Kate's been begging me to help her start a book club. Yep you heard me. This is a 9-year-old girl's idea of a good time! So she picked a book and a short list of friends, and we started a book club! I wasn't sure how this would go, but here I found myself on a Saturday afternoon, with a quiet little circle of ten or so little girls (and Troy) sitting in my living room with plates of snacks and discussing books! It was the cutest thing ever.
Here's the thing. When my girls were little and I was running around with my arms full of wild little toddlers like a chicken with its head cut off (ME, not the toddlers), random people used to feel it was their divine calling to stop me and tell me how amazing this time of life is and how I should enjoy every second and how much I'll miss it later. You know those folks - we've all been there. I'd smile obligingly and manage a frazzled nod and an "I'm sure you're right," but in my head I was thinking, "Clearly the universe has arranged a selective memory for you so as to spare you a lifetime of post-traumatic stress. And also, 'miss'??? I do not think that was the word you were searching for." "Remember fondly"? "Look back on with nostalgia"? "Patronizingly chuckle at my innocence and naivete"? Yes, all of those! But "MISS" is a strong word. I'm not gonna lie - I do not know if I can honestly say I "MISS" those days when my kids were very very young. I miss certain things, like that new baby smell, or snuggling up with a warm-loaf-of-bread-like infant, or how cute Brooklyn looked in piggy-tails, or the cute silly things my toddlers said. But those were hard years, man, and I don't know if I'd trade places with my old self and go back there now. Mainly because NOW is so good too! I love having kids that are old enough to DO STUFF, and function more independently, and say things that are funny and clever because they are funny and clever, not because they are childish and silly. Case in point: Kate's book club. It was so thrilling and rewarding for me to watch these beautiful young ladies sit around and chat like, well, mini-versions of me and their mothers, when we sit around my living room for our own book club! They discussed what they liked and disliked about the book they read (Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, for the record) and talked about their favorite books. Definitely a different scene than if I'd invited that many of Kate's friends over five years ago, where they would be fighting over toys and seeing who could color on the most walls the fastest.
{Kate and her friend prepared the very artistically arranged platters of food. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of their elaborate work!}
After our book discussion I had planned an activity related to the book (okay, it was related to the first chapter of the book, which was one of the two I actually read!), which was a scavenger hunt! They loved this. I thought it was hilarious listening to them try to gather all the clues. I think they were confused about the difference between a "treasure" hunt and a "scavenger" hunt, because, for example, they looked everywhere for a "heart-shaped piece of toilet paper." It took a while before one of them suggested they just take a piece of toilet paper and cut it into the shape of a heart! By the time I had corrected both teams' lists, we found ourselves with more or less of a draw, broken by the tie-breaker of the rusty nail. One team had a rusty screw, and the other had a nail that was not rusty. So I sent them both to find a real rusty nail! Then both teams had to race to return all of the opposite team's items. They had a blast and I'm sure the neighbors thought we were crazy!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Travis had decided to clear out some of the brush and runaway recycling from our backyard, so he decided to have a bonfire, which of course necessitated hot dogs and s'mores. It's early in the year for that, but it's been really warm these past few days. It was fun to sit outside at night and pretend it's almost summer! Plus everyone knows the way to my heart is through a s'more.
And that was my idea of a perfect "normal" Saturday!
1 sweet nothings:
I love this so much!!! What a great, great Saturday. I me some "normal" Saturdays too! :)
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