Always Mind Your P’s and Q’s

Beauty in the day: he came in from recess, taking heavy, jagged breaths. In between these, he let out the details of his trauma. “I was running (pant, pant), and I fell down on my (pant, pant) hands and knees! And they (pant, pant, pant) really, really (pant, wheeze) hurt!” As he continued panting and wheezing (and not crying, strikingly enough), I offered to help him run his hands under some warm water, to soothe them. He complied, and as he rubbed his hands carefully under the water, he panted, “It was not what should have (pant, pant) happened, and I need a bandaid (pant, pant) for my knee.” He continued like this, panting and wheezing in a traumatic fashion, and then suddenly sucked in his breath and looked over at me. He let the breath out slowly and tremulously and asked, “Is YOUR day going well?”

No Sticker Shock Here

Beauty in the day: it would be a crime if I was too embarrassed to choose this moment. The teacher sent her very shy young kindergarten boy to the office so he could show me how great he did on his math work. We cheered and congratulated him. We high-fived him. We made those faces that you make when you can’t even believe what you are seeing and hearing. He was appropriately impressed. As I sent him off, I gave him a “You’re Awesome” sticker to put on his hand.
After a while, I got an email from his teacher, who informed me that he had shown her his sticker. “Wow, that Ms. Nordstrom sure is nice,” she told him.
“Yes,” he replied, “and she’s really quite beautiful.”
~ ~ We have the smartest kids at Ardmore. 😉

Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken

Beauty in the day: the tiny tyke came in to the clinic, complaining that she had a tummy ache…….hmmm….no fever…….her face looked bright enough…….”Did you have some breakfast today, sweetie?”
“Um, maybe I didn’t, much.”
“Okay, well, I have some pretzels here. How about trying out some of those?”
“No. They are not my flavor.”

The Right Stuff

Beauty in the day: the frequent flyer came into the office with a request. “Ms. Nordstrom, I need to call my mom. Look, my shoe is starting to break, and well, yeah, today is P.E. day, and yeah – well, I think I need my mom to bring me some different shoes, and….yeah.” She looked at me in earnest, a pleading look on her face. I looked at her, and I could see that her perspective, being different than mine, rated this crisis rather high on the scale.
“Go ahead and call,” I allowed.
She called.
“Hi Mommy,” she said into the phone, “Can you bring me some different shoes for P.E.?……………Well,, but Mommy, the part by the back is breaking, and I……..yeah, well, no – the bottom part on the back……yeah, and I have P.E. and I have to run…..yeah….you will? Thank you, Mommy!”
She was about to hang up, when she said into the handset, “Oh! Mommy?………..yeah………..can you bring the pretty ones?”

Cuckoo for CoCo

Beauty in the day: Jaffrey got it in her head the other day that I was coming to visit, and that it was imminent. “Mommie, Coco’s coming tomorrow!”
“Oh, no, sweetie, Coco’s not coming tomorrow. She will come sometime, but not tomorrow.”
“No, she’s coming tomorrow, Mommie!”
They did a little back-and-forth, and Bree put her to bed with a shrug.
The next day seemed quite normal, and the kids played as usual. When bedtime came, Jaffrey suddenly started crying bitterly. Thinking that she may have pinched herself, Bree investigated.
“What’s wrong, sweetie? Are you okay?” Jaffrey’s answered was punctuated with loud sobs.
“CoooooooCoooooo!”
Apparently she had been holding out all day for my arrival. Even though it’s painful to think I let her down, I can’t help but be warmed at the thought that she wanted it that much.

To Not Recycle

Beauty in the day: don’t be disappointed when I say that it was finding my sweater in the recycle bin. I really need that sweater.

Moonlighting

Beauty in the day: first off, let me tell you that I checked my moon phase app today. That should tell you something right there. The fact that we are NOT in a Full Moon phase might tell you a little something about the nagging feeling that now gnaws at our insides, knowing that the fullness is yet to arrive. Seeing us laugh about it might tell you a little something about the tough skills that are commonplace where I work. Just another day. Bring it on, Friday.

Flux Capacitor

Beauty in the day: this was the funny text that greeted me late this afternoon from Little Bird. Did I mention that there was a Delorean in front of the house when I got home?

Steam Punked

Beauty in the day: when you hang your new blouse in the shower to steam, turn on the hot water and walk out, completely forgetting what you have done, it’s a bit frustrating. When you finally return, the water has gone cold (darn it!) – but your new blouse is steamed up great! ‪#‎noshowertonight‬

Everyday Love

Beauty in the day: Little Bird brought these to me today – just because. That’s always a very good reason.