Every once in awhile I meet someone who intrigues me. It doesn't happen often but when I do I think about them often and try to decide what it is that intrigues me. Every since Raelynn started school there has been this lady who reads to the kids in the gym before school starts and then stands by the front door and greets all the kids that come in. From day one this lady has intrigued me. I was not sure what about her or why she caught my interest........that is until this week. Every day this lady arrives as school around 7:30 a.m. and spends 20 to 25 minutes sitting in a gym full of kids that arrive to school early and reads them stories. They all sit there listening intently. Then as soon as the first bell rings she walks amongst the kids chatting with them and focused on their every word until she reaches the front doors where she stops and greets the kids still coming in. This is where Raelynn and I see her every morning either walking in or as I walk out. I think this is what caught my eye about her, although she always smiles and responds as I tell her to have a great day, her focus is not me in any way. She is focused on those kids walking in the door, stopping them for a morning hug, or asking them something relevant to their lives. She always calls them by name and it seems that those she acknowledges the most are those that might not receive acknowledgement elsewhere. This week I learned that she is not a teacher at the school or really anything else. She started doing this when her kids were going to school there and now that her kids are no longer at the elementary school, she continues her role before she goes on to work. There is no doubt why I found her interesting and now I just find her amazing. To think the impact she has made on some of the most needing children is more than honorable. To watch her interact with the kids and now to know she does it "just because" gives me more than encouragement to better myself. She is a role model not only for the kids but for every parent that encounters her and her actions. To the wonderful woman who greets our children every morning, thank you and thank you for giving me higher standards to reach for!
Cooper is on the way to recovery but this has all been much more difficult than I expected. Towards the end of last week we were teetering on calling Dr. Kelley because we had some significant bleeding and much pain. However he is finally improving and we have actually been able to give him a regular bath without him screaming in pain the last couple days. He told me tonight, "My peepee is better but not much! It get better soon so I go swimming?" I assured him it would get better but might be another week or so before he could swim. He has really been a trooper through it all but I think we will all be happy when he is healed.
Raelynn is becoming so sentimental on us. As we are finishing the basement we are also going through some old things that we have held on to a little too long. We are also trying to get Coop a new bedroom set since he is outgrowing his toddler bed. Everything we try to part with Raelynn goes into a dramatic plea about how we need to keep it because is was her first so and so and she wants to keep it for her kids and on and on and on. We picked out a new bedspread for Coop and when we got home Raelynn asked what we were doing with his Baby Snoopy bedspread. I told her we would probably put all the baby snoopy decor in the garage sale we are having in June. You would have thought I had burned her baby book right in front of her. She plead with me to keep it and save it so her daughter could use it in her room. It was crazy ridiculous! The problem is I am the complete opposite so I have to constantly remind myself to be gentle and sympathetic to her feelings but it is hard! On the flip side, today her sensitivity brought tears to my eyes. In going through some things Terry had received after his Mom passed away, there was an old glass tea set in its original box. It was very old. Terry and I decided to give it to Raelynn. As I showed her and explained it was Nanny's her face was serious yet sad. She asked me if I thought Nanny played with it and I let her know I think she probably did. Raelynn was in awe about it. He disposition changed to that of a 10 or 12 year old and she began reminiscing about Nanny and then telling Cooper special things about her. Coop says he does not remember her so Raelynn was intent on letting him know how special she was. The conversation brought tears to my eyes and to see what that tea set meant to her was so touching. As we pulled the set out to clean it one of the dishes had been broken and glued back together. I was worried Raelynn was going to be upset but instead a soft smile spread across her face and she took confirmation in that broken dish that Nanny did play with it. It was all very heart warming and made me realize that I just have a very sentimental little girl and the things that do not seem important to me feel like this to her. It was more than enough to make me a little less aggressive about getting rid of "old" stuff. Raelynn also informed me this week that she needed to learn to write more words. "Ok, but why?" I asked her. "Because I have all these songs in my head and I need to write them down so I don't forget but I don't know how to write them all." I asked her to sing a few to me and although a couple were a little silly, a couple were scarily good. She is always asking me who sings what and who wrote their songs and I have become an expert at googling singers and who writes for them, maybe she has a future in songwriting :)
We had another great weekend and got a lot of projects complete. The kids enjoyed some fun time together here at home which they love. Today, as Terry and I were working on the basement, the Kid's Rock Fest came down to entertain us.
Looking forward to another fun adventurous week!
