I Knew This Day Would Come

It's finally happened.  Craig and I realized it today when we overheard the girls talking to each other.  I'm not sure when it began, but Jaden's been calling her sister "Caitlyn."  A lot.  I also realized that, more often than not,  Catie calls herself "Cait-yin."  

Really, if you know me at all you won't be surprised to read that this makes me sad.  It kind of breaks my heart.  Jaden, and then the rest of us, have been calling her Honey for so long.  Ever since she was a baby she's been our Honey.

I didn't realize until now how much this has really stuck with me...how much it's been a part of my interactions with my kids.  And I didn't realize how it would feel to let that go.  It's so hard to let go of all those little things that keep them babies, even when you know you must.

In one of their favorite books, Bear Snores On, the animal friends talk about making "honey-cakes" and "honey-nuts" for their little woodsy picnics.  Caitlyn still  eagerly anticipates these parts of the story, interjecting an incredulous "ME??" each time there is ever mention of "honey" anything.

She still listens to the Mama Mia soundtrack over and over just to sing along to her song "Honey, Honey," although that's also being phased out by her new favorite Disney princess songs.

And just last night I accidentally said, "Jaden, honey, what's wrong?" You should have seen Catie glare at me as Jaden exclaimed, "I'm NOT Honey, I'm Jaden." 

So I don't think that Caitlyn has completely given up her baby nickname yet.   But it's closer than I realized.  Soon this era will end.  Soon I'll have to let this go.

Still... even if I don't ever say it out loud, I'll be thinking it.  She will always be my Honey.

A Roomful of Parents

It's that time again.  Parent-teacher conferences. 

Here they come walking through my doorway, a couple dozen moms and dads...nervous about this new type of conference in which we all meet together as a team.   Such hopeful expressions, such vulnerability.    It's time to face the teacher, and I can tell that although they don't quite know what to expect,  they want so much to do the right thing for their kids.  It's hard to be a parent during conference week.

I put them at ease.  I tell them how wonderful their children are, and how lucky I feel to have them this year.  I smile a lot, and my smiles are genuine.

I love talking to families about their kids, especially when we come together during conferences.   Because at this moment, in this place, every child  I teach is the most important person to their parents.  The most special...loved beyond reason or explanation.  No matter what non-sugar coated information I might need to relate about these kids, I never ever forget that each one of them is some mother's little Catie.

As I walk around and talk, I  feel the weight of my responsibility to these families.  They look to me for answers.  They trust me.  They are putting an entire year of their child's education in my hands and whenever I really stop to think about that...well, it's huge and sometimes it leaves me breathless.

But I wouldn't have it any other way.   I have the best job in the world. 

where have all the endmarks gone

sometimes i wonder if there will come a day when we just dont use punctuation or capitalization anymore kind of a fallout from this new generation of texters they dont even seem to know how to use it and you wonder if they use that as a cover up because they dont know where a sentence ends i think maybe its just laziness regardless i think a well placed comma can make or break a piece of writing to say nothing of a few periods but maybe thats just me

Puzzled

My girls take after their father :)  Caitlyn can put together a puzzle really quickly.  She is being unusually patient here, waiting for Jaden to finish so she can have her turn with this one.

More Than Cookies

Recently I was in my kitchen making a batch of homemade peanut butter cookies.  Dipping my fork into the sugar to make those little criss-cross impressions, I smiled to remember doing this often with my mother when I was a young girl.

I really miss my mother.  I don't see her much anymore, for a lot of reasons.  But I wish I did, I wish that we could get past some of those roadblocks.  I think she could really use having me back in her life too.

Those memories of when I was a little girl baking in the kitchen with my mother are some of the nicest I have of my childhood.  I guess I treasure them because really they are about something so much more than cookies.  Something I wish I could still have.