Dr. King's Birthday and a Date With James

I don't really know what to say about Dr. King's birthday except that if people are happy learning what we learned in school when they realize the whole truth of what's out there they must really like being lied to. I appreciate teachers who taught us more thorough history as we got older and also that I was never limited in what I read.

James and I had a mom/James date today. Yesterday we as a family went to the park and as James invented a game Max completely fell apart and started melting down so I told James I would take him back today and we could play and have big kid time without having to worry about the melting down. It had been a long time since I had one on one time with James and Josh actually got today off which he doesn't that often.

James is...a lot. His energy and creativity are a lot to handle and right now he's physically clingy which adds to it because he's not a little kid anymore. But I do love spending time with the kid. We ran around the park playing a variation on hide and seek that he invented and it was fun to laugh and just spend time with him. Then we went to the bookstore because I wanted to buy the Betty White Little Golden book because it's her birthday and going to the bookstore with James is ALWAYS fun. He picked great books...a picture book about a box where the book cover had to be opened plus an activity book for Max and then I wanted him to try Renee Watson's Ways to Make Sunshine because I think it's a lot like Ramona which he likes (and he sees himself in Ramona.) Plus we got Dory Fantasmagory because we laughed about that one so much when we read it together. I like that we as book people are learning that kids don't "outgrow" picture books and we have to move them into chapter books...we just add chapter books and they can read both.

Then we came home and I surprised him with a new activity book. He LOVES activity books so I bought a stash at Half Price books and dole them out on days that call for them, like today. He can work through an activity book in 48 hours, he's just obsessed.

All day he kept saying "today is a good day." I know how he feels. We have to call them out these days. It's important.

I have a friend who has made a New Year's resolution to find more joy in the day to day...which is a good goal and we should all do more of that because God knows right now there's a LOT of bad to focus on, looking for the positive is good. Trouble is, an attitude like that can turn into toxic positivity. There is a lot of shit going on right now. The death of my old camp director on Tuesday hit me hard and I'm still reeling a bit. I talked to her mom yesterday and cried for awhile after that. You have to feel the negative feelings because if you don't they will rebound on you. But on a day like today, which was a good day, I felt like James. We had to call it out. A lot.

Trying to appreciate the little things like playing Mario 3D world with Josh and James while Max holds his controller without charged batteries because then he thinks he's participating. I remember playing Mario with Josh before James was born, when we had so much time. It's nice to have come back around to this again. So yeah. Today was a good day. For small reasons. But I'll take them.

Media consumption: The West Wing remains my ultimate comfort food TV. I finished reading Braiding Sweetgrass for my book group, wow, that book was a lot. I also read this random book called My Autobiography of Carson McCullers which I really liked...it made me want to be an archivist. And I listened to Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper which was great and I really want the sequel because it's set at camp. A couple of kids book sequels I want to read next month are set at camp which seems super appropriate given where I'm at right now. The other one is the sequel to Ways to Make Sunshine which I've read and bought for James today.

Today I'm grateful for books, Mario, a break in the rain, time with my little family, good days, days off, winter sunshine, walks (and runs) in the woods, and finally shaking that stupid swollen gland/sore throat thing. Tomorrow: booster shot!

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