Sunday morning…

I am peopled out today… but I have to work today anyway. It has been a long week… while still recovering from the sinus infection, I have worked three different jobs, begun a new fitness routine, spent the last day with a child in tow and see no day off in the foreseeable future. It’s all good… and important… but I need more alone time. People require conversation – and that is tiring. My body hurts. Especially my thighs. I can’t sit down or get up without making some really unattractive grunting noises that Ibuprofen and Epsom salts seem to have no power over, and that thing… where women tend to walk around all day with their tummy pulled in a little – I can’t do it. Everything is fatigued.

The child I have had in tow the last 20 hours is bright and a delight to be around. I have known her the entire time she has been alive (although I forgot her age for a moment). My youngest used to be her nanny. She is 5. The story of how she ended up in my charge for a day is long and involved and irrelevant. I like her a lot. She is tiring though… I treat all children the way I treated my own… I don’t talk baby talk, I don’t give non-answers… they deserve the truth even if slightly softened for their age.

Conversations with a precocious child…

Clara: “What does regret mean?”

Me: “It means you wish you made a different choice.” (we talked about examples of that…)

Clara: “What does all in a day’s work mean?”

Me: “It depends on the context, but most commonly it means what you did is what you always do and it’s not a big deal.” (Followed by her giving me examples of when she might use the phrase on her parents… )

Clara: “What are these?”

Me: “Rocks really, but we call them crystals. Some of them were inside other rocks and broken out, some were just polished to look real pretty.”

Clara: “Can I keep one?”

Me: “Yes, why don’t you choose the one you like best, and we will look up in my book what its name is so that you know.”

Clara: “I want this one.”

Me: “That is pink calcite.”

Clara: “Calcite… uptight…good night…do right…”

Me: “It is the crystal for love. And compassion.”

Clara: “What does compassion mean?”

Me: “It’s kind of like caring about other people and how they feel. Like when your best friend is sad, it might make you feel a little sad because you have compassion for how she feels and wish for her to feel better.”

Clara: “Yes, that is what I do. I have compassion for Shelby.”

Clara: “Does your daughter want to have children?”

Me: “I think she does. Especially if she could have one as smart and capable as you are.”

Clara: “So one like me… yes, I agree. She should have one like me.”

Clara: “Why does Julia live here too?”

Me: “Because she wants to and because she and Chelsea like to be with each other.”

Clara: “Does Julia sleep in Chelsea’s room?”

Me: “Sometimes. But she has her own room also.”

Clara: “Okay. Can I see her room? I didn’t know grownups could be in a house together and not be a mom like you.”

Me: “Sure. Sometimes when grownups live in a place together, they are called roommates.”

…And that was just in 15 minutes. Out of time… off to work… possibly to be continued… also FYI, I discovered I’m too old for the monkey bars now, or maybe my arms were too fatigued… after watching her be a monkey it looked so fun, I had to try… landed on my ass in the wood chips!