If I had to summarize - this is what the last 30 days (or so) looked like.
We let our roars echo through empty forests (to help her tiger scare away the bees Impossible Girl was afraid of). It's ineffective as scaring bees, but good for building courage. And, yeah, it's pretty fun too.
We explored as many trails as we could find. Especially the ones with empty parking lots.Which, during the week days when many people are still working, is a good number.
There are a million different things you can pretend on a trail, and I am forever grateful for The Impossible Girl's imagination. She is never bored. There is always SOMETHING engaging to do or pretend.
I learn a lot about walking with her.
It's a bit of bonding, even though it's only a few hours a day.
We have splashed a lot and explored a few open beaches we'd never been to before. She is getting braver in the water and could stay at the beach all day. She picked up dead crabs and built sand creations with rocks and seaweed.
Definately giving me vacation ideas - once the world reopens a bit.
Beach side or RV camping trip maybe?
We've gotten stronger! I may not be hitting a new personal records right now, but I'm honing some skills with kettlebells that I'd never really explored before. Yoga is also a standard in the house several times a week. It's been a great chance to work on weaknesses.
I've enjoyed my morning hot beverage to virtual streams of different places in the world. (This is Yosemite.) My wanderlust has always been palpable, but live streans and long drives to hike/play seem to be the best way to fulfill it - and feed it. Dreaming those travel dreams lifts my spirits.
We've 'made' a few friends (a la Forky).
And played dress up every Friday. And sometimes not on Friday too. Because - why not?! Here The Impossible Girl is going on an adventure as Anna from Frozen 2. That's serious Disney girl adventure gear.
We've danced in the kitchen to the good ole' Vinyl collection. Putting it within reach of The Impossible Girl has resulted in some background music that has ranged from Gaurdians of the Galaxy soundtrack, to the soundtrack to Wicked, as well as classic Ray Charles tunes. Always her pick.
We've had a little virtual fun finding Pandas and Tigers in our local parks. The Panda loves to make an apperance when we need to stop for a snack.
We learned about a lot of little creatures despite not having access to a zoo. Just a bit of a drive and some outdoors time - and a little fearlessness. I'm more concerned about grocery store germs than these.
We've walked into 2 stores in a month. Once was Home Depot for about 5 minutes and the other was Walmart for about the same amount of time. No one enjoys wearing a mask, so we limit our trips to places where we come in contact with groups of people in enclosed spaces and need to wear them.
Instead, we do a LOT of curbside pick ups! From grocery orders to hardware to this - a Finn River Cider run. (We're club members, and the 6 bottles we buy each quarter goes a long way toward helping this little educational, eco friendly cidery.)
We found inspiring messages on painted rocks in parks....
We ate a LOT of fresh veggies and healthy food - and a few sweet treats as well. The Impossible Girl discovered a love affair with the Watermelon donut. (It's the pink one with the glistening icing...Thank you, MilkVue.)
And when the trails were too crowded, we walked around an empty shopping center. With all the stores closed, no one cared if we were playing in the fountain. ;)
And there have been several piggy back rides... daily. Little legs get tired! - Eventually....
We made LOTS of crafts. Coloring. Painting. Playdough. Glue. This particular masterpeice includes Sheldon - a little shell fragment from her 'Adventure Findings' jar that we washed up and she painted. She pulled the eyeballs off a nearby homemade Forky (Sorry Forky!) and made this little thing instead.
We also brought back some incredible memories. A local Buy Nothing group had a post offering a gingerbread decorating kit. The last time The Impossible Girl and I decorated gingerbread (actually, the only other time we've decorated pastry of any kind) was on the Disney Cruise we took over Christmas as a family. She daily discuss the 'Mickey Boat' with me. It's still a hit, even almost half a year later (for a 4 year old, 1/2 a year is a LONG TIME!). As we decorated, we talked about all the fun and exciting things we did, as we watched Micheal Kay's video blogs that he made when he and his dad went on a similar cruise in 2018. It brought back all the memories of us decorating our cookies as a family on Christmas Day in the Disney Wonder.
Happy memories of all of us together are the best - and that trip made a million of them. We couldn't have known all of this would happen and we'd need to tap into this every single day. Anyway, I digress...
When we get to the woods - she always leads the way. I learn more about her when I'm walking her path with her, than when I'm in charge.
We found salmon berries, thimble berries, stining nettle, mushrooms, and a million other little plants we didn't know the names of. Buck Lake has a native plant garden that was stunningly beautiful (though allergy inducing).
We watched the water reflect the sky and the trees. We met dragonflies while stopping to sit for a moment and let the world keep turning.
We even met up with a teacher or two for some socially distant friendly faces.
School lunches were eaten the car as we awaited curbside pick ups....
And picnics happened in the yard where some little
bugs came to share our time.
Many days started like this....
And didn't end until bad dreams were soothed...Either in my bed of hers. (Mostly mine...)
We're tired, but we're okay. We're healthy. We find a lot of happiness every day. Patience is something I'm concious about every day. I refuse to pray for Patience. When you do that, it usually results in finding myself in situations where growing it is necessary to survival. I never thought all of this would be such a test for it, but it is. I'm finding my way around this flying solo with a fledgling thing.That's when I find getting outside- away from the house and the to-do list and feeling that I SHOULD constantly be productive - is a necessity. I feel bad for people who live in cities and don't have this easy access we do to some of these beautiful places to rest, recharge, and just take a breather from work of life for a while.
I got behind in housework. A lot. But it's okay.... because somewhere just at the start of May - this happened
The Impossible Girl got an unexpected playdate while I took myself into the ER to get checked out for a dull aching chest pain that wouldn't go away. The good news is, I have the heart of an athlete (no big surprise there). But serious reality checks like that give me pause to focus on what's really imporant. We didn't get any definative answers, but no heart attack. Whew. REMINDER: HEART ATTACKS PRESENT IN WOMEN VERY DIFFERENTLY THAN MEN!)
And I can tell you - it's not the dishes, the laundry, the homework. It's the bonds we have with people we see everyday, and the ones we don't.
So take the walk.
Write the letter or email.
Make the phone call.
Text that friend.
Connect in whatever way helps you feel most present.
The business of life has to happen eventually. Dishes must be done. Clothes must be laundered, etc. But one thing we can not get back is time. Use it wisely.
This past 30 days has been less blogging. Less media. More living.
And it's been good.
You always have a way of verbally processing things that bring clarity. Beautifully done!
ReplyDeleteWatching you and Impossible Girl is a Joy - What wonderful relationship and what a very special Mom!
ReplyDeleteLove You Sweet J and IG, Grandpa Jim