Tuesday, September 6, 2011

mini story #4972

Not really my stories to tell, I suppose because I was not there for them.. but to remember and help remind the people who were involved- I will record the story I was told.

background info: The new school the girls go to is a Catholic school- one of the best private schools in the area.  They have a lot to offer education-wise and do not force the bible studies on the students... or so the parents are told, anyway.

So- just two quick stories-

the other day at the neighborhood park, the girls were having a play date with their friend 'N'.  Ns household is very open for questions and learning of all things; they introduce human anatomy, how babies are made and different religious ideas through books and communication (many questions arise- so lots of conversation!).  It is a wonderful thing, I think, and proves to be a positive aspect in areas of Ns development.  That being said, he is very curious about various things; God's, heaven, the idea of Noah's Arc, etc. are all possible topics that may occur on any given day.  So combine N's curiosity with the girls new found Catholic education and what happens?  Wellllllll.. their parents found them all sitting in a circle inside the sandbox- when approached the kids seemed spooked, as if they were totally just busted doing something bad.  But, no no- nothing wrong or bad here.. instead-

"we were having prayer.  Its a circle of all of us so we can pray to Gods.  We are praying to Ganesh, Jesus and the Holy Spirit."
________________________________

The next story is of the same manner- the girls are learning about things like 'treat others how you want to be treated' but through ways of the Lord.  So, the other day at breakfast the girls were picking granola bars to put into their lunch bags for snack time at school- M got the last 'favorite' granola bar and A was a little sad... M says..
"hey! A!  Its okay- if you do not like the kind of bar you got, I will share half of mine with you at snack"
A responds, "Wow thanks M!"
M- "yeah, thats being Jesus.  Your welcome."

its been a while..

here are a few moments in the past few weeks (ahem month or more..) that have stayed with me & I wish to continue keeping them in my memories.. SO, here we go

About a month back the girls had gone on a few vacations- being allowed to either sleep on couches or in their parents room, etc- their sleep schedule/routine was all screwy.  To help with the evening fears we have them listen to music- I personally love this trick as I used it when I was little (Thanks mom!  Sometimes I wish I had my 'sebastian the crab' reggae to sooth me to sleep, ha!)   Anyway- I had this CD I used when working at one of my various child care/ teaching positions in NH; we used it for nap time and it worked like gang busters.  Seriously- if we started it at lunch kids would be dropping like flies left and right before they even finished their turkey sandwiches!  SO figured it wouldnt hurt to give the girls this CD and let them know how awesome it was/tell stories to go with it for them to think about.  They are very imaginative and really like hearing peoples real-life stories over and over [and OVER..] again.  They often build off peoples various stories when they are doing their 'twin game' dramatic play time, very funny to listen to..

SO this is a long story to tell the very sweet and touching punch line here- so I will just cut to it finally...
after listening to the CD for a few nights 'A' one morning at breakfast very sweetly confesses to me
"hey haley- the other night when we were going to sleep, we wanted to listen to the CD so, I got up and started the music.  It was so strange, when the first song started my eyes got all wet like they were crying because... because I think I missed you?"

UM. MY EYES almost cried at that.  Muffinpantslovekins!

Next stories are from my day today (9/6/11).  let me start off by saying, once again, my job ROCKS!!!

Today I picked the girls up at kindergarten- oh yeah, they are big girls now.. at school, in uni's and everything... cannot believe it!!  So anyway- picked them up from school and did the whole lunch & chat, read a book-type stuff.  THEN we built harry potter lego sets for approximately 2 hours.. followed by an enjoyable sunny afternoon spent at Seward Park.  Mt rainier was showing today- due to the sunny, clear skies YAY.. as we pull into the park we see Mt. Rainier in all of its glory..

M says -  'look how awesome it is! its like the king.. and.. and.. all the tiny hills around it are the guards!"
I love how their minds work.  So fun!

After that we took the bikes around the 2.5mile path along the water, stopping along the way to climb fallen down trees, check out historical huts, and.. oh yes.. go for a swim in our underwear.  And yes, I said OUR underwear.. I joined, duh.  It was a hot day, I was chasing after these speedy girls- ON FOOT- and well, why the heck would I NOT get in the water.  If there is one way to teach a couple of girls 'no fear' or not to care about 'body image' it is to strip to your skivvies and hop in the water, too.

Best part of all of this- when telling my bosses (their parents) that we all went swimming, my initial concern was that, maybe I should not have been in my underwear..?  My concern met with the response, "hey its seattle- people run around naked in some areas of town.  No big deal"

Love this place.

The girls, too loved this experience.  We were swimming with ducks!  Paddling around after climbing down some serious ladders off a cool looking (tall) dock- they kept shouting "this is the BEST!" and "I love this day!!"  man, if there is one way to bring up someones spirits- it is to have this kind of day.  Not that mine are low- Im just sayin.. anyone out there in need of a good pick me up, I highly recommend this as your remedy.

All for now! xo