Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Way Better

Tom called yesterday afternoon to report that drop off at my mom’s house went fairly well. It was a little rough because they (the bus driver and her helper) were trying to teach Olivia how to watch the driver for her signal that it’s safe to cross the road.

Olivia didn’t want to pay attention to the driver, she wanted to get across that road to her daddy. She was in tears once she was allowed to go to Tom.

My mom said she plans to already be across the street and will help Olivia learn to watch the driver herself. We don’t actually plan for O to have to cross the street by herself at any point this year or probably even next. She’s LITTLE for Pete Sakes!

But when I got to my mom’s yesterday afternoon Olivia told me that she liked the bus. She was a little busy playing with Alyssa and Jaxon in the dirt and on Pawp’s boat, so she didn’t have a lot of time for conversation.

When we settled in to rock at 7:30 (she’s exhausted by then. I think if I sat down with her at 7:00 she’d be asleep by 7:30, as it is, we’re finishing eating by 7:00, then we need to wash faces and hands, brush teeth and put jammies on, 7:30 really is the best I can do for settling down) she laid across my lap, cuddling with a pink-haired Barbie that had turquoise legs.

I rubbed her back and scratched her hands. She loves having her hands and arms gently scratched. I HATE scratching her hands. But I do it without complaint because I know she loves it. It’s just so annoying because she constantly moves her hand around, trying to find the perfect spot for the scratching.

Anyway, this is not about whether or not I like scratching hands. It’s about the fact that she didn’t suck her thumb as she fell asleep. She drifted off, her thumb most definitely NOT in her mouth, which means her hair was spared the pulling it usually gets when she sucks her thumb. I say this isn’t a big deal but when she doesn’t do it, I realize how much I want to hair pulling and thumb sucking to be over. I want her to be in a place of calm and peace where she doesn’t need those forms of self-comfort.

She woke up this morning at 5:45, cheerful and ready to go.

When the bus pulled up, she was ready. I put her on the first step and she climbed up the others, not bothering to look back until she was sitting next to Alyssa. They both smiled and waved. Olivia looked at me like she’s been doing this forever. As if to say, “What’s the big deal, Mom?”

That’s my girl.

Now…how to break it to Tom that even though August was a good month for eating healthy, September just might not turn into my exercise month…?

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