A Day With Clare

Shawn took Jamie and Simon to his mom's house for the day. Since Clare had school, she stayed home with Violet and I. Having four children, I understandably have to divide my time and attention between them. There is always compromise on what we do during the day, depending on everyone's desires. Other than sleeping and eating when she wants to, Violet is fairly easy-going right now, so I thought it would be a rare day to let Clare do what she wanted all day when she wanted to (within reason!). It was a fun day and a great opportunity to see what Clare enjoyed doing.

Before school, we ate toaster strudels together for breakfast, then blew bubbles. After soaking the living room carpet with bubbles, we watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (and I took a quick shower during the second half), got dressed, and did our hair. Clare played with her bucket of ribbons and barrettes for about 15 minutes. This is something she asks to do almost every morning, but I usually say no because it means there are about a hundred tiny items everywhere that I have to pick up after. But today was a day for saying yes. Then it was off to school. While Clare was at school, I did my housekeeping chores, so I wouldn't have to do it after I picked Clare up.

After school, Clare wanted to go to the grocery store to get a cookie and a piece of cheese (two free things they offer at our grocery store), which worked perfectly in my plans since I needed to go anyway. When we came home, Clare wanted to play outside. She moved firewood from the side of the shed to the side of the porch. In doing this, she discovered one log full of slugs. Not my choice of a girls' day activity, but Clare wanted to play with her new friends. (I just watched - there is a limit to how much sliminess I can touch!) By the time she was done, I am not sure if her friends survived the playdate - it was hard to tell what was dirt and what was slug slime (or body parts?) on her hands.

Time for hand-washing, which Clare stretched into a 20-minute activity. (Again something I rarely allow her to do - play in the bathroom sink to her heart's content with the water, soap, and lotion.) Then a late lunch of ham and cheese and bananas. (Since someone was full earlier from the free stuff she ate at the grocery store - cookie, cheese slice, small cup of Whoppers, and two Hershey Kisses. I did put my foot down on the Ben & Jerry's ice cream - enough sweets! Apparently Friday at noon is THE time for free samples.) During lunch, I received my Tastefully Simple order (and felt good for helping support Williams syndrome by ordering too much yummy food!), so Clare and I delved into the box after lunch and examined each item in detail and made towers out of the boxes and bottles. She loves to open packages, but the majority of our UPS drop-offs are defibrillators for Shawn, so she is not allowed in on that fun.

And now we're off to meet Shawn and the boys at the beach for the rest of the afternoon and evening. The rain looks like it may hold off for a little while and the sun has popped out. You may be bored by our run-down of the day, but I loved every minute of it. It was one of those perfect days. I don't regret having four children in the least and the demands on my time and attention, but it was amazing how much I learned about one child when I spend hours with just them (okay, and the baby, but she was a very cooperative third wheel!).