As we decorated our tree last Sunday, Amy commented on how we have many ornaments with pictures of young Sarah over the years, but no ornaments with pictures of her. This is because the Sarah ornaments were from her schools, and Amy has gone to different schools. To remedy this inequality, Amy drew two pictures of herself as if she was a younger cat-like girl than she is now. As further evidence of her creativity, she brought home clothes that she had painted in art class. On the back of a jean jacket she painted a curved spine and wrote “scoli strong” to honor her scoliosis journey. I love her creativity, warmth, strength, and perseverance. Speaking of scoliosis, we have not made any decision as of now about whether or not to change her brace. There is just too much going on in the lead-up to Christmas and winter break to want to think about this, and a few weeks won’t make much of a difference.
Sarah is similarly creative with drawing or making anything that she wishes existed. She really loves pretending to be Scrooge peeking through the bed curtains when the ghosts arrive. She got an extra sheet from our closet and draped it over her head board in an attempt to make bed curtains. She also set her alarm to wake her with a light and chirping birds. She wanted to set it for the middle of the night but I convinced her to let me set it to the reasonable hour of 5:30 when she would be getting up anyway. But! I forgot to check what the time was set for and so one night at 2:45am the birds started chirping and the light filled her room. We were both surprised, but luckily she found it hilarious and was able to go back to sleep.
We had a bit of an upset on Tuesday after swimming when the shower that Sarah and I went to use in the family bathroom wouldn’t get warm. It’s designed so the water is blasting straight towards the rest of the room unless blocked by the shower curtain, but some of it gets out as you test the water. She was very upset and screaming loudly. It is mysterious why sometimes it has worked and the water has gotten hot, but this time it didn’t no matter how long we waited. Eventually I took a very fast cold shower, and then gathered all of our stuff to go back to the main changing room. Amy had finished her warm shower, and had heard Sarah’s screams, so was not surprised to see us return for Sarah to take a warm shower. As Sarah was in the shower I heard her talking. Usually at home she recites a line from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst about taking a bath, saying, “my bath was too hot, I got soap in my eye, and my marble went down the drain.” There is a very specific cadence to this line. While she showered I heard her say with the same cadence, “my shower was too cold, and I was screaming my head off.” Amy and I cracked up. I love how quickly we can shift from frustration to laughter. I love how Sarah changes lines from books to match her situation. It shows such flexible thinking and creativity.
Speaking of books, I received one of the best reviews ever. I have some copies of my book already because they get printed way ahead of the publication date so bookstores are ready to put them out on January 21. I gave one to Sarah and one to Amy. They both started paging through them immediately, and Amy stayed up too late at night because she didn’t want to put it down! She loves reading about things she has no memory of, such as all of us singing the underpants song. “Underpants…da da da da da da… underpants.”
Last weekend Sarah and Carl went to a Steelers game, and Sarah loved cheering. The people around her delighted in her exuberance and gave her high fives and a Terrible Towel. Meanwhile, Amy and I went to see the movie Flow about a cat and other animals surviving a flooding world. There are no words or people, and the cat is the main character. It is super adorable, and Amy loved it.
This weekend is full of many good things. On Friday it was guest day at Sarah’s acting class, and my heart was filled as I watched Sarah eagerly and attentively participate for the whole hour. At the end of class there was extra time so they let the kids sing karaoke, and Sarah’s arm shot up when they asked who wanted a turn. She confidently strode to the microphone, introduced herself, and said she wanted to sing “Shake It Off.” Often the clarity of her words gets blurred and lost when she sings and that happened, but that was true for many of the participants. I loved Sarah’s confidence and poise. As soon as we got home from that, Carl and I went to a poetry reading by Emily Wilson, the latest and greatest translator of The Iliad and The Odyssey. While I don’t particularly love either story because I think they are filled with egotistical men making bad choices and then wanting us to feel bad for them, I do still appreciate Wilson’s translations. She is a phenomenal speaker and performer, delivering many passages in Greek before giving the English version. During all of this, Amy was at her school’s Blizzard Ball, dancing and hanging out with her friends.
Yesterday Amy went to an open house for CAPA, the school she is hoping to attend for high school. She and Carl learned a lot and got helpful information about the essay she needs to write, but we also now appreciate that it is harder than we realized to get accepted. There are many students who apply and only 15 spots. When she got home from the open house, she and Sarah and I went to a local Higgy Bears event to see Amy’s friends who also have scoliosis. By the time we were home Sarah was ready for her second nap of the day, as she is a champion napper especially on weekends. Today we will make sure there is time for more naps before Sarah’s piano recital and taking Amy to a birthday party.
Love and naps to you.
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