March 5: Sneakiness, Dr. Seuss, and an Unplanned Trip

Firstly, why did it take me years to notice the pants-wearing discrepancy in Daniel Tiger? I understand that some cartoon animals wear shirts (Donald Duck) and some wear pants (Mickey Mouse), but why do Daniel Tiger and his dad only wear tops but the mom tiger wears a shirt and pants?!

Sarah’s school celebrated Dr. Seuss week and Sarah was thrilled to wear pajama bottoms to school on Monday. Tuesday called for stripes, which she wore in the form of clothes with musical staffs. Wednesday was career day so she went as a music teacher, wearing her somewhat dressy musical note pants and button down shirt made by Grandma. Thursday was spirit day so she wore one of her St Therese Tiger shirts. Friday was a regular uniform day but she got to bring a stuffed animal. She was so happy carrying Mae from Turning Red.

One day Sarah came home and told me that one of the assistant teachers told her not to watch Caillou on the iPad because that was for little kids. I asked what the teacher wanted to her watch… Bible stories. I was not pleased but figured I should get more information. When I spoke to her main teacher I learned that this event wasn’t during Sarah’s free ipad time. It was during Religion! We had a good laugh about Sarah trying to sneak some Caillou in when she was supposed to do school work. If the assigned work is too hard for her in Religion class then they want her to watch Bible stories. I did explain, though, that I feel strongly that Sarah never be told something is too young for her. If she finds value and a sense of peace from watching a show then I want her to be able to watch it – during her free iPad time of course!

One day Sarah and I were driving home from her orthodontist appointment and we drove past the Jewish Community Center. She asked what it was. I said it was the JCC. She then said it was the JCC Penney! I had never thought about those words connecting!

Carl was away skiing for most of the week, including getting a ride in a helicopter to the top of a mountain and skiing part of the way down.

Amy had a good time roller skating with a friend one afternoon. They also crushed some sidewalk chalk and added water to make a paint. It is nice to have some warmer days! She and I enjoyed more episodes of the Great British Baking show, sometimes squeezing in a few minutes after finishing homework and having feelings about said homework.

The tough part of the week was Wednesday night. Sarah had been sleeping next to me while Carl was away, but this night we expected him to return in the middle of the night so Sarah was in her room. I woke at midnight to Sarah screaming. In my haste to get to her I somehow tripped over my own self. All I knew was pain from my left big toe and crashing hard onto my hands and knees. I was panicked that I might have damaged my new hip, but I started crawling to get to Sarah. Meanwhile, she stopped screaming and came into my room, telling me it was too scary to be in her room. I asked if she had a bad dream and she said yes. I explained she still needed to be in her bed. After a few moments of kneeling and resting against the storage chest at the foot of my bed, I managed to get up and tuck Sarah back into bed. It has taken until today for me not to be limping and walking weirdly. My big toe continued to hurt and so I couldn’t take a normal step on that side and my right thigh ached more than ever. Thankfully I do feel back to normal now.

The other unfortunate thing is that Friday night Sarah had a seizure and we have no nice explanation such as flashing lights. She hasn’t had an unexplained seizure in years. I’m not feeling great about this. I’m anxious and it made it harder to go to bed last night, as if somehow my fear and vigilance could protect her and control things – and I’m not even with her right now!

I’m visiting a dear friend for a cozy weekend filled with cats, jigsaw puzzles, binge watching tv shows, and Bananagrams. Carl took the girls to the mountain house Friday night but there was no power. He did see a mouse in the act of nibbling a waffle that had been left in the oven! He then put out traps and caught the mouse. Carl and the girls had dinner by candlelight and headed home in the morning, stopping for brunch on the way.

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