April 7: Snow, Creativity, and Stopping

As is so common for an April morning, I am gazing out my window at snow. True, we are in the mountains of Pennsylvania, but still. Snow! Carl was thrilled, I was glad I still had my snow tires, and Amy was consternated. Sarah didn’t seem to mind either way. Yesterday Carl and the girls enjoyed a short burst of riding on a snowmobile. Amy likened it to a rollercoaster so I was hesitant to try. Carl reminded me that he was “the boyfriend who listened” about me not liking rollercoasters. It is true that after the one small rollercoaster he convinced me to try, he has never suggested or pressured me to ride one since. To his immense credit, he also stopped on the snowmobile as soon as I wanted to stop, which was after mere feet of riding. I will try again when there is more snow and no gravel peaking through underneath. I will try again because I have complete trust that he will stop if I say to stop. 

Speaking of stopping, I have emptied my office completely of everything that was coming home with me. Sarah helped since she didn’t have school. It was truly helpful to have an extra pair of arms and it was nice to have her company for what felt quite sad. I know it was my own choice to close my practice, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have some grief about it. 

As you know, Sarah loves getting red xes at tunnel entrances. She is also skilled at swapping new words into songs or lines from books. And she loves foxes. In the book Little Fox Goes to the End of the World by Ann Tompert, the fox goes to the island of the one-eyed cats. Sarah has started saying that little fox is going to the island of the one-eyed red exes. I adore this creativity that never fails to crack me up with surprised delight. 

Speaking of creativity, when the girls had their annual well-visits, this year it worked to have them at the same time. Sarah really wanted a paper gown with animals playing sports, as she wore many years ago for a check-up. The doctor only had plain blue gowns or gowns with pictures of kids. Amy promptly took a pen from her school supplies and drew a bear kicking a soccer ball on Sarah’s gown. The bear was wearing jersey number 17 to honor Sarah’s age. The checkups went well, and we learned that Amy is in the 98th percentile for height. She is not quite 5’8” but she is close. She is almost as tall as I am and yet I had another moment of not realizing her age. When I printed the guidelines to apply for the Creative and Performing Arts school, I highlighted the areas for grades 6-8. But she will be applying for grades 9-12! In my defense, she is in 7th grade now and has to apply in the fall of her 8th grade year if she wants to get in for high school. So the mistake could be made by anyone!

Sarah and I visited the Woodlands camp for her intake interview. This summer she will attend an overnight week-long summer camp all about music! And two of her friends will be there!! It will be the same week that Amy attends an overnight camp with her bestie. I’m sure the house will feel oddly quiet without them. But, if attending overnight is too much for Sarah then she can switch to being a day camper. I had been waiting for this interview before telling Sarah about the camp because I didn’t want to get her hopes up if they might be dashed. Hopes are now rightfully up and we are all excited.