Yesterday was the grand kickoff. Why not jump in on a Wednesday? TV and computer went off a little after 9:00. (I forgot to set an alarm) We played "clickies" until our pal Sophie came over to join us at 10:30. Once she got here all sorts of fun happened, including the most adorable game of Hide n' Seek ever! There is nothing cuter than a 2 year old and a 4 year old counting and hiding and seeking. Stinking precious! While they played, I cooked up a big picnic brunch which we ate in the backyard. It was a sunny day. They played outside. They played inside. They played outside again. I cleaned up the brunch. I did laundry. I watched in awe as the two friends bounced and climbed and giggled and dug in the dirt.
Around noon-thirty, little Sophie said "tired". I asked if she wanted a nap. She nodded. I asked if she wanted to sleep in Pax's bed (where they had just been bouncing and playing with stuffies). She nodded again. We climbed the stairs and went into the cool, now quiet room. She crawled in. I tucked. She then asked me to stay with her. Of course I obliged. I sat in the soft, blue glider and said, "sweet dreams". She then crawled out of bed and into my lap. She wanted me to rock her and "song". She dozed off to some Woody Guthrie and Nat King Cole. Once I heard the little asleep breaths, I tucked her back into the bed and went downstairs to be with my guy. I admit, that little moment made me nostalgic for two, and naps.
Now alone-ish with my guy, we read a thousand books. We played with toys. We talked. We hugged - a lot.
Some dark clouds, heavy with rain came rolling in. Pax and I hurried to save the sandbox and some toys still out on "wa savannah". We made it just in time. Drips plinked on our cheeks and noggins as we rushed the last bucket of animals in through the back door. Thunder rumbled and flashes popped in the sky. I could tell P Bear was a little uneasy, so I picked him up and put him on my lap. We sat in front of the open back door and watched the storm. We saw leaves rippling from the drops. We startled at the first bit of hail. We counted the seconds between lightening and thunder. We smelled the fragrant, soaked air. He told me he didn't like thunder, so I went old school and said it was simply angels bowling. He seemed fine with that. We experienced the storm together. It was like the world stopped just enough for us to have that moment. To create that memory. It was magic.
The storm subsided do a steady drizzle, so we went to have a snack in the dining room. Apples are so yummy when you share. About midway through a conversation, my phone started buzzing like mad. Reluctantly I went to see what it was, just in case. Right as I picked it up to read "Tornado warning in this area. Take shelter now" the sirens went off. A flash of panic went right through my solar plexus. I told pax to go to the basement - NOW! I ran up the steps and got Sophie. She was still so sound asleep and sweaty. We flew down the steps and into the basement. It was dark, but we had just enough light to get to where we were going. I picked what I thought would be the safest spot. Then I grabbed a big, heavy blanket. I piled both kiddos on my lap, huddled over them and draped the blanket over all of us. The two babies clung to me and each other, having no idea of what was happening. I caught my breath and said it was going to be ok. I gently rocked them and did my best to explain and not frighten. They seemed fine.
I'm glad I had a little glowing rectangle in my pocket. I turned on the iPhone to see where the storm was, let Sophie's mommy know she was ok, tell my husband where we were and play some ABC's with the sweethearts in my care. We watched the radar to see the red triangle move away from our green dot. We even took a selfie in the dark. It certainly was an adventure, and living in the moment was an absolute.
Those kinds of situations are always intense, but add to it not only your baby, but one of your dearest friend's baby and it gets turned up to eleven! Even though the kidlets were laughing and snuggling and being perfectly ok, it took me a while to come back down out of the panic stratosphere. I kept it together on the outside, but man was I pair of duck feet in the water on the inside. To quote Chevy Chase "Where's the Tylenol?'
As you can probably guess, the storm passed and we went unscathed. It was a very real reminder of two things - 1) Life is fragile 2) Technology can be your friend. So I will continue to keep our summer challenge up, we will turn it all off at 9:00 AM, but we will make sure and keep it handy!!!
Stay happy everybody!
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