (She even wanted to take one of them on our plane ride to Madison.) She seems so happy, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
-This falls in the bragging category, but I have to share a few recent happenings that reminded me of what a sweet soul Zoe has. Yesterday I told the story of her and the boy at Gilroy Gardens; along the same lines, we were at the park one day when a little boy (about Avery’s age) lost his balloon. Zoe had gotten one at a store earlier, and when she gave me a look I knew right away what she was thinking. “Do you want to give him your balloon?” I asked her quietly, and she nodded and walked over to hand it to him. Not long after she was getting ready for a playdate with one of her friends, whose lovie is a stuffed monkey. Before the boy came over, Zoe drew pictures of monkeys and taped them up around her room (“I want him to feel at home,” she told me). As I told her that day, I’m proud of her for a lot of things – but nothing makes me prouder than when she is kind to others.
-I talked about this earlier, too, but time is just going so fast. Zoe approaching first grade? Avery four? Our family about to experience our last year at the (beloved) preschool? Hardly seems possible!
-M