Monday, August 18 - Wednesday, August 20

The final week of summer. 

Monday, Andrew and I went to work, Greta hung out at home, and Lucia went to a birthday party. Then they had XC practice until 9. Beth met me there for a walk.

Tuesday, I went to work, Andrew left for CA, Greta started organizing school things, and Lucia babysat from 9-5:30. That's a really long day, and she's doing that for most of the week. She was thrilled to display her pile of cash when she got home. Then XC practice, where I walked with a friend.

Wednesday, I blessedly worked from home, Greta kept organizing, and Lucia kept babysitting. She loves babysitting and came home today saying she "can't wait to be a mom" (then reassured me that she would, of course, wait). Greta said she'll never have children and instead will have her own house filled with bunnies. 

The girls and I watched a This Is Us while eating an early dinner before XC practice. I walked with my audio book. These evening practices now end in darkness; the real end of the summer runs. After XC, we went to Target to get snacks for the XC spike-bedazzling party and sleepover that is happening at our house on Friday. 

In my internet travels this week I came across a poem by a writer named William Martin called "Do not ask your children to strive" from his book The Parent's Tao Te Ching, which I think is a good baseline as we look ahead to the start of what is going to be a very busy and intense school year. I love the sentiment here.

“Do not ask your children

to strive for extraordinary lives.

Such striving may seem admirable,

but it is the way of foolishness.

Help them instead to find the wonder

and the marvel of an ordinary life.

Show them the joy of tasting

tomatoes, apples and pears.

Show them how to cry

when pets and people die.

Show them the infinite pleasure

in the touch of a hand.

And make the ordinary come alive for them.

The extraordinary will take care of itself.”

Tuesday night, after Lucia's long day of babysitting and a very late XC practice, the girls and I sat around the table and laughed and laughed over all the funny things kids do, and all the funny ways Lucia could interact with parents if she never wanted to get another babysitting job, and all the funny awkward things Greta would say if confronted with children. The kids were in tears, laughing, and laughing at each other laughing. An ordinary life. Extraordinary. 

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