Dear Gwen,
Today you are ninety-six months old.
Also known as “eight years old”.
The last month, as always, has been full of adventures. It
started off with our trip to Powell River, where you’d been staying with
Grannie and Grandpa and your cousins for the past several nights over Spring
Break. We were SO proud of you for being apart from us for so many nights
without any homesickness! It seems that our strategies of not talking to you on
phone or Skype, and having Grannie and Grandpa make no mention of our existence
at all, really worked out. Of course, WE missed YOU like crazy because it was
so weird to go so long without talking to you!
You had a wonderful time in Powell River and we were so
grateful that you were able to have so much time with Grannie and Grandpa. They
enjoyed their time with you too, though I’m sure they were also grateful when
their houseful of grandkids went home and it was suddenly quiet and peaceful!
Your Auntie Sara and Uncle Dave arrived shortly after we did, so the whole family
was there to celebrate Easter together. Our first afternoon there, we went for
a nature walk in the woods, which was really fun. Of course, “really fun” means
something different for adults and children. While adults enjoy walking the
trail, admiring the views, and enjoying conversation, kids view the trail as
more of a guideline, and would rather race up and down tree trunks, climb on
stumps, balance on cliff-edges, and basically find infinite new ways to terrify
their parents and grandparents. Whee!
The next day, we had vague plans to take all you kids to the
swimming pool, but the universe had other plans – creepy-crawly little vermin
plans, to be specific. We discovered that you and at least one of your cousins
had head lice. UGH! All our plans for the day were scrapped as we shifted into
detect-and-destroy mode. You three kids were lined up in the living room,
watching a movie while the adults painstakingly combed through your hair to
find every last bug and nit. I gathered up every piece of laundry and linen I
could find in the house and hightailed it to the laundromat, hoping to get it
all washed faster than I could by doing twenty loads in Grannie’s teensy
washer. (It still took a long time, and a LOT of quarters!) Grannie was
especially annoyed, as she’d managed to get through the entire parenting
process without her daughters ever having lice – and now, her grandkids had
brought the plague to her. It wasn’t exactly what anyone had planned for our
Easter weekend together, but we all did what we had to do to deal with the
situation. The hardest part of this for you, in addition to all that sitting
still, was sleeping without your beloved stuffed Sheep that night – Sheep had
to spend the night in the freezer to make sure she was louse-free. Had we been
at home, we could just pick out another stuffy for you, but Sheep was the only
one (the chosen one!) that you’d brought on your trip, and now you had to sleep
without her. It was not an easy sleep for you – and I would know, as I shared
the bed! (Not a restful sleep for me either!)
On Sunday morning, you kids woke up to discover that the
Easter Bunny had visited! Instead of just leaving piles of chocolate on every
available surface, as he did last year, this year that crafty bunny made a
treasure hunt for the three of you to follow. Even cooler, the clues were all
things specific to each of you: one of them about your piano lessons, one of
them about Scott’s passion for all things Harry Potter, one of them about
Andrew’s woodworking, etc. What an awesome guy that Easter Bunny is! Auntie
Sara had been reminiscing the day before about when we were kids, and how I
used to make treasure hunts for her, and how they were the most fun thing ever.
I have fond memories of that, too. Pretty neat that the Easter Bunny came
through this year and created a treasure hunt just for you! It was sure fun for
Auntie Sara and I to watch you kids follow the clues together!
That afternoon, after saying goodbye to your grandparents,
cousins, and aunt and uncle, you were not in such a happy mood. I can
understand that – goodbyes are hard, and going back to reality after such a
super fun vacation is an extra challenge. On top of that, you were overtired,
oversugared, and just plain wound up. I kept trying to reassure you about how
nice it would be to sleep in your very own bed that night, AND you would have
your beloved Sheep to snuggle with. As we began our packing, though, we made a
sad discovery – Auntie Sara, meaning to grab Scott’s stuffed bear, had
accidentally taken Sheep instead! Sheep was well on her way to the Sunshine
Coast by the time we discovered this, and there was nothing to be done. You
were DEVASTATED. “You PROMISED I could sleep with Sheep tonight!” you wailed at
me. “You broke your promise! You’re a bad mom and I can’t believe your
promises!” I was so sad for you, and there was nothing I could do to resolve
it.
Things got worse after we landed in Comox. We have made it
our tradition to stop at the McDonald’s in Courtenay, which has an enormous
playplace, for dinner and some run-around time before the drive down to
Nanaimo. So imagine our dismay when we pulled up to the restaurant and found it
was closed for renovations! The management must have decided that Easter Sunday
was a good time to close, as everyone would be having their family dinners and
no one needed a Big Mac. You lost your mind all over again – Mom and Dad had
broken ANOTHER promise!! You were inconsolable. What a frustrating day. All I
could promise now was that tomorrow (after a good night’s sleep) would be
better! We finally got home, got you into bed, and breathed a sigh of relief
that this day was over.
The following week had some exciting things to look forward
to: first, you got the cool new haircut you’d been looking forward to for
weeks. You’d first spotted this style on your LumberJanes book series, and
decided you’d like to try it for yourself. It took me a while to get used to
the idea. I took you to Serenity Hair Salon, and after a brief consultation,
you were ready! The stylist wrapped the hair she was about to cut in two long
ponytails, so your hair could be donated to make wigs. Snip, snip, snip – then
buzz, buzz, buzz, and the hair was gone! You are enthralled with this new
style, and I agree it looks terrific.
The next exciting thing is that our new after-school
caregiver started working with us! You now get to walk home every day after
school and spend two hours with this fun and energetic teenager. You are really
enjoying your time with her, and I am so happy that you’re happy. (I’m also
damn near ecstatic that she empties the dishwasher before I get home!) The fact
that you are already settled, calm, and fully transitioned into “home/family”
activities before Dad and I get home really sets us all up for a good evening
together. On days that you have piano lessons or gymnastics, you are already
dressed, snacked, and ready to go when we get home. How awesome is that!?
Dad has set up your trampoline, and you have been out on it
pretty much every day. I also encourage you to get out on your bike whenever
possible. We’re starting to see more sunny and warm weather, which is wonderful
– summer is coming! We didn’t have much of a chance to enjoy our new home and
explore the neighbourhood last summer, as we moved at the end of July and spent
all of August unpacking, so it feels like we get to experience our home anew in
the Spring and Summer seasons.
This past weekend, naturally, has been full of birthday
shenanigans. On Friday night, we had your Gramma and Grandpa over for dinner –
you chose turkey tacos for your birthday meal – and enjoyed a fun visit with
them. Then last night, three of your friends came for the long-awaited
sleepover party. You kids ate pizza, decorated sleep masks with glitter glue,
watched (part of) a movie, played video games, jumped on the trampoline, and
made ice cream sundaes for dessert. And finally, at 11:30 … about two hours
after you’d all gone to bed, and about three seconds after I told you all to
shut up and go to sleep … you were all happily snoring. It seems the party got
a rave review from the kids, though I don’t think your dad and I will be in any
hurry to repeat the experience – we are all pretty tired today!
Gwen, you are a terrific kid and we’re so glad we get to be
your parents. Happy Birthday, my girl.
Love,
Mom
