Day: December 20, 2008

Coming home from an evening out to find four upset children is not ideal. Link was crying because Kiki had yelled at him. Gleek was crying because she had a sore on her chin, and also Kiki had yelled at her. Kiki was crying because she felt guilty about being a bad babysitter and yelling at the kids. Patch was not crying, but he was obviously unsettled about everyone else crying.

Howard and I gathered all the children and let them all talk. Kiki apologized profusely. Link and Gleek gave her hugs. Patch gave hugs to everyone in turn. We fed them all hot chocolate on the general theory that chocolate is comforting. During most of the 30 minutes it took to settle down, the kids were more concerned about helping each other feel better than about airing their grievances. Tears and hugs were plentiful. I love that my kids love each other. Then with tears dry and cups empty, we settled them all into bed.

Kiki stayed up at little bit longer to talk with me about how things went wrong and what she intends to do differently next time. She told me I don’t owe her any money for this babysitting gig because she doesn’t feel like she earned it. Next time will be better. So Howard and I got a dinner out without paying for babysitting, and the kids all got a lesson in getting along, and I got to snuggle all my kids when I got home, and they all got a chance to see how much they love each other.

Perhaps it wasn’t ideal, but it was still pretty darn good.

I had a wonderful idea for a blog post. I lay down on my bed and closed my eyes as I planned wonderful turns of phrase to support the wonderful idea. The next thing I knew I was waking up and I can’t remember what the idea was. Sigh. Either it will come back to me, or it won’t. I have far more ideas that I could possibly write anyway.

Today was a day for cleaning. We’d been running short on bookshelf space. I took a good look and realized that this was because a significant portion of space was given over to books that have lingered past their usefulness. I no longer need reference books on infant care. Nor do I need books about toddler craft projects. I might as well admit that I am never going to take the time to sew curtains from that book on window treatments. And those garden catalogs are at least 5 years old. I now have three boxes of books ready to donate to either the library or to a thrift store. Even better I have the space to sort the kid’s books in a much more useful way. We have a shelf for picture books, one for oversized books, one for easy readers and first chapter books, and one for YA books. Hopefully this will help the kids find the books that interest them instead of them constantly complaining that there is nothing to read. Now I need to do the same sort of cleaning out for my office bookshelves.

One of the realizations I’ve had to make as a parent is that my kids may not love the same books that I loved. Some books carry across generations very well, others I loved just because I found it at exactly the right moment in my life. My kids will find other books to love for those “exact right moments.” Some books just don’t get read until someone other than mom recommends them. I kept trying to get Kiki to read Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey. She just wasn’t interested, so I gave up. Then one day she hauled it home from her school library and devoured it. Apparently a librarian had recommended it to her. I have piles of books that I kept from my late childhood and teen years. They’re sitting quietly on the shelves waiting to be discovered by the next generation. But I can’t predict whether they will catch a child’s eye. All those Black Stallion books may remain to gather dust, but I’ll bet that A Little Princess and The Secret Garden get some more love. I hope that the Chronicles of Prydain are rediscovered. Shelved next to my old favorites are some of my new favorites. I did not have Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians, The Princess Academy, or Wee Free Men when I was young, but both I and my kids love them now.