"There's no need to fear the wind if your haystacks are tied down."
- Irish proverb
Katie and I dressed in our green today and headed to gymnastics class first thing this morning. She has such a good time in that class, and she loved the bar flips, in particular, today. At one point she gave Miss Nikki a hug and said, "Happy St. Patrick's Day!" I just love how affectionate Katie is with people, especially her teachers, and how she wants to give happiness to others. She is such a sweetheart, really. I am a very lucky mommy.
I also love her approach to her classes. She is so attentive, wants to try everything, has an eager and willing mind. And when she accomplishes something, like doing a forward tumble all on her own today, she makes these pure sounds and laughs of delight and happiness with herself. I hope she never, ever loses that. I love that she is proud of what she does well. I love coaching her and being her teacher when we do one-on-one activities in her classes. She has such unbounded enthusiasm... Bill and I take very seriously our responsibility to cultivate that in her and to help her keep it for life. Passion for a wide variety of disciplines and hobbies sustains the heart and mind through all phases of life.
Not to be a downer, but there have been a few times in my life in which my love for learning and questing for knowledge has been the source of my strength to put my chin up and get through. The library was my haven after my miscarriage, along with hours and hours spent on one of my favorite hobbies---music history. We have to look at the bigger picture than our immediate selves and lives: having passions in life helps us to do that when we need it the most, and sometimes just for fun.
So, I want Katie to have within her the sense of curiosity and love for developing her heart and mind, no matter what life brings her.
After gymnastics, we had a late breakfast at Starbucks. We haven't been in awhile, and Katie wanted to eat by the fountain. Excuse me: not "by the fountain." I used that preposition today in our conversation, and she corrected me, "On the fountain, Mommy." She is technically correct: we do definitely eat on the ledge of the fountain. I often think I am a stickler for precise diction, but she may have me beaten. :-)
Anyway, she was eager to eat outside; as she put it, "It is the perfect day for eating on the fountain." So we watched the water burble and shared a sandwich and a fruit and granola yogurt parfait. She noticed all the pennies in the fountain, and she asked why they were there. The Bill McGaugh family is not the gambling sort and nor are we prone to superstitions, and I did consider this---but it is St. Patrick's Day after all, and the copper pennies are hardly worth themselves at all anymore, and I have good memories of throwing pennies to make wishes, and wishing never hurt a child or anyone. So I gave her some pennies, and I told her that legend has it that throwing a penny in a fountain can help a wish to come true. So we threw in five pennies: one for Mommy and Katie together, and then one each for Mommy, Katie, Daddy, and Little Sib. She loved it, and magic is important to the imagination, so I am glad.
But first Santa and now this. Oh, and the Easter Bunny. I just hope she forgives me when she figures it all out... I swore I would never, ever lead my children into false ideas about the world, but when I see her little two-year-old eyes light up, I can't help myself. One would think Bill would have had stronger ideas about this than I did, but actually he has been fine with the idea of doing Santa for quite some time. I also mentioned four-leaf clovers today, as well... Sigh.
When we finished at the fountain, we went to the park and blew bubbles and played around for awhile. The weather was pretty summery today, though, so we drank water and took time in the shade. We left a bit sooner than I would have wanted to, but we have cooler areas outside at our home, and I thought we should play here instead.
Home again, we made a finger painting for Daddy and left it on his desk as a surprise for when he came home. We also watered our flowers, made new hummingbird food, and filled up our finch feeder with nyjer seed. It is time to welcome spring.
Then we did some chores, made lime jello (I need to wrap up this entry to start the broccoli soup---green foods!), and I studied real estate a bit, and Katie fell asleep into a fairly late nap. Oh, and before that, when Bill got home, Katie assessed him for green on his clothes, and finding he had none...she gave him a pinch! She is so funny!
It has been a beautiful day, full of nature and greenery---my favorite way to celebrate the Celts!
