11/29/2009

Assignment: Feeling a toddler’s arm around my neck:

K. was a phenomenally passionate, forceful, easily inflamed, and difficult to distract toddler. When she was happy she was very happy, and when she was mad she was livid. She often went on long crying jags, and I would hold her and rock slowly back and forth from foot to foot, patting her on her back to bring her through these. She took to patting me on the back at the same time. It was such a dear thing---here she was all upset and offering me comfort at the same time. No way to know what she really thought of that gesture…
K. was round all over, a dimpled dumpling that was impossible to resist. One could not see her without wanting to hold all those curves. And she did cuddle, but, she also threw tantrums and went rigid with rage or limp with passive resistance. I know any toddler can do these things but K.!----She lived life out loud, and I often had to stick a finger in my ear closest to her wailing mouth. Once she gets through these teenage years of individuation or whatever the psychiatrist calls it, I do hope she can have a place or a time or a way to be herself, her phenomenally passionate, forceful self. And that she can cuddle with someone, and rejoice that the world finds her impossible to resist.

11/28/2009

~100 Things I Love

Sleep
Vanilla ice cream with magic shell
Stand-up comedy
Cool architecture
Shabby chic
Seeing animals in the wild
Reading
Conceiving a hobby project and shopping for all the things I will need (note I did not include actually carrying it out)
Great meals in restaurants
Fabric stores
Gazing at my beautiful kids
Libraries
Raspberries on the vine
Cat purring
Polished rocks
Rabbit shows
Hot tub
Antiquing
Bagpipe music
Being very, very warm
Getting a massage
Comfortable armchairs
Lilacs
Crumbled down castles
Hot dogs on the grill
Cilantro
Beach glass
Fritos
Freshly bathed dog
Rockhounding
Freecycle
Computers that work flawlessly
Beautiful polished rocks
Warm, fragrant conservatories
Plaid
Stone constructions
Self-cleaning ovens
My hair
Being with M. when she is laughing hysterically
Staring at flames
Moss
Foreign accents
Large print books
Horse races
Jadite glassware
Limericks
Haiku