Day 36. 10 small moments

1. While the kids run around inside, he and I stand on the new patio and make plans before the rain begins. That is our secret. Even through the most challenging times, and the times I feel like hiding, we constantly make plans that heavily involve the opinion of the other. Listen and collaborate, even so.

2. We follow a new recipe. He helps me with grating the zucchini, and then with the dry ingredients and then the wet. I show him how to fold one into the other. 

3. I book my flight to San Jose, and look into car rentals to drive further South. I've never been to that part of California, and I'm filled with excitement for the unknown, for the possible. I love having a new place written on a future calendar date. It gives me a different kind of purpose. It also follows a different kind of rhythm: longing. nervousness. wonderment. presence. gratitude.

4. While they run to the book store and cafe (and while she sleeps), I cut hydrangeas in the light rain.

5. I go for a short walk, umbrella in hand and ready. I pass the new house. It waits for us patiently.  

6. Our last summer meal is spent with them before their first day of school starts tomorrow. Burgers, wine, beer, ice cream. She's happy at Princeton, we know, but we miss her nonetheless.

7. We watch her turn from 19 months into an independent teen before our eyes. She doesn't want ANY help with her dessert (or anything else, for that matter). She steadily tips the bowl to gain better access to her melted ice cream. 

8. Record: I'm in the kitchen and I bark out their three names for three different frustrations while they're in three different rooms in less than 30 seconds. This is why parenting blogs exists.

9. She fitfully falls asleep. I already feel anxious that she'll wake again at 4:30.

10. He calls out from his bed because he's scared of his new book. We take a moment to look up the author's biography. "He lives in Brooklyn!... He's married to a woman named Melissa!... He's written comedy!...Omigod, he's written an episode of Thundercats!" I share these bullet points along with commentary that underlines that this author is imaginative and creative enough to build a believable fictional world, and we should respect and be entertained by his work. We nod to each other and share our amazement before he finally drifts off to sleep.