playing hookey, skipping school, going to the park

Why do I feel just a teensy bit guilty? Am I crazy, or is it the whole world that is crazy? The forecast calls for 67 degrees and sunshine today! So OF COURSE I am letting the elementary kids skip school! Why in the world would they go sit in class when it is this nice out? I know real grown ups have to go to work, and older kids have to go to school, and responsible college kids have to go to classes..but these little kids, they need to enjoy their childhoods, which go by so fast....

So why do I feel a teensy bit guilty? Well, for one, I have to cancel a dr. appointment for three of them. I can not, will not, sit in the dr. office waiting room for a few hours for an afternoon appointment while the sun shines and the warm wind blows. The office is so busy, I am sure they will have sick kids who need appointments, and now they won't have to double book. hmm, I hope.

I know, I have yet to grow up.

But we are going to have FUN!!! Emily doesn't have work today of all days, and she is going with us to the park by the lake! And, the library. Two of my more responsible daughters, who chose to go to school today, gave me lists of books to get for them.

Yesterday, Camille and I had a fun drive to Ithaca. We stopped at Tim Horten's first so I could get a coffee. I got her a smoothie and a cinnamon roll, which I "taxed" by taking a few bites, um, which ended being almost half, it was too good, sorry Camille...anyway, she was pretty thrilled to get a smoothie, she chatted about how nice it was to go there for the first ten miles or so. Then she told me she was smart, and that she could count to a hundred. She made it to the high thirties before she messed up. She also can "do math without a pencil and paper, Mama.", and she can. I asked her if she had five cookies and Mama took two, how many would she have. She knew. She also knew that if she had five cookies and I gave her two more. She also told me that sometimes she sees "sad houses". They are sad because, "people are poor, and when they're poor, their houses look sad." She looked for the house with the broken ladder, and found the house with the swingset from the other day. She kept telling me that we were not lost, because she remembered the way.

Aaron and Mirielle were exhausted. They had gone into Seattle with Benjamin and Ashley, whom they call Bashley, and explored the city. They went to a Mexican restaurant, and a coffee house that makes it's own donuts. They had lots of fun, and Aaron actually told me he wished I could have been there. (I tucked that away in my heart!)Anyway, Bashley went home, and these two got on their first plane at 11 pm. So when I picked them up at noon yesterday, they hadn't slept yet. And, ha, I did take them to Aldi on the way home. They agreed it wouldn't make any sense for me to take them all the way home and turn around and head back to the small city. Plus, they wanted to get back on schedule so they did not want to go home and sleep.

Aldi was fun! Milk there right now is only $1.49 a gallon! And the apples were $1.49 for a three pound bag. A pineapple was $1.59, and the strawberries were $1.89. We got bananas and pears and yogurt and chocolate and chicken and orange juice and bacon and salad stuff and turkey and green beans and broccoli. Sorry Mirielle and Aaron, I thought I only needed a few things!

Yesterday was my Sad Day though. All day I remembered my brother Billy, it was the anniversary of the day he took his life.

Jonathan is enamoured of Nerf guns. He has several of them. Today he is trying to teach Camille how to shoot this huge rifle gun. I don't like finding the foam bullets all over the house...Rosie does not like Nerf guns. She waddles quickly to her cage when they start shooting them. hmm, I wonder why?...

So anyway, here I am with five out of eight school kids skipping...and they aren't sick. I feel a little bit sick about that. But does anyone else around here notice how fast life is going by? Is it really so bad to grab a day and make some memories? To enjoy them immensely and just revel in having them around? They are growing up so fast, my babies have slipped through my fingers and my toddlers are all grown into little kids already, and they are just marching towards the teen years...Emily is 27 and Abigail is 25, and Benjamin is 23, Mirielle is 22, Joseph is 20, Aaron 19, and Mali turns 18 this week! I will only have nine kids aged 16 and younger!

Charlotte Claire has been talking like a baby. I think she is picking it up from someone in school. She has also been acting bratty, and I don't like it. When she comes in the door, I scoop her into my arms and hug her and ask her about her day...I try to give her lots of attention, but she seems to need even more. She has been going to school too much, I think. She needs more time with me, I think. Just a day here and there to connect.

Jonathan and Camille are taking a break from playing War with the Nerf guns, and now he is reading a Robert Munsch book to her. He loves taking care of Camille.

Is he suffering from missing a day?

Well, poor me, I have to go fill some water bottles and pack some lunch for our day at the park...we are bringing some scooters, and perhaps the soccer ball. If any teachers read this, please know that I am sorry if I make your job harder, but think of this: in a way I make it easier, because I firmly believe that my kids are nicer because of the time and attention they get from their Mama when they skip, and from the time they spend together.