1 Mother 2 Another

Maddie stayed home yesterday with an
unexpected case of pinkeye (No one ever expects pinkeye! I say in
my best Monty Python voice -) and we had one of those nonexistent
days when everyone’s gone but me and Maddie. Now usually,
I’d try to make the day boring and blah so she wouldn’t
be mad that she’s usually in school when all this fun is
going on, but she was home through no fault of her own while not
really sick – as in, she felt fine – so I figured,
let’s have a bit of fun.

The day felt like a holiday right away
simply because we got to sleep in an extra hour later than usual,
since Cora’s school doesn’t start until 9. I made a big
batch of pancakes and Maddie and Cora played for quite a while as
we leisurely got ready for the day.

I warned Maddie that we’d have a few
errands to run after we dropped Cora off, which she was quite
agreeable to. Maddie good-naturedly followed me through office
stores and quick grocery stops, content to simply hang out for a
bit before getting down to some fun stuff.


Then errands were done and we headed home for Maddie’s
morning of crafting. Cora’s asked for a treasure chest filled
with jewels for Christmas (don’t ask), so Maddie and I hit
the craft store and bought a wooden box. Maddie grandly painted it
gold – two coats! – adding a few details and writing
Cora’s name on the top with a flourish. Then Maddie wanted to
make some pinecone birdfeeders of her own – we’re going
to have the best-fed birds in the south – and spent some time
on that. Finally, Maddie put together a fall art project
she’s been working on for school: she took pictures of
different aspects of nature in the fall – turning leaves,
holly berries, bare twigs, and so forth – printed them off,
and made a collage out of them on posterboard, adding dried leaves
around it for decoration. It is, of course, a masterpiece.


Maddie’s flurry of creativity lasted the whole morning, and
she was reveling in it. By the afternoon, you could practically see
the wheels turning – “Tell me again why we need this
whole ‘school’ thing, Mommy!’” and I may
have dug myself a whole here.


Still up in the air about school today: her eye’s practically
nonexistent by now, but she said last night that her other eye was
starting to hurt. I put drops in it, but if she wakes up with the
second eye worse we’ll be staying home again.


Not that she’ll be complaining.