If every day were like today I'd never complain about anything again. It was just so lovely and rambling and unrushed and yet productive. And nobody fought. And I had enough sleep to enjoy it all.
I rose before the children like a good mother should. O.K. it was 8:35 and the phone woke me up. But while the children slept, I threw buckets of water on our skating rink which froze instantly in the crazy -19 temperatures. Ed had cleared a 15x30 foot rectangle in the backyard the last time it snowed and we've been slowly building up the ice hoping to have our first ever, successful skating rink to keep the kids outside and active in the winter. Well, it worked. These freezing temperatures are handy for that at least. In the afternoon, the boys shot pucks around and practiced their turns and manouevres while the girls actually learned to skate. Well, Ruby spent most of the time shuffling on her hands and knees pretending to be a Zamboni.
When I came in from flooding, Anneke had a magic trick to show me that Tobin had taught her with a kit he got for Christmas. With a lot more practice she could be a carny doing the shell game trick. After breakfast, I had to drop off the van at the Fix-it shop and the kids mostly got their math and piano done in my absence. Then, while the boys went upstairs to read, I cuddled up with the girls and read the Railway Children. Tobin heard me reading and ran down the stairs to listen. He has always loved listening to stories. Any stories. Baby books and difficult literature alike. I think he really knows the difference between shlock and great writing. If only that would translate into good writing from himself...Someday I'm going to spring for someone else to teach him to write. It's too painful.
Somehow, Tobin and I struck up a convo about how everything in the world is made up of endless combinations of a limited number of elements. He was duly amazed. And he really liked the idea of making models of molecules with marshmallows and toothpicks. He really likes marshmallows. He made an H40 molecule and we googled whether that was a thing or not. Apparently it is marketed as the ultimate anti-oxidant drink and Tobin is keen to flush some free radicals so we might go find some someday. And Isaac made a very nice snowman in a canopy bed with marshmallows which he ate in his hot chocolate after skating.
After seeing Chris Hadfield sing the national anthem on Hockey night in Canada, the boys were stoked to see his videos in space about brushing your teeth, eating a sandwich and sleeping in zero gravity. We can rule out the space program for Tobin as he is unwilling to swallow his own toothpaste froth in the name of science.
Just before supper we had some more time for reading together because all my dreams since ever becoming a parent came to fruition with one telephone call. The elderly woman from down the street that I had visited yesterday called my house and said these words: "Alicia, you need a break. Now, I was down at Costco this morning and I picked up a meal for you and I'm going to give you a recipe for some excellent tomato chowder which is easy to make that you can have along with it." You know how they say that it takes a village to raise a child? Well, my village arrived. How many times have I dreamed of someone validating the hard work that a parent does mostly alone behind closed doors and then offering a small token of help! It was so simple but it was HUGE! I sent some kids to go pick the food up from her door, not because I couldn't do it myself, but I wanted the kids to be the recipients of such a simple, kind gesture. And the woman told Isaac he should be wearing his mittens. That's what I said! So sweet to have a 90 year old woman down the street making sure my son's hands are warm.
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