39/52

"A portrait of my younger child, once a week, every week, in 2016."

Roan:  he is grabbing for the cell phone, holding it to his ear, conversing in unrecognizable syllables to important imaginary ambassadors.  So we called his Auntie RoRo, and he uttered some loose sounds that might have been "I love you."  <3

Perfect Day

My perfect day would start out at a reasonable hour--not too early, not too late.  I'm not rushed to get anywhere.  I feel a steady, happy pressure to get started on the day, but not stress.  I have to take my medication 30 minutes before I eat, so I get Afon and myself ready and dressed  before we eat a light breakfast together.  Maybe John and Roan join us.

After walking Afon to school, I join John and the baby back home.  Morning is for work.  Whether the work is cleaning, gardening, writing, studying, chores.  I have the most energy and am most positive about doing the hard things in the first half of the day, because I know I have the leisurely and lovely things to look forward to still.  Whatever I do, I prefer to do it to music.  Spontaneous dance parties with Roan may erupt.

Late in the morning, I start to prepare lunch.  The midday meal would be the largest meal.  It would be substantial and sustaining.  We have this ceremonial sit-down meal during the day while Afon is not at home so we don't have to rush or worry about breakables or food on the walls.  I'd like a beautify presentation, and then the washing up, and of course the napping.

After nap, we go to collect Afon from school.  He's had a good day without biting.  But we don't go straight home.  Since we're all out anyway, we take our constitutional as a family: we go to the shore, or the playground, or hop the bus for an impromptu trip to Llandudno.  Maybe we do a bit of unnecessary shopping (the best kind), and then we eat ice cream on the pier or sip coffee at a Costa.

We take our meal fast and to go.  The witching hour is my weakness: around 5 o'clock I start to feel sad and unmotivated.  To go home to prepare a meal with a tired and wild Afon and the day nearly spent, I'd sink with the sun.  Perhaps we eat perviously prepared sandwiches.  Or stop for soup in a fish and chip shop.  Whatever the choice, there is little clean up and no kitchen time.

We head home in the evening in time for the pleasant bedtime business: baths, teeth brushing, pajamas, and book reading.  In this scenario, Afon enjoys being read to again, and Roan is just cutting his teeth on some old favorites.  Afon falls asleep first because he's been up the longest.  Then John, Roan, and I watch some television quietly, or read our big books, or I comb through my pictures from the day.  John makes us coffee or tea, in the way only he can make it: with lots of care and some secret ingredients.

At bedtime, we sneak under the comforter, scooting close to the heater, and say our prayers.

To be feminine

"To be feminine is not to be weak, but to be filled with a power greater than one's own.  It is the state of every human soul before God, but woman is privileged to bear especially within her body the imprint of this relationship.  It is through her that man learns and receives his humanity, in the revelation of Eve that Adam becomes himself.  She is Wisdom.  Her body is the tabernacle in which the precious blood and body of each new human being is formed.  Her mind integrates the world of the body with the world of the spirit.  She is a reconciler, an intercessor, a mystery, and a paradox."

-- Melinda Selmys, Sexual Authenticity

38/52

"A portrait of my younger child, once a week, every week, in 2016."

Roan:  stretching his boundaries, seeing how far he can go before I call him back, he waits for my reassuring voice, like a tether, his security.  He can go out safely into his little world if he knows my watchful eye hovers over him like the ever-present sky.

Feeling Fallish

My English sister-in-law posted this Facebook meme poking fun at and comparing how Americans and Brits name the season between summer and winter.  "We say fall.  Because leaves fall down."  Welllll, that's not even true per se in Florida.  But we can pretend, can't we?

I'm excited to take this little squirt trick-or-treating when the time comes.

Goodbye August

And good riddance!  Now for my favorite time of year, September through November.  I hope by the end of it we will be on the Conwy coast again with Afon and Daddy.  Lord willing!

37/52

"A portrait of my younger child, once a week, every week, in 2016."

Roan: the crescent moon rises over the fields at dusk during our walk, and Roan points and says something that sounds like "moon!"

36/52

"A portrait of my younger child, once a week, every week, in 2016."

Roan:  expressive and mischievous, but mindful.  He stays near me when I call, and I can trust him to toddle behind me when we go out of doors.

Aquarium

Last week's trip to the aquarium.  He was more interested in the other children than the fish.  He'll follow a crowd of kids like a little sheep in a pasture!  And then he wasn't happy when I made him stand up on the ledge in front of the big tank to take a picture.