5 things I actually did this weekend

1. Got vomited on twice (Henry says it best "Sometimes you just have to yak")
2. Made doggie treats for Bagel and Archie
3. Called my sisters a million times
4. Played a lot of High Ho Cherry'O, Memory, Geo Tracks, pretend grocery store and wrote out a lot of letters for Henry to mail to his "fwends" (so watch your mail, we wrote letters and drew pictures until we ran out of stamps).
5. Not 1-5 below

But on a positive note. When Henry is sick he goes to bed at 7:00 instead of 9:30. So I get to watch the KU game for the first time since last March. On a not so positive note, I am watching it alone because Wade is the bathroom puking. Good times.

5 Things to do this weekend

1. Go to the grocery store and spend NO MORE than $100.00
2. Update my facebook profile (it’s looking pretty shabby compared to my sisters)
3. Finish painting and recovering my dining room chairs
4. Make 2 more pillows (and then I am done…I swear)
5. Make pumpkin bread and cinnamon rolls

What are you up to

Tiny

I was one of the parent helpers today and Henry’s preschool. It was so fun to spend the morning with such a sweet group of kiddos. And I really loved getting a glimpse into what Henry’s mornings are like there. The place has so many windows, the natural light alone is enough to make me smile. I love that someone always brings fresh flowers and that they have a bin for recycling and a bin for composting. Walls covered in kids paintings and drawings and a table covered in glitter and paint splatters and shelves of art supplies and a huge papier-mâché globe hanging above the tiny tables with tiny red chairs and the sounds of kids playing and laughing. And the snippets of conversations that I overheard-
Ben- I am working on this leeky oil pipe.
Henry- Me too. I have a tool.
Ben- Don’t worry. Oil is not explosive, just flammable.
Henry- I will not worry. I don’t mind if it is fwamable. Smelly stuff doesn’t bother me. I have cats.
It's a special place.

Someone had put a quote on the window over the sink. I read it as I cleaned a million tiny, colorful, plastic cups and pitchers. It was something like this-

“The world needs worthwhile people. To make that happen we need people that feel worthwhile.”

I’m flubbing it up, but it was something like that. And I thought for a while about the mission of the school, building character and confidence for these sweet kiddos so that they can go on to be everything that they want to be in life. And I thought about the mission of a parent. Raising a child that believes in himself. That challenges himself. That is loving and kind and sensitive. That understands that he is part of a community and contributes and gives of himself. It all, for that moment, seemed wrapped up nicely in that quote. We are all worthwhile, whether we recognize it or not. As a parent it is my job to make sure that my child recognizes it. And in that room, at that time, the heaviness of that responsibility didn’t bother me at all. I guess maybe that is what happens when you are part of a community, supporting each other with a common goal. Or maybe that just happens when you love someone so much that all you see is the promise and possibility. Either way, it felt really good.

Check it

I was telling my friend Kenna about our experience having Henry at the hospital. I mentioned that we are going to try as hard as we can to have our next baby without intervention, possibly at home, hopefully with a midwife. She brought me this movie. http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/ It was fantastic. I recommend it to anyone who is pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant. I have strong opinions about it because of my experience with Henry’s birth so I won’t say much except that it is so important that as a woman giving birth that you exercise your power in the birthing process and at most hospitals it will be an uphill battle. Kenna got it from our local library.

Happy Valentines Day