Week 21

It’s been five weeks since my mom’s terminal diagnosis. Four weeks since she got her three-month prognosis. She’s still chugging along.

We started a weekly family dinner tradition, which has been mostly nice. After the first week, when I told my dad we’d be over for dinner the following week, he said, “AGAIN?!?!” (As you can tell, he’s not really into family time.) Friday was our fourth week and after, when I told Mike I’d enjoyed it, he said he wished we’d started earlier. I reminded him about my dad’s comment, and we laughed. Just goes to show how set in our ways we are, until something happens that forces us to change.

I have been spending lots of time at my parent’s house. This week, I was over on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and today. I’m thankful they are only seven miles away, but it adds up.

Michaela did a half-day jump rope camp this week. She’s not super sporty, but she enjoys jump roping and has learned all sorts of different tricks. It’s nice for her to be out of the house and doing something with other kids. Friday, my dad picked her up (both Mike and I were working and couldn’t) which was a really nice thing for him to do. In these times of COVID, you can’t just get a friend to do it!

Next week, Michaela’s doing a full-day camp through the YMCA. I haven’t pointed it out yet, but that’s her last full week of summer. Her new school starts Aug. 20. I’m really looking forward to seeing how homeschooling goes. I have high hopes that she will learn a lot, but also create some great memories with her dad as her teacher.

Sparkles and Nibbles, our new guinea pigs, are adorable and sweet. I bought them so Michaela would have something to love while processing her feelings about my mom, but as it turns out, I really needed them, too. I get a ridiculous amount of joy walking into Michaela’s room (where their cage is) and talking to them and feeding them lettuce and filling up their hay or their water bottle.

Another thing that’s bringing me joy lately is reading. I devoured “The Song of Achilles” and limped through “The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna.” I am a compulsive adder of books to my Amazon to-read list, and I have a goal of getting my library subscription set up again so I can do ebooks from the library…. once I finished reading the other books I have downloaded on my Kindle. A year or so ago, Amazon was doing a special on books about women from all over the world. The books were free, they were all in translation, and I downloaded maybe a dozen. So I’ve been working my way through those, reading tales from across the globe. I have a few more as well as Michelle Obama’s “Becoming,” which I have been putting off reading for reasons I can’t articulate.

The other book that’s been on my side table lately is “Bridge to Terabithia.” I’m reading it aloud to Michaela. We are approaching the sad part and soon enough I’ll be trying to stifle my tears as I read. Just like Mike did when he read her “Where the Red Fern Grows.”

What classic books do you enjoy reading aloud to your kiddos? I’m always looking for recommendations!