Stay-at-Home Coco

Xanthe marks time by our activities, whether it's "ballet day"or "piano day" or "school today," or whatever is on the calendar.  Tonight when I was leaving to teach, she said, "I wish today wasn't ANY of the days.  I wish you could not go anywhere and just stay home."

Aaah, sweet!  I wish I could say I wrapped her in a blanket and we just stayed home and read stories all night, but...I left and Scott drove the kids to their classes and our house was its usual hive of activity.  This morning, however, the weather feels the same way as Xanthe did last night.  The heavy, grey skies and steady rain say, "It's a stay-home day.  Grab a book and a quilt and a cup of hot chocolate."  So I did what any good mom would do when she has a snuggly five-year-old on a rainy day.  I sent her to Coco's house with a pitcher of The Green Drink to share and told her to stay for four minutes.  That was two hours ago, and I hear Xanthe is wrapped in a nice, soft quilt, drinking out of a sippy cup and ordering Coco around.  Coco knows enough to stay warm and dry on a bleak, leaky day like this.  She knows that a little girl on the tail-end of a family can get whiplash from all the directions everyone always seems to be going, and that sometimes it's nice to have your very own grandma to keep you safe and dry, tuck you into a big chair and say, "We're not going anywhere.  Don't get your shoes on.  Don't get in the car.  Don't hurry.  When you need more snacks, I'll be right here."

Thanks, Mom.