Our Common Ordinary Weekend

Mary and I took the shopping list to Loblaws tonight. We took Rhiannon along with us. To have her putting her own selection of food into the cart as we walk up and down the isles would be to raise the grocery bills by total by $50. “What does it matter,” I said to Mary. “Let her put whatever she wants into the car. I can get it out and back onto the shelves as fast as she can add it.”

I didn’t count on the fact that she could remember what she put in, and that on occasion she was checking to see that her items were still there: an exquisitely packaged new toy, a cellophane bag of candy, a chocolate Easter bunny, a few new videos, – I was slipping them back onto the shelves as fast as she was noting that their presence was missing in the cart. She wasn’t all that happy.

Ignoring Grandmother -- almost

She is still wary of me. For good reason. She was mad to wake up from her afternoon nap to find that Naomi and Xavier (whom she calls her brothers) had gone skating with her mother and left her home.

I took some pictures of her while she was eating her muffin and ignoring me.

What I like best is that when she had a cup of juice up to her face, she couldn’t help letting one eye peek out to check and see what I was doing while she was pretending not to see me. She has a sixth sense that tells her I am too dangerous to ignore outright.

While Mary was beading this morning Xavier, Naomi and I spent a lot of time reading The Grimm’s Brothers.

We are getting good at seeing the common themes in the story. As well, there is one trope that is starting to appear over and over, the one about a man who rows a boat.

If he gives you the oars, he is probably going to leap out and you will be the one who has to row the boat.

This came up again today in the “Story of the Three Golden Hairs of the Devil”.

Naomi was the one who showed me how the flying pig works. Now how cool is that, to have a flying pig in your living room.

We had to catch it here for a moment because even with the sports mode going on my camera, I couldn't get a good bead on how this pigs flies around the front room.

As well, Naomi is giving a talk in Sunday School tomorrow.  She is going to take The Friend and show the children where they can find the song "One Million Children Strong".

She can sing the song, and in fact, I have been telling Mary, have you ever heard that girl's voice when she relaxes her vocal chords and sign sotta voce.

"To tell you the truth", I haven't, said Mary.

"Well," I thought, "for years, I have been waiting for someone to be born who had the deep rich contralto voice of my own grandmother. And finally, a girl with even her name ... Naomi Blanche."

But back to the reality of what she will do in Sunday School.  While she knows how to sing that song and can do it without a microphone and the whole congregation would be able to hear it, still, I think Mary will be lucky to get one whisper of a word out of her when she gets to the front of the Junior Sunday School room.

On other matters, Friday night we went to the Elementary School Valentines Dance. I wanted to take my camera but Mary said no camera's allowed.

School rules.

When I got there, I saw other parents taking pictures, so I wondered why that rule was being broken.

Anyway,I was there with no camera. There was popcorn and juice to buy at the concessions, a limbo dance, the YMCA dance and another group dance that required a lot of arm work on the head, chest and thighs and the dance finishes with a 1/4 jump turn.

Perhaps someone who knows that name of that dance can leave it in the comment section, because it is a good one for all ages. We walked over to the school and then home. The toboggan was brought for Rhiannon to ride on, but the kids who had danced their hearts out were the ones who needed to have their mom pull them home that way. At this point, Rhiannon walked and the two big kids rode.

As well as dancing last night, we played with some of the toys around here, today, the most common of which are computer toys.

Mary is the only one who isn’t attached to some form of electronic equipment during the day.

She spends her extra time hanging out with kids who love to be on her back or behind her back or on her knee.

So to recap -- just an ordinary day.  Some electronic games, some cartoons on TV (about the Group of 7), some skating, some naps and the family hung out together, watching a children's video and eating lime slushies to cap off our Saturday.

Love,

Arta