Everything Old...

Sometimes, you havew to lose something find it. And then some other times, you have to put something away, forget about it for awhile and then find it again to realize how much you liked it the first time around.

Yeah, okay, enough with the silly sayings.

This weekend, I moved all the chairs away from the kitchen table so I could sweep and mop. And let me say here, this sweeping and mopping thing? It doesn't happen nearly as often as it should and when it does? I'm crazy proud of myself. So there.

I moved the chairs into the family room and lined them two by two. It made me think of the days when I was a kid and my mom would do the same thing with our kitchen chairs so she could mop the kitchen. We loved it. We called it 'playing train.'

Alyssa spend the night with my mom on Saturday night so Olivia was the only one here to enjoy my moving of the chairs. She walked in to find them lined up and clapped in delight. She declared, "You made a train!"

Some games don't have to be taught, they're automatic. She gathered her fellow passengers (a stuffed cat, and her Rapunzel baby) and assigned the job of train engineer to a stuffed do and they were off on a train adventure. I love that my kids play the same games I once played. It gives a sense of continuity, a sentimentality to the whole 'the world just keeps spinning.'

Later that same morning, Olivia asked me to go with her to find a 'pretty dress.'

We found our way to the toy room (a room in my house that overwhelmed me the minute I walk into it. I think I need to empty the room completely and then put it back together, throwing away or donating every single thing that isn't put back in there. But damn, that's going to be a HUGE project...)

In the toy room, Olivia found a long sleeved princess dress that fell in a wave of pink to her ankles. She insisted on wearing it. I pointed out that it was going to be a hot for her outside in the 90 degree weather. She didn't care, she wanted to wear that dress. I put it on her and then packed a pair of shorts and a tank top as well as swim suit to take to my mom's to pick up Alyssa later that day. I knew the minute Olivia saw what Alyssa was wearing, she want to change. But she enjoyed the heck out of that princess dress while she wore it.

As I watched her prance around, spinning and dancing, I realized that the dress had been a Halloween costume for Alyssa. She'd worn it to her kindergarten Halloween party. My mom had made that dress.

And it fit Olivia perfectly. Which makes sense since Olivia is almost five and a half and Alyssa had been a little over five and a half when she wore it. Back when Alyssa started kindergarten, she seemed so small, so fragile, so delicate. And yet...I can't fathom my now four foot nine inch nine year old being that tiny, that needy. Sure, she's still needy but it's a different, more emotional neediness.

It was neat to watch Olivia wear that dress and remember Alyssa wearing it, being that little, believing in the magic of princesses and witches.

Everything old is made new again when you have kids. I am so, so lucky to see life through the eyes of the amazing little girls.