Pride
Current mood: content
Category: Life

Today was a good day. The sun was shining, and the air was warm. Violet and I went to the library for story time. This was only our second time going. The first time, she was very shy and unsure of herself. In between stories, they sing songs and clap their hands and stomp their feet. All of the kids play sing and play along. At first Violet was very reserved, but this week, she opened up a little. Clapping her little hands, stomping her little feet, lightly at first, and then gaining strength as she realized how fun it was. The first time we went, I was forced to stand up and sing and clap and jump, all the while looking down at her, trying to get her to join in. She just stood there with her hand to her mouth in her typical expression of shyness. This week however, she played along while I sat and watched. At one point, the children were asked to cover their eyes and and sing a peekaboo song. She did this with her little hands splayed, eyelashes poking through the gaps in her fingers. I laughed to myself, admiring her sneakiness. I felt so full of pride as I watched her, eyes wide and shining, mouth open, lips curled into a little smile. She just seemed so HAPPY. My heart was huge. At the end of the 30 minutes, the storyteller offers out stamps for the childrens hands, and this week, violet walked right up to her, little(big compared to the other children...takes after her mommy, baby man hands) hand outstretched, palm down and waited patiently for the coveted sheep stamp. Sigh. Again, my chest felt a a little too small for my aching heart. After that we picked out some new books(olivia, her favorite) and she walked out beside me, full of self importance, clutching her books.

Later on in the day, we went to the coffee shop to see"mommys paintins" and to get a cup of coffee before heading home. As we left the coffee shop, there was a long haired man outside, playing the saxophone. I was holding her in my arms, and she turned and looked at me quizically, asking me what he was doing. I told her that he was playing music, and that the thing he was holding was a saxophone. At this point, the man had just finished his song, and she turned and looked at him and said, "You play music?" he smiled and began a new song for her. We watched in silence and her face was again graced with that sweet little smile and shining eyes. When he finished, we turned to get into our car(which was parked in front of the shop, in front of the musician) and as I started the car, I looked over and saw the man waving at her. I looked into my rearview mirror and saw her returning the wave, a shy little smile playing about her lips.

As we drove away, heading for our house where we were going to have sandwiches on our porch and soak up some of the sunshine, I thought how happy I am and how full of pride my children have made me. SIGH...the only thing I can really do. sigh and smile.