I almost feel like I should write two separate updates because part of what I have to share is light and funny and part of it is so tragic it should stand alone. And yet, perhaps we need the lightness to survive the heaviness.
The tragic part does not directly involve us, but Carl and I felt it keenly. It was a little too close to home. There was a school bus (a van in size) going to Serra Catholic one morning and it was involved in a terrible accident. The bus made a left turn at a difficult intersection where there is no traffic light and it was difficult to get an opening. As they turned they were hit by a car that was probably going a little too fast for the area. A fifteen year old girl was killed and three more students were injured. It breaks my heart to think of how the girl’s parents are feeling and how it was to get the news. I can only imagine what it was like for the students on the bus. How are they ever going to feel safe riding to school again?
Serra Catholic was one of two schools we chose between when picking Sarah’s school for this year. She goes to the other school. But, one of her best friends from her years at St. Therese goes to Serra Catholic, and many other graduates from St. Therese go there. The girl who was killed was good friends with Sarah’s friend. I haven’t told Sarah about any of this because I don’t think she knew the girl and I don’t want her to be scared or upset. I hope this is the right decision. Carl and I felt rocked by the news, and it felt more scary to say goodbye to Sarah the next morning as she boarded her bus. We reevaluated our common driving routes, realizing we could make changes to eliminate some left turns that aren’t at easy intersections with lights or four-way stops.
So now a pause to send love to the families of Serra Catholic and a breath to reset in the present moment.
The pool was closed on Monday, but at least I found out by calling instead of showing up to swim. Sarah was upset, but moved through her feelings more quickly than last week. As is common when she has feelings, she inquired as to how the panda [picture] on her wall was feeling. I said the panda was sad on her behalf. “Behalf" was a new word and new concept for her so it took a few tries to use it correctly. She has asked me a few times, “How is the panda feeling about my behalf?"
I told my trainer about her question because we joke about how I often feel like a confused panda when I am at the gym trying to do what my trainer has demonstrated. I told him the story about Sarah’s behalf questioning as I had my back on the floor and my legs on a large inflatable ball that I was rolling towards me as my butt was raised. I said that my behalf was having some trouble, and we both had a good laugh.
Yesterday I drove a distance away from the house to release a trapped mouse into the wild. I did what I always do. I got out of the car and opened the trap. The mouse did not follow the script though. Instead of running away into the grass, it ran toward the car! It proceeded to hide by the wheels no matter what I did. If I scared it away from one hiding spot it just ran to the other side of the tire or to a different tire! I had to wait several minutes and then I didn’t see it anywhere, so I hope it did run off rather than hiding so well that I squished it inadvertently. I also saw lilacs blooming! I didn’t know that could happen at this time of year.
Amy had some homework to do yesterday that in theory did not have to take over the day, but in practice dominated much of her time. I think what often happens is that when she gets stuck, her mind wanders to other things and she spends many minutes not doing anything but also not getting the help she needs. After she used up her daily allotment of screen time, I asked her to come out of her room before I approved more time. That is when the tears came and the explanation of being stuck. After a few minutes of discussion we realized that she needed to reread an article in order to write her summary paragraphs. That took a little bit of detective work but she found it and we read it together with the “help” of her stuffed animal who put herself squarely in front of the computer screen and made it impossible to read! Then the stuffed animal gave many kisses which helped loosen Amy’s tension. The stuffed animal even wrote a few sentences under Amy’s guidance, but they were really too focused on cats and had to be deleted.
Speaking of cats, I have accidentally broken Amy’s heart a bit. I learned that a new acquaintance was hoping to adopt a cat and I introduced her to a foster cat of a friend. Amy has often helped me cat sit for this foster and loves it dearly. So she is quite upset that this cat will most likely be adopted. I know it is the best thing for the cat and the other humans involved aside from Amy, but I am chagrinned to be the cause of Amy’s anguish.
One night Carl was fixing dinner and was about to ask me to do something related. Instead he asked if I would hop on one foot while tapping my nose, which I, of course, did. One has to be helpful in such matters. Amy thought this was hilarious and the moment quickly turned into a dual performance of Carl and Amy hopping and tapping their noses. I’m sure a similar moment occurred in your homes just yesterday!
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