May 19

I dare to say that we have made progress regarding washing Sarah’s hair! Sc had used a timer to indicate when the hair washing would begin. That seemed to help, so Carl and I have implemented that strategy too. Carl also had the idea to move forward more quickly and directly rather than letting Sarah play for a long time first. This week I was able to do a mid-week wash with minimal fuss and Sarah even tipped her head back into the water when we were done, which is something she normally does NOT do in a bath. This whole venture also received assistance from Grammy a couple of weeks ago because she knew of our struggle and commented to Sarah about how nice and clean her hair looked after her bath. After each successive bath, Sarah has told me that her hair is clean and shiny. I tell you, it takes a village to make these things happen!

Sarah cut her hot dog almost completely by herself! (And at the next hot dog meal she opted to just pick up the whole thing rather than bother with cutting.)

One night Amy was upset at bedtime and Sarah said, “it’s ok Amy” or something like that without any teasing in her tone. It was simply kind. I pointed it out to Amy, who paused in her upset to thank Sarah. That was a small miracle of a moment. 

Amy’s moment of upset taught me that I need to regularly make time when Amy is freshly tucked into bed to check on how she is feeling about things. On this particular night, when I stood up after kissing Sarah goodnight, I was surprised to see Amy looking sad, because she hadn’t been sad a minute ago. I asked if it was about a certain thing. It wasn’t. I just stayed looking at her and waiting. Then she burst into tears and told me about a worry concerning school. Not only was she scared, but she had been trying to hold this fear as a secret rather than share it, so she had had several nights of worry and not sleeping well. My poor sweetheart!! During the day she can easily keep moving on to the next thing, but just before sleep is when the thoughts and worries surface, so that is what I want to make sure I witness and allow to have space.

This weekend Amy and Carl were away for Girl Scout camping. Sarah and I camped in our backyard. The first night it rained a lot, including a few unexpected drips onto my neck, but we were mostly cozy and snug. In the morning sunshine I opened up the tent doors to get some fresh air. Somehow at some point, a bird managed to get poop in the center of our sheet. How on earth?! (did it fly through when we weren’t looking? or did it just angle its delivery with skill and precision?) Sarah wanted to spend all day in the tent enjoying the patterns of our (clean) sheets, but I made us take breaks so we didn’t overheat. We walked to a store to get goldfish crackers. Then she wanted to be pushed in the stroller while she ate the crackers. We did that on our way to her favorite intersection for watching traffic. It has been a very quiet weekend. It was wonderful to have so much easy time together and to be so snuggly in the tent at night. It will also be wonderful to be in my own bed tonight. Sarah is eager for Amy to be home so they can play in the tent together. Earlier in the week Sarah made a sun at school and each ray was labeled with something important to Sarah. The only legible word is “Amy.” (Normally Sarah’s handwriting can be quite legible, but not with this specific item.)

May you have a kind witness for the secrets weighing on your heart, and may you have a cozy snuggly spot to rest.