Day #127: James and Mama Have a Date
I miss spending one on one time with the kids. I also miss having a place to actually go.
Early this year, I stole James and took him out for breakfast...M&M pancakes. Now, remember, the kid would wake up at 7:30 and didn't have to be at school until 9:30 so it wasn't hard to do. We let Max sleep with Daddy and went and got breakfast. It had been ages since we'd been out just the two of us. It was fun and I wanted to try to do it once a month. Then we got quarantined.
We've been out for the occasional drive just the two of us or to pick up library books and stuff like that, but today we actually went to the bookstore and the drug store. I haven't taken James to places like that too much, tried to keep the kids home and outside as much as possible, but he needs to practice being in the world and he needs to practice wearing his mask so now that the book store is open again it made sense.
The first thing we did this morning was open a letter I found last night from the kindergarten teacher sent back in April. It had been put in a stack of reading logs and other things that made me emotional and not opened. I figured it was a birthday card but it was in fact a photo of James taken in his Cat in the Hat hat on March 4, the last day of school. We already had plans to go out but now we had another destination: to get a picture frame.
It was fun. Yes, reading books on the bookstore floor in my mask did wind me just a little bit, but James overall did great with his mask and he just loved it. He hasn't been able to browse books in so long...we've ordered a few from bookstores and we've been getting library books for these past couple of weeks and of course we own a lot of books but to just be confronted with a shelf of new to him books and get to grab...it was so nice. I bought him a new picture book and I bought a used book for me. And then we went to the drugstore and got a picture frame and a pencil case for mama and just for the hell of it a pack of balloons.
Life with James has been a struggle these past few weeks. He's overly emotional, melts down a lot, and is a creative perfectionist who wants to tear up art projects he's made that don't live up to the idea he has in his head. But he is still snuggly as heck, tells me I'm the best mom, loves to read books and pick new books with me (he's getting to be such an awesome reader!) and is just a great kid. Seeing that pic of him from just a few months ago drove home how much he's grown and been through since them. The gap in his teeth is filled in by big teeth now and he looks so much bigger.
I really hope we can go get breakfast again soon. In the meantime I'm holding on to today. We also got to listen through our first five podcast episodes, two of which I released yesterday. He's a fan. I"m glad he likes doing it an hope we can record another one this weekend.
Today's media consumption: I finished My Sister is a Serial Killer which was weird and started My Life Story by Helen Keller, first book by a white author I've read in July. I also read a picture book James is too little for called Soldier for Equality about a Mexican-American WWI soldier turned activist and it was AWESOME. Yep. I got a picture book from the library just for me. Beat that with a stick.
Today I'm grateful for friends, books, bookstores, social media that doesn't make me want to blow my brains out, James memories, Max turning 23 months, what turned into a lovely day, and this life, man. I'm grateful for this life. It's effing hard. But I'm grateful.
Early this year, I stole James and took him out for breakfast...M&M pancakes. Now, remember, the kid would wake up at 7:30 and didn't have to be at school until 9:30 so it wasn't hard to do. We let Max sleep with Daddy and went and got breakfast. It had been ages since we'd been out just the two of us. It was fun and I wanted to try to do it once a month. Then we got quarantined.
We've been out for the occasional drive just the two of us or to pick up library books and stuff like that, but today we actually went to the bookstore and the drug store. I haven't taken James to places like that too much, tried to keep the kids home and outside as much as possible, but he needs to practice being in the world and he needs to practice wearing his mask so now that the book store is open again it made sense.
The first thing we did this morning was open a letter I found last night from the kindergarten teacher sent back in April. It had been put in a stack of reading logs and other things that made me emotional and not opened. I figured it was a birthday card but it was in fact a photo of James taken in his Cat in the Hat hat on March 4, the last day of school. We already had plans to go out but now we had another destination: to get a picture frame.
It was fun. Yes, reading books on the bookstore floor in my mask did wind me just a little bit, but James overall did great with his mask and he just loved it. He hasn't been able to browse books in so long...we've ordered a few from bookstores and we've been getting library books for these past couple of weeks and of course we own a lot of books but to just be confronted with a shelf of new to him books and get to grab...it was so nice. I bought him a new picture book and I bought a used book for me. And then we went to the drugstore and got a picture frame and a pencil case for mama and just for the hell of it a pack of balloons.
Life with James has been a struggle these past few weeks. He's overly emotional, melts down a lot, and is a creative perfectionist who wants to tear up art projects he's made that don't live up to the idea he has in his head. But he is still snuggly as heck, tells me I'm the best mom, loves to read books and pick new books with me (he's getting to be such an awesome reader!) and is just a great kid. Seeing that pic of him from just a few months ago drove home how much he's grown and been through since them. The gap in his teeth is filled in by big teeth now and he looks so much bigger.
I really hope we can go get breakfast again soon. In the meantime I'm holding on to today. We also got to listen through our first five podcast episodes, two of which I released yesterday. He's a fan. I"m glad he likes doing it an hope we can record another one this weekend.
Today's media consumption: I finished My Sister is a Serial Killer which was weird and started My Life Story by Helen Keller, first book by a white author I've read in July. I also read a picture book James is too little for called Soldier for Equality about a Mexican-American WWI soldier turned activist and it was AWESOME. Yep. I got a picture book from the library just for me. Beat that with a stick.
Today I'm grateful for friends, books, bookstores, social media that doesn't make me want to blow my brains out, James memories, Max turning 23 months, what turned into a lovely day, and this life, man. I'm grateful for this life. It's effing hard. But I'm grateful.
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