Dentist Approved

#SOL20: March 7th

          We were driving in the car, and I was half listening to the radio.  From the back seat, my son yelled, "Well, that's weird!!!"

          "Did I hear that right?  Is is National Oreo Day?" I asked.  

          "Yeah, but it is also National Dentist Day.  They just said that."

          "So, it's National Oreo Day AND National Dentist Day?  That just makes no sense.  No sense at all."  My daughter was perplexed.

          "OK, well when you eat your Oreos at lunch, celebrate National Oreo Day."

           "I think they made these 2 days the same on purpose," my daughter declared from the back seat.  "I don't like Oreos anyway."

          "Well, I'm still going to eat mine."  Evan was not going to be swayed.  Perhaps mint Oreos are similar to his mint toothpaste... He's one smart cookie eater.

Open Letter to the Driver of the White SUV

#SOL20: March 6th

Open Letter to the Driver of the White SUV

Dear Driver,

          Thank you for your quick thinking this morning as you swerved into the next lane to avoid hitting my car.  As the line of cars slammed on the brakes under the overpass this morning, and I lurched forward suddenly to avoid rear ending the car in front of me, I saw you in my rearview.  As everything in my car flew off the seats and hit the floor of my car, I began to brace for your impact.  But it never happened!  You skillfully swerved into the open lane, preserving both yourself and I from impact.  Thank you, sir, for your attentiveness.  None of us expected that car to pull off to the side of the rode right as the overpass began and our vision was obscured, but you still were quick and attentive.  I thank you, my family thanks you, and I'm sure our insurance agents thank you as well.

          Have a great day!

Leah :)

Ulysses

#SOL20: March 5th

          There he was, sitting in my backyard like a statue.  Frost still covering the grass, with the sun just about to rise.  He sat there, completely still, with his bushy tail in perfect squirrel formation.  Waiting, but for what...

          My mind flashed to Flora and Ulysses, my current read, and I wondered if he was Ulysses, a quite unusual squirrel from Kate DiCamillo's book.  And, as I wondered it, I felt like he stared at me.  Still not moving, just staring.  Just a squirrel and I, making eye contact as the day began.

         "Ulysses?" I wondered to myself.  And then I thought, "Dude, that book is fiction.  It's just a squirrel.  Get yourself some coffee."  So, I did.   And he was gone.   Now my backyard is just a backyard, not a fictional setting, and the cone that is for some reason still out there is just marks the area where I may have briefly met Ulysses.  Or not.

 
***I recreated the moment with an emoticon squirrel.  The real squirrel refused to be photographed. :)

Cookie Inspiration

#SOL20: March 4th

          I pour my cup of coffee, still rubbing my eyes and stretching my legs from the night before.  Once it's filled, I turn around and take a few short steps to the cookies.  Yep, that's right, the cookies.  The sun has barely risen, and I am about to have a little cookie breakfast.  

         I reach into the crinkly yellow package and pull out my dose of inspiration for today.  I AM A LEADER.  Well, ok.  If my cookie says so, I must be a leader.  I bite into my leadership blessing, and say a quick thanks to the Girl Scouts for both believing in my leadership abilities, AND for making these delicious Lemon-Ups.  Stopping at that cookie booth was a good decision.

          Let the day begin!

Empty Ballet Shoes

#SOL20: March 3rd

     Here I am, sitting at the dance studio, watching my kid watch other kids dance.  My son lives to dance.  Hip hop and modern and tap and jazz are in his soul.  An open studio and a piece of music is all he needs to take to the rhythm and dance.

    Except when he can't.

    A few weeks ago, he hurt himself jump roping.  It was at recess, and he said his leg hurt.  And it never stopped.  His leaps at dance turned into grimaces.  His routine dance positions now turned into abnormal tears.  What we thought was a sprain turned out to be a stress fracture.   Now here we are, waiting...

    Watching your friends dance as they prepare for recital and competition is frustrating.  Sitting in the corner, watching the girls when you are the only boy, and your part is missing from the dance.  The constant reminders from Mom about what you can't do, and the uncertainty about what you will be able to do, must drive him crazy.

    Then, I look into the studio, and I see him doing the Macarena.  Feet plastered to the ground, but hands going and big smile on his face.  Perhaps this is more painful for me than him.  I suddenly wonder if a stress fracture could possibly hurt less than a mom's worry.  

     For now, his empty dance shoes wait for him as I stare at him as he heals.

Own Goal

#SOL20: March 2nd

          GOAL!!!!

          It happened so fast, yet had been talked about for so long.  My daughter had been talking about it for months.  Her goal was to score a goal in indoor soccer.  She talked about it with certainty, like she knew it was a sure thing.  Yet, her team had only scored a single goal all season, and had yet to win a game.  But she was determined to score that goal.

          And she did.

          But... it was not documented on camera (except for the picture of the scoreboard above).  Mom fail!  I was so busy being a spectator that I forgot to be a documenting spectator.  I had to redeem myself, for my memories sake.

          Two weeks later, we were at her game again.  I didn't even bring my camera this time.  I figured  I'd catch some video footage this time on my phone.  I just periodically started recording here and there so that we'd have some video of her playing with her dad as coach.  Then, before I knew it, she scored again!  And this time it was on video!!!  I was so excited.

          When the game ended, I told her "I got your goal on video!!!  Way to go!"  She looked at me, with some irritation in her expression, and said, "It was more of an assist."  I was stumped.  An assist?  No, the person who kicked it in the goal was her!  I told her that, and then she said that the goalie actually knocked it in.

           "Ok, well no opposing teammate is ever going to WANT to assist a goal, so you don't need to give them that credit.  You got a goal!  Two this season!  Be proud!"

          It turns out, I was wrong and there is a name for it.  OWN GOAL.  The video shows it might just be one, too.  This soccer mom learned a new soccer fact.

A New Kindergarten Friend

#SOL20: March 1st

          I walked into the kindergarten classroom during indoor recess, and watched the kids finish their game of freeze dance as I crossed the room.  I put my bookbag down against the wall, took off my jacket, and turned around.

          "Hi!  I'm J-A-S-M-I-N-E!"

          "Hi, Jasmine!  I'm Mrs. O'Donnell."

          "How did you know my name?"

          Fast forward 10 minutes, and I was being introduced to the class, and my new friend Jasmine raised her hand and shouted, "I know her!"

          I love kindergarteners.