Watching the world.

Sometimes I watch Adelaide watching the world and I wonder what it's like to see everything for the first time. I know everyone has this experience growing up, but somewhere along the way we forget to look with fresh eyes at the world around us. Things become so mundane and normal and we don't notice the small wonders among the hustle and bustle of daily life.



Until you have a kid. Then geese are so cool. These quacking floating things in the water. And then all of a sudden they open their wings and can you imagine the amazement Adelaide must feel when she's been studying these creatures and suddenly they're so different looking?



She watched them so intently. And I had to get down on her level to see with her eyes the world around her. The park was so full of people due to the wonderful 65-degree weather. Lots of people with their kids and babies and dogs. "Dah! Dah!" Lots of pointing and staring at the dogs. There was even a HUGE great dane that towered over her as he passed. Kids throwing crackers at the geese and she just stared at them snapping up the treats.



We ran into friends, Kevin drummed a little (a lot), she danced, and we played in the cool/warm weather. It was such an invigorating stretch of time. I was reluctant to go at first because this park is a good half-hour from home and it was nearing naptime. But Adelaide slept in the car the way there and then another half-hour while I caught up on some reading. So it ended up being a refreshing day out with my little family.

I should grab those opportunities when I can!

Park and Poptarts

Yesterday I had a really bad day. The night before I was feeling excited, for maybe the first time since starting back, to go to work. I had planned some really fun lessons that I was looking forward to starting with all my classes. It was nice! I had had a great day with Adelaide on my Monday off, and I was actually looking foward to work the next day.

But then work sucked. Nothing went just right. The lessons weren't as out-of-the-park as I thought they were. The kids were just... bratty, if I can say that. Then I started thinking about my little one, and by the time I got in my car to go pick her up I was crying. And had a pretty hard cry on the way to her daycare. I just worry that I'm going to regret everything and feel that I'm going to miss so much with Adelaide over these first few years as I work and she goes to her little school. I know she is having fun at daycare, but I'm not having as much fun at school as I think I should be. *sigh*

So, after picking her up, I decided that we were going to go to the park. I just wanted to do something. So I grabbed a poptart (organic toaster pastry, actually, we don't eat "poptarts"), my water, my camera, and we headed out. It's a 7-minute drive, and we spend almost half-an-hour eating our snack, watching the other kids play, and checking out the slides (which she loved). We would have stayed longer, but the wind kicked up and it got cold.

The rest of the night was tough, but Kevin took her outside and they collected "Feel Good" rocks in a bucket for me and we spent some fun time splashing in the tub. We started a new bedtime routine tonight that worked like a charm and I'm hoping will have her sleeping a little longer, at least initially. (I know that'd be a miracle. But I know that better sleep will probably help me feel better, too.)

Here's hoping your Tuesday was better than mine.