Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Today

Today was one of those days when I wanted my best foot forward.
Elsa had a vision teacher for the blind coming from Denver's Anchor Center,
 a preschool developed for the visually impaired.
I guess I am always a little nervous for these visits...
It may have started when I toured the facility
 and this same lady said there was a kid that attended and at the age of four
had no idea there were shelves in the refrigerator. 
That little note stuck with me and since then I have this fear
that I am gonna forget something really important with Elsa.

So anyways, I spent the day yesterday picking up stray socks and snotty abandoned Kleenexes.
And after hours of straightening and mopping and folding and washing...
our house was tip top.

Fast forward to this morning.
My day started off serving a new recipe I am calling cinnamon steaks.
You just pretend that you know how to make cinnamon rolls except you kill off all of the yeast by putting it in reeeeally hot milk. 
Then you let it sit around for hours and imagine that it might raise just a smidge. 
Next you smother it with butter and sugar and tons of cinnamon,
 just knowing that once you stick it in the hot oven,
it will awaken and rise into fluffy perfection. 
 After baking for 30 minutes you pull it out of the oven and gaze at a half-a-dozen flat gooey pastries. 
 Slop some icing over the top and there you have it. 
Cinnamon Steaks.

After Elsa was dressed by her adoring sister and doused spritzed with some perfume,
 she managed to venture into the laundry room and consume a bit of dryer lint.
  I'm not exactly sure how much,
 I just saw remnants stuck to her nose and some scattered across the floor.

After a  little rolling of the eyes, bawling over a missing hat, and an empty Folgers can when I usually stumble for that first pot of coffee...

let me repeat that

AN EMPTY FOLGERS CAN.....
the big kids were off to school
(yep Milo included!)
and I did a victory dance for conquering
the first few hours of the morning.

Then the teacher came,
and the entourage.
And Elsa was magnificent,
doing all her best tricks and charming the whole audience.

And I felt good about the visit.

Sometimes the "Services" can catch me in a vulnerable mood.
Sometimes I feel like my parenting is under scrutiny.
Usually it is just my pride
or maybe my insecurities
because I am really grateful for all of the insight the teachers provide.
But today was good.

Tomorrow's lesson: Fridge dynamics.

4 comments:

  1. I know. It does feel like your family and parenting skills are on display for critique. If they knew how hard we work for our kids!!! Glad it was a good visit.

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  2. You probably hear this a lot, but you absolutely AWE me with your joy, your peace, and your sense of humor! GOD BLESS YOU, cousin-in-law!

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  3. Haha cinnamon steaks... yep I've made those before but never knew what they were called! It's so sad that no matter how careful you are or how much you try, once you've offended the yeast it's over, it just won't help you out!

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