I parked the car and saw them sitting at the middle table nearest to the window. Olivia had just gotten her hair cut, Francine was along for the ride (there was no way she was going to miss anything) and we were at our usual post haircut spot… Noodles (don’t ask me why or how but for whatever reason it has become a post haircut tradition).
Sitting at the middle table was a slicked back silver haired grandfather and a 12 something, skeleton embellished black and white striped fuzzy lined knit capped wearing teenaged boy. “HUH! That’s an odd looking pair. I bet that 12 year old can’t wait until that meal is over,” I thought judging by what I saw.
My daughters and I ordered our food. They got their drinks from their favorite touch a thousand buttons to get to their drink with goofy flavors machine.
“I want ice in mine!” Francine requested as she tip toed to reach the ice button. “I can do it myself Momma!” She smiled reminding me as I lifted her to reach the buttons.
“I don’t want ice in mine,” Olivia declared.
“Ok,” I smiled hovering my hand under Francine’s cup hoping she wouldn’t spill, while trying not to interfere with her independence and glancing back at Olivia making sure she didn’t overflow her cup.
We found a table and sat down. As we waited for our food to come we stated to talk. I asked them what was new with them. How was school on Friday? One question lead to talking that led to another question and more talking…The flood gates had suddenly been open. Continue reading “The Importance of Time”
Once upon a time there was a girl named Ginger. Ginger always asked and asked her mom and dad when they were going to get a pet. Until finally her mom and dad said that she could get a pet. But what kind do you want?-asked Ginger’s mother. A puppy!-yelled Ginger. I will do anything you say to get a puppy. But-said her mother. I just want you to know that having a pet is a big responsibility. I can do the big responsibility-said Ginger. So the next day Ginger and her mom went to the pet store called Petco. Ginger got the puppy using all of her money. Ginger cared so much for her puppy until it was a dog. The dog was named Lucky. Ginger had the best day ever.
Story #2: The New Girl
Once upon a time there was a girl named Twinkle. Twinkle lived in Mexico where she had so much fun and did the things she was supposed to do at school. At playtime she always played with her friends Reynoso, Justin and Famosa. But one day that all was about to change when one day Twinkle’s dad said that they were moving to Bartlett. The next day Twinkle’s hole family went to Bartlett. Twinkle did’t do anything she was supposed to be doing and outside she did’t make any new friends. Twinkle felt homesick and wasn’t having any fun. The next day outside at playtime Twinkle saw a girl that looked like a nice girl to be a friend. Hello I am Twinkle-said Twinkle. Twinkle is that you!?-said the girl. Who are you?-asked Twinkle. It’s me Reynoso-said the girl. Reynoso?-asked Twinkle. The girl nodded. Twinkle and Reynoso played a little. Then stopped. I wish Justin and Famosa were here-said Twinkle. Stay right here-said Reynoso. Reynoso came back running. I found them!-yelled Reynoso. Justin! Famosa!-yelled Twinkle. They all gave each other all big hugs. Then agreed that every day they would play together at the playground. But if they ever moved again they leaned there lesson.
Story #3: The Friends That Were Good to The Earth
Once upon a time there were 2 friends 1 named Frogalina and 1 named Famosa. Frogalina liked to plant plants and Famosa liked to pick up stuff that are dirty and put it in the garbage can and put the clean garbage in the recycling bin. One day Frogalina was walking down the street when she saw a tree cut down. But she planted a new one. One day Famosa was walking down the street when she saw garbage on the street. But good thing there was a garbage can and a recycling bin. Famosa piked up all the dirty garbage and put it in the garbage can and put all the clean garbage in the recycling bin. And that’s how the 2 friends were good to the earth.
Mommy Disclaimer…. Olivia is my 7 year old daughter. She began writing here so she could share her voice too. All the words, the ideas and the typing… the entire story was done totally and completely by Olivia. I only helped with spelling and Photoshopping the drawings and pictures she draws. By writing these story Olivia hopes to inspire other kids to create, be kind to each other and share their words and stories too!
“I suppose I should actually get out of bed,” I thought.
This summer brought a magical gift. A gift I had only dreamed of. A gift I thought would never be bestowed on me….the gift of children that sleep in. Yep! It was 9:30am and both my girls were still asleep. Feeling a bit guilty for staying in bed that long and wasting so much of the morning (seriously I get to sleep in but now I have to feel guilty for sleeping in. this whole motherhood thing is exhausting) I rolled out of bed.
“Ahhhh coffee,” I smiled as I walked into the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker.
The first cup always seems to be the best. As I went to get the creamier out of the refrigerator I paused and remembered that my dad (he lives with us) was at Habitat for Humanity working on a house all day (his hobby…isnt that cool). That meant he put Kona out in the backyard (Kona is my sisters dog. She comes to stay with us for a week each summer when my sister is on vacation). Lazily, I peeked out of the kitchen curtain to see if she was on the backyard porch.
“Huh?! No Kona. Maybe she’s still downstairs,” I thought “but I could have sworn I heard my dad leave this morning. He wouldn’t leave her downstairs by herself.”
Opening the basement door I called, “KOOONNNNAAA come here girl!”
Nothing.
I walked down the basement stairs to double check that she really was not there. At the bottom of the stairs I look and look…no Kona.
“Maybe she’s out in the yard and just wasn’t laying on the porch,” I think trying to figure out where the heck she could be.
Back upstairs I go right the kitchen sliding glass door. I open it and bend to look out. No sign of Kona.
“KOOONNNAAAA! ”
Nothing.
Scanning the yard for her my eyes stop….the gate…it’s open. Panic floods me. Just last night my neighbor and I (during our weekly True Blood viewing session) were talking about how she had lost one of her dogs when it jumped her brothers fence while he watched her dog while she was on vacation. My heart sank.
Oh My GAWWDDDDD Kona is not in the yard!!!
I ran upstairs waking the girls.
“Kona is missing! Wake up! We have to go find her! Go potty and come down stairs we have to start looking for her!” I say delivering orders as I run back downstairs.
I turn to see Olivia walking down the stairs, still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and sporting her usual bed head.
Olivia, “Go open the garage door and look around out front. See if you see Kona.” Inside I secretly hope that she will open the garage door and find Kona sitting there just waiting for us to see her.
Rushing back in the house, “Mom! She’s not there! I don’t see her anywhere!”
Fighting back the tears and the emotion that is going to make me completely lose thoughts start to flood me…
My sister had trusted me to watch her dog. How is my sister ever going to trust me to watch her baby if I can’t keep her dog safe? My sister had trusted me. Kona was my responsibility. Oh my gawd Kona is missing. Kona is gone!
I call my neighbor.
“Kona is missing. She is not in the yard!” I say though heaving breaths.
“Ok. I’ll text friends in the neighborhood. We are awake and well get out there too to look for her,” she offers without hesitating.
“GIRLS!! Time to go! Get in the car!” I shout.
In the car I finally lose it. Thoughts continue to fill my head.
Whispering at me, making it all real…”She’s lost. I lost my sisters dog. We are never going to find her. How will I face my sister. Oh my gawd how will I live with myself.”
Closing the door of the car I turn to Olivia and Francine trying to take deep breaths between the blubbering messy sobbing tears. I manage to get out my words, “Roll down your window. I am going to drive very very slow. You need to shout as loud as you can for Kona and you need to look everywhere on your side of the car. Don’t miss anything, in front of the house, the side of the house, everywhere on your side.”
“Ok mommy,” they say softly with big, wide eyes focused on me.
Breathing in and out I try to regain control of my emotions as we begin our search.
“KONNNAAAA…KOONNNNAAAA…KONNNNNAAAAA!!!!”
First street done. Nothing. “We are never going to find her. This is going to be impossible. She’s gone. Who knows how long she’s been out of the yard. It could have been hours,” negativity start to invade my thoughts again.
We start down the next block.
“KKKOONNNNAAAAA… KONNNAAAAAAA!!!!!”
Suddenly a tall slender gray-haired man appears in the street waving his arm over his head back and forth.
“Is he waving at me?… He’s waving at me!… He’s waving at me!!!!!”
I roll down the passenger window and say to him, “We are looking for our dog Kona. She is lost.”
“I have Kona,” he smiles, “She’s in my backyard,” he smiles holding his coffee cup.
Getting out of the car I am suddenly giddy. I fight back happy tears as I realize have no shoes on, I am in my pajama t-shirt and comfy shorts and oh my…my hair.
“I saw her this morning,” he explained pausing to noticing I have no shoes on,” and I didn’t recognize her so I called her over. She came right to me. She’s just been hanging out in the back yard. She’s had a couple of treats.”
“Thank you! Thank you sooooo much!!!! I can’t thank you enough,” I blubber in shock that we found her..he found her.
“Thank you again. Thank you,” I repeat dying to give him a hug and sob my thanks into his shoulder (don’t worry I resisted that urge.I didn’t totally want to freak out the guy).
Over come by happiness I smile as I take Kona to the car and put her in. I turn to him and say, “Are you a drinking man?”
“Aren’t we all!” he smiles.
“What’s your drink of choice?”
“Coors Light”
Hundreds of deep breaths later and all of us resting at home, I sit down next to my girls on the couch.
“Olivia turn the TV off Mommy wants to talk to you. Come sit by me.”
“Ok Mommy!”
“Girls Look at mommy. What that man did for us was incredibly kind. He stopped and took Kona in so that he could help someone. He did that to be nice for someone else. You know when mommy asks you to be polite to other people, when I tell you how important it is to pay attention to others and be thoughtful to others?”
“Yes mommy.”
“Mommy feels very soooo very much that when you are a good person, when you are kind to others good things happen to you and others will do nice things for you when you need them. Do you understand?”
“We do mommy,” they say in unison with a nod that tells me they really do.
That night, with a case of Coors Light on a kitchen chair next to me, I sat and wrote a thank you card to the man as a tears ran down my cheeks. I thanked the man for not only giving us our Kona back but for showing my daughters that there are really truly good people out there, good people who will help complete strangers because it is the kind, thoughtful and nice thing to do and that I still could not thank him enough.
Once upon a time there was a Stair Stomping Monster named Mimia and she was nice, kind and helped people if anyone needs help. She was special at all kinds of things. Mimia likes her city. Mimias city is called Stair Stomping Ville. Even though Mimia lives in a city where all other Stair Stomping Monsters live she is different. Shes different because all the monsters in Stair Stomping Ville stomp but Mimia does not, Mimia uses her words when she is happy, sad or mad.
One day Mimia saw a little girl that was 4 years old and holding a tiny doll that was clean, had soft fur and had braids that had been tied with bows that are the color red. And the owner of the doll looked sad. Mimia knew it because she was crying.
“ Well she does not look graceful like me,” said Mimia.
Mimia ran out to catch her.
“What is your name and why are you sad and crying? “ Asks Mimia sadly knowing now she was sad as the little girl said her name Caroline.
Mimia said how to be happy and now they are friends.
The end.
Mommy Disclaimer…. Olivia is my 7 year old daughter. She began writing here so she could share her voice too. All the words, the ideas and the typing… the entire story was done totally and completely by Olivia. I only helped with formatting, spelling and with Photoshopping the drawing. By writing this story Olivia hopes to inspire other kids to learn their manners, help a lot and be nice and kind!
“Mommy I left something for you on your bed, ” Olivia tells me.
“Ooooohhhh OK,” I reply rinsing the dishes.
After washing the dishes, putting a load of laundry in the washer, folding a couple of baskets, making lunch…well you know how it goes. I finally made my way upstairs to read this mysterious “note”. When I got to my bedroom I saw her journal lying on my bed.
“Hhhmmmmm I thought. I found the page marker and open it to this…
The “note” was a not surprising to me. I have known for a while that the social part of school has not been Olivia’s strength. She lives by her own beat, has a quarky fantastical imagination, is stubborn, shy and has kind of a take me for who I am or leave it attitude. It is the perfect combination of a blessing and a curse. So while the note did not surprise me it did make me sad. I realize that I am her mom, but I have for a very long time thought that Olivia has the most fantastic imagination and an incredible talent for using her drawings and words to bring her imagination to life.
“OOOOLLLLIIVVVAAAAAA come here!” I yelled to her from my room.
“COMING MOMMY!”
“Hummmfff she came without arguing,” I thought. “That’s nothing short of a miracle.”
“Yes Mommy.”
I took her straight in the eye, forcing her to look back at me.
“Do you know how amazing you are? Do you know what a fantastic writer and drawer you are? What you write… it is something very special!. Do you know this sweetie. You are VERY talented!”
I pause and we just gaze at each other. Then like the light bulb appearing above the cartoon characters head, I knew what I had to do.
“Olivia I want you to start writing with me on Mommy’s blog. You are an amazing writer and I want you to see that your words are important and special!”
“Really Mommy!!!!”
“Yes really!!!”
. . . . . . .
I hope that you will stop back tomorrow when Olivia and
“Mommy come color with me,” Francine asks after dinner.
“I’m sorry sweetie mommy has tons of chores I need to do. You can color and I’ll come when I am done.”
I turn to see an understandably frowny, disappointed face. My hands reach for the sponge and the next plate that needs to be washed. The kitchen is suddenly silent.
“Mommy what can I do to help you finish your chores faster?” Francine inquires
After lifting myself off the floor in shock…
I turn to Francine and smile, “Really, you want to help Mommy?!”
“Yes, Mommy,” she smiles and says in the sweetest and most sincere five year old voice.
“OOOOOkaaaay. You can start by helping make the lunches.”
As I rinse the last dishes, move on to the load of laundry that needs to be washed and the other one that needs to be folded Francine puts pretzels into sandwich bags. I send out reminders of what to do next from the laundry room. I pick up my pace, working faster to get these chores done so I could sit and color with her.
With time left to spare and a couple of chores left for later, because seriously how can I possibly let down a little girl down who is willing to help Mommy with chores. It was time to color!
I still never know what is going to happen when I craft or color with my girls. I am constantly inspired by them and blown away by their imaginations. This night at the table was no different. After taping together and coloring two cardboard toilet paper rolls and a paper towel roll (don’t ask… she’s five… it’s her vision. I don’t ask) we did some free drawing. After doodling a bit the pink crayon called for me. My mind took me back to a note I had made for myself months ago. My hand faught me. I had never been any good at drawing with crayons. Before I know it the crayon is in hand, obeying my movement and Fred was born.
Fred has dreams…big pink accessorized, leotard and legwarmer dreams. Dreams of toes pointed, tutus and twirls and pirouettes…
. . . . .
My daughters inspiration does not end here…
I seriously can not tell you how incredibly..oozing with excited I am for the coming weeks. My daughters… Olivia 7 and Francine 6 are going to start joining me here! They are going to take their picture, drawings, stories and life experiences and start to share their words here too!
I can hardly stand the wait… the wait for Olivia to share her words with you. Her illustrations will take you to fantastically magical worlds that intertwine her life’s experiences with creatures, superheros and magical worlds of her imagination.
You can even follow all things Olivia on Twitter by following the hashtag #OliviasWorld
Francine is also excited to share. A little of this, a lot of that and who knows what else?! She loves to help me cook and bake, but dislikes almost everything she helps me make. She can even show you which exact tooth is her sweet tooth. She is colorful, crafty and is always looking for the next thing to make out of anything she can find. I really never know what fantastically crafty, imaginative creation she will cook up.
You can follow Francine on Twitter by following the hashtag #FrancineCooks
Creativity is oozzing! We have so much more to share!
Olivia sat at the kitchen table. Her six-year-old hand held a pink Crayola marker. The marker moved across the paper. Its strokes brought her imagination to life. I spied a smile as it curled on her cheek.
“What are you doing?” I asked her from the living room.
“Nothing mommy,” she teased.
I walked over to her with my own smile. My index finger poked her just under her ribs, sure to get a giggle.
“Nothing Mommy, nothing Mommy, nothing Mommy,” I mocked. “Seriously, what are you doing?”
“I’m making a Draw Some for you Mommy!” she giggled with a glow of pride.
“Aren’t you a clever girl!”? I replied with giddy surprise.
“You clever, clever girl!! I know what we can do!” I said with excitement. “How about I draw a Draw Some everyday and leave it for you. Then in the morning you can solve it with Grandpa?!” I said with raised eyebrows and a smile looking for agreement.
“Yes…Yes Mommy!!!!” Olivia answered with joy.
“Me too Mommy! Me too!!” Francine shouted, sure to not be forgotten.
“Of course you too silly! It will be fun. We will do it until the end of the school year. It will help us not miss each other too much!” I reply.
So as the days leading up to the end of the school year bring out our annual count down calendar, excited anticipation and potent reminders of how much we miss each other while I am at work…
Each morning
I sit.
I smile.
I draw….
One for each of them to guess.
One for each for them to think of me while I am at work.
…and when I get home from work I find drawings left for me.
