{P,H,F,R}: no hot chocolate edition

I haven’t taken any pictures this week. And I haven’t tweeted at all (what a failure I am!). I’m pretty sure it’s because every day another child seems to fall to this horrible cold including an exhausting cough and a lot of complaining. Furthermore, after spending a week and a half getting caught on the laundry, I let it fall to the ground yesterday. It’s been that sort of week. A week of no pictures. But, as I happened to say to Matt the other day, waving my arms and becoming historical, what I really love is words. I take pictures only as a matter of duty. This is bad for me, with the Internet being what it is. I don’t really love looking at pictures or taking them. No, for me, and I am the center of my own internet universe am I not, for me, it’s words. That is just a long convoluted justification to post on a picture themed link up with no pictures.

Pretty

Since I don’t have to go out in it, the ice delicately lacing all the branches of the trees going up the hill, and the tendril of smoke wafting up towards the heavens as the pale dying sun fights to break through the grey is sort of pretty. The landscape is baptized in purity and beauty, for a few hours. One ray of sunlight has truly won out to illuminate the top of a cloud. If this were somewhere cooler, it would look like a snow topped mountain.

Happy

Discovered, this week, that the children seem to like me as their mother. Always figured they would be happy to have someone else in that capacity, without too much grief, should something terrible happen to me. But I happend to be really happy about something this week, and trying to tell Matt about it, and they shoved themselves in and asked a lot of questions and were interested and curious. Children are so selfish, for the most part. I mean, they do have moments of generosity and love, but, let us not kid ourselves. Part of growing older is learning to hide your deep self love just a little bit so that you can have relationships with other human beings. This comes both by genuinely learning to like other people besides yourself and not getting everything you want the exact instant you start screaming for it. Most of the time when the children come to talk to me about their friends, it’s a conversation about how that friend made them feel or what that friend did to them. It was strange, as I was busy talking about something that concerned me but not them, that they were interested because it concerned me. Honestly, I’m pretty sure that has never happened before.

Funny

Elspeth is a little kidder. I finally pulled 100 Easy Lessons out and dusted it off to do with her and Marigold. They both cuddle up and practice M and S, running their finger across the line. It’s So Exciting. Marigold is totally getting it and I’m so relieved. Elspeth is getting it too, but every third letter she gets a wicked gleam in her eye, looks up slyly, grins, and says the wrong sound. At first I thought she was just getting the letters wrong. But then I really watched her and discoverd that she’s joking. The true sign being her laughing uproariously to herself. Funny, and deeply annoying little game.

Real

We’re out of Hot Chocolate. I don’t know how anyone is going to cope. It’s back to tea and coffee for all the little spoilt wretches. I can hear the crying and the despair. Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t have time to get out to the store this week. Matt will get some tomorrow. They will be able to live, I swear, with a simple cup of tea with their breakfast. For the love of all that is good and holy, just calm down. Calm Yourself Down.

And go read Like Mother Like Daughter!