Reflections

Yesterday was the first day of school here in Elmore County. Sunday during the preacher's talk with the children he asked how they all felt about going back to school. An older boy said that he was nervous because this was the first year he had lockers and he would have to get to classes that were spread over the campus. I remember feeling those exact feelings when I entered the seventh grade. I was so nervous. I just could not figure out how it was going to be physically possible to get everything done without being late for my next class. Of course you find your grove and sometimes can even visit friends before the next class. That being said, you couldn't pay me to go back to high school.

Yesterday was my cousins' twins first day of kindergarten. I remmeber the day they were born. Joe's family and I were in Andalusia visiting Mr. Randy's aunt and uncle. I was hesitant about going that day because I just knew they were going to be born. Sure enough a couple hours into the visit I got the call that they had been born. We rode with Quint and Sheila and Quint and Sheila were nice enough to go ahead and leave so that I could go to the hospital. Andalusia is about a 2 hour drive from Montgomery. We rushed there and Quint and Sheila even stayed at the hospital with us while we visited. It is so hard to belive that was five and a half years ago. I remember that day clear as anything.

All day yesterday you could read people's updates on facebook, they were all waiting on their children to get home to talk about their first day, writing how they did or did not cry as they dropped their child off at kindergarten, or you saw pictures of children ready for school, backpack on their back, lunch bag in their hand. I know my time is coming soon. I know I will be one of those parents that writes how I balled as I dropped my child off. Josie will be four this January so I have 2 more years before she starts school, but at the same time I see little signs all the time that she is growing up and maturing.

Wednesday when I picked them up from school I told her that Ben and Tiffany's foster son would be staying with us. She asked where Uncle Ben and Aunt Tiffany were. I told her that they had gone to the hospital to have baby Tanner. She then asked me if Aunt Tiffany would be lying down. I told her yes. She is so observant and remembers everything. She knows that every time we visiited someone in the hospital there has been someone lying in a bed. The other day she begged me for a drink. She then said, "I'll drink it like a big girl, I won't spill it, I promise." I promise. Like she really knows what that means. The thing that absolutely touched happened yesterday. After I picked them up I took the girls to Dollar General to look for Josie a new lava lamp. When she sleeps she needs a light stronger than a night light and so we have been using an old lava lamp. Well the Dollar General didn't have lava lamps or even night lights for that matter, but they did have some cute shoes for a dollar. So I bought the girls a pair of shoes each. (They love shoes!)

Next door to the Dollar General is a flea market. So we went in there and looked to see if they had any lamps that would work. In seraching for a lamp Jolie found a lunch bag for $1.00 and Josie found a purse for $1.00. Well since they were both being so great in a flea market (they hardly touched anything) I told them we could get them. We eventually found a lamp that spins and has dolphins so it looks like an under water scene. So we get home, eat dinner, take baths, put on their pjs, brush their teeth, and told them to get their pillows and lovies. Well Josie walks about of our room pjs and new flip flops on (you can not call them shoes or she will correct you that they are flip flops) to get her pillow from the living room. Well she starts off down the hall and comes back, sticks her head in the door, and says thank you mom for my flip flops. It was so sweet. She knew that I had to pay my money to buy them for her and she appreciated it. It was the sweetest moment. I seriously almost cried. She is growing up. This morning she thanked me again and this time she thanked me for both the flip flops and the purse. Now both things combined cost me no more than $3.00, but to her they meant so much. And Lol, even though she does not have the words to express to me that she is grateful, shows it in her actions. She kept telling me to look at her shoes this morning. She was so proud of them. And the lunch bag that she uses as a purse, well she played with it the whole way home and the whole way to Erica's this morning.

I will be the first to admit that Joe and I are far from the perfect parents, but I feel that we must be doing something right that at the tender age of 3 and a half, my sweet girl knows that it is important to say thank you.