My Beauty

Official kindergarten school photo.

Giftwrap Giftnap

Yesterday Lisa sent Stella to school with three envelopes in her backpack containing gift cards to Dunkin Donuts. The idea was for Stella (or Lisa) to hand them out to Stella's three main teachers at her after-school place, Beansprouts.

When Lisa got to Beansprouts to pick Stella up, the cards were gone and no one, not even Stella, knew what happened to them. Understandably, Lisa was very upset and no one at Beansprouts got a holiday gift. I suggested sending Stella's kindergarten teacher an email asking if perhaps she had seen the cards anywhere. So that was the plan.

Later that night, after the kids had gone to sleep, the telephone rang. An unknown number. Lisa answered, and it was Jennifer, the mom of one of Stella's classmates in kindergarten. I listened to one side of the conversation and then Lisa burst out laughing when the mom asked if Stella really meant to give Lucy two Dunkin Donuts gift cards.

Mystery solved. Almost. What about the third card?

Lucy happened to be standing next to Jennifer during the phone call, so she asked Lucy if she knew anything about a third card. Lucy said she saw Stella give a card to a boy in the class, Alexander (the card was addressed to Stella's Beansprouts teacher, Alex).

So at least we know Stella has begun to read.

All turned out well though. The call from Jennifer resulted in a playdate being set up with Lucy for New Years weekend (to return the cards and have some fun).

And now, I have an awkward email to write to Alexander's parents.

Overheard #27

Marni to Lisa while in the rocking chair at bed time...
"Mommy, I don't like curly hair. I want straight hair like Stella and daddy. Stella's hair and daddy's hair are perfect. My hair and your hair are not perfect. I want straight hair, and then I can marry Cassius." (Cassius is a boy at Raindrops)

Marni to daddy while holding up a note she had just scribbled on...
"Daddy, I want to give this note to the boy at Raindrops with the hat. He sits next to me at circle time. I don't know his name, but I love him. I want to marry him, but I don't know his name."

Celebrate Me Home

The other night I was lying on the floor in my girls' darkened bedroom. They were both drifting off to sleep, snug and cozy in their beds as the frigid winter winds whipped by outside the window.

Their breathing was getting deeper and slower as they slipped away into dreamland.

Playing quietly in the dark was Christmas music from the radio. A song came on that I had never heard before. It was released by Kenny Loggins in 1976 and has become famous in its own right. But I had never heard "Celebrate Me Home" before. I'm no fan of mellow Kenny (with the exception of maybe "Danger Zone"), but this song was really nice.

I listened to it as my two precious girls slept on either side of me. And then, without fanfare or ceremony, it became one of those songs that you associate forever with a special time and place.

So now "Celebrate Me Home" is my magical Christmas lullaby song. And every time I hear it, it will remind me of my two most wonderful gifts... Stella and Marni, as they slumber peacefully on a cold winter's night.

Click here to hear for yourself.

Overheard #26

This morning Marni called me "despicable".

Yes, she watches a lot of Bugs and Daffy cartoons.