Small Success Thursday

This week of little victories included:

1) massive cleaning effort of the upstairs.  Three rooms down! 
2) the beginning of driving lessons and swimming lessons and karate.  All kids have something to do and man am I glad.
3) worked on Helen for 6 days straight.  Missed yesterday.
4) worked out four days straight. Hope to make it five today.

5) The week had been full of strife and struggle, with the weariness of not having a routine taking it's natural toll on the kids adjusting to life full time at home.  (They're a bit quarrelsome). As a result, the older kids had monopolized Mom time until yesterday when I took Regina to the doctors to treat her skin rash that had begun to get out of control.  Going to the pediatrician's with just one was a quiet experience.  Regina chatted happily at me about the birds in the sky and asked me if any of them were hawks.  She pushed every button to get to the elevator.  It made her giggle.  Inside the office, she grabbed a book and climbed into a chair and began to read to herself aloud.  It wasn't actually the story but she followed with her finger and was quite happy.  It is a rare thing for me to just see her.  It was like I was seeing a whole part of her that gets covered and coated by everyone else.

When we were moved to our room, she pointed at every animal at the wallpaper and we named them all at least twice.  By this point, she had come to understand, it was only me and her.  "Mom, I need a tissue.  Get me a tissue Mom."  I went to the table and brought back a Kleenex.  She put it to her nose for a second.  "I wiped my nose Mom.  Now, throw it away. It's trash."  I obeyed.   She made us go through this twice before I said, "You're just bossing me around."  She gave me a toothy smile.  Then she asked for a pencil and we drew on the doctor's protective paper and made all sorts of animals and flowers and designs.  In mid coloring, she said without looking up from her drawing, "You're the best Mom."  and I know, if everyone else had been there, those words might not have been said, or might have been missed.  She needed medicine and a special cream but otherwise, everything was fine.  I wish she didn't have this rash as it looks painful, but because of the break in the action, I got to watch this little one unfold like a rare orchid. And that little moment, was just what the doctor ordered.