Quick Takes

~1~

Like bits of dough left hanging outside a cookie cutter shape, this week I feel like I've left many things unsaid. These are little stories, small moments I want to keep and to remember; and so, inspired once again by my friend D and the great Catholic mommy blog she found, I've decided to try my hand at quick takes. Think of these as the trimmings of our week, all rolled out and ready to be shaped into something new.

~2~

A few days ago I was hurrying the girls into the grocery store. We were making a quick stop, just dashing in for milk and heading home. We were all tired, frazzled from a long afternoon at the pool, and just a little bit grumpy, so when K suddenly stopped walking and started sniffing the air in an exaggerated way, my first response was impatience. I was opening my mouth to snap at her, Come on, K, let's GO! when she looked at me with lit-up eyes. Mommy, she cried, I smell a smell of Grandma Janie! This threw me off. What? I asked. No honey, Grandma Janie isn't here. She's at her house. In Oklahoma, remember? K didn't respond. She was retracing her steps, slowly, nose in the air. She stopped in front of a large plant--a plant that in my haste I hadn't even noticed. This is it, Mommy! she exclaimed, this is what smells like Grandma Janie! What's it called, Mommy? Mommy? It was rosemary. A big, beautiful rosemary bush, and K was right, it smelled like my mom. K embraced the plant. She plucked a few leaves off the stem and put them in her pocket. I leaned down and inhaled the familiar scent then we turned and walked into the store, but this time we walked more peacefully than we'd been walking before.

~3~

C brought a set of tunics (P's is featured in the photograph above) home with him from Africa a few weeks ago and this week the girls wanted to dress up in them all the time. I just can't get over how sweet they look in all that luxurious silk and brocade.

~4~

Life on an overseas military base is odd. Instead of passing out cards, the library gives you a set of dog tags with a bar code on the back. Children wait patiently (or sort of patiently) while puppies-in-training practice finding bombs underneath their carousel seats. Sometimes you get trapped in buildings for hours while people practice "war games" outside the door. You can't buy crayons without showing an ID. But the strangest thing that's ever happened to me here happened this week. We arrived home from the grocery store (yes, from the fateful rosemary trip) to discover a line of men in uniforms and heavily armed with M-16's waiting outside our house. Oh look, K announced casually, guards. We got out of the car. C & I unloaded the bags and the kids, and then we crossed back and forth (with P on my hip) between large men and large guns while unloading the groceries. It was, I thought, a little bit more than odd.

~5~

My girlfriend discovered this great website while looking for ways to improve her daughter's English. Recognizing it as a fun way for any preschooler to practice their ABC's, another friend then passed the site along to me. K & I love it. She thinks of it as a challenging treat. I think of it as a great way to avoid falling asleep on the playroom floor.

~6~

P learned two new words this week: 'baby' and 'more'. She uses 'more' for everything and it sounds like this, moo-wah, moo-wah. So now she walks around the house all day, signing and asking for more. When did she get so big? As for K, her powers of description keep growing. I took her out for an American breakfast the other day, something she usually loves, and she said, Mommy, these pancakes taste like rubber milk. Burned rubber milk. But they sure are good. And then she proceeded to eat them. All.

~7~

It's already time to register K for preschool next year and I still haven't even gotten the forms. I'm thinking about keeping her home. At home, I'm always astonished by how quickly she learns. At school, I always wonder if she's learning anything at all. Yesterday she brought me an Etch-a-Sketch picture she'd drawn of the world. We talked about how the earth spins in space slowly, always pointing a different part of its face toward the sun. She understood completely. So that means, she clarified, when it's time for bed here then the little girl on the other side of the world (K often wonders about an imaginary little girl on the other side of the world) is just waking up for morning snuggles. Right, Mom? She's smart. Even so, homeschooling feels risky and daunting. I don't want her to feel left behind in kindergarten just because I failed to do my job at home. I'm a little overwhelmed with trying to decide what to do. After all, I don't even know *how* to home school. I'd welcome any advice from parents or teachers (or kids!) who've done this before.