We are cleaning out drawers and closets as we slowly reassemble our house from the ongoing flood repairs and I came across a treasure chest of memories from Katie’s youngest years. First up is evidence that she is her mother’s daughter. She made a to-do list when she was 7 and here’s a selection of important tasks for the modern first grader, circa 2014:
Call Chandler to see if she can play yes or no
Play in my cichin [her play kitchen]
Ask to go to SKZ [Sky Zone, a trampoline place]
Read a book
Do mathe
Cook with mommy and dad
Rite a note
Eat peanuts or nutse [nuts?]
She also wrote a note to Rome that same year that says “Thank you for ever thing! Dear Daddy you are the best daddy ever. You give me ever thing that I need. Thank you for:
Taking cer of me
Giveing ever thing I need
And all of the above.” She also drew a picture of both herself and Rome (I know because she labeled the two people) and they are both giant heads with stick legs coming out of their heads. No bodies or arms, just legs and heads but they do have hair and facial features, so there something.
I was pretty ruthless in tossing a lot of the paper items I had kept but a few things made the “keep” pile and these are definitely two of them.
During these crazy times, we all have to find sources of light and I'm lucky to live with mine. Katie discovered we have snails in the backyard so she decided to make them a habitat, complete with a tiny house, a couch, shell bathing pools, fresh zucchini (she researched it), and a place to bury themselves in moss and wood chips. Their temporary home is a basket but she'll soon be moving them to a former gecko habitat. After putting the finishing touches on Snail-a-palooza, she decided to make tomato soup because her braces get tightened tomorrow and she knows she'll want soft food. That's not unusual but then I walk in the kitchen to see how she’s protecting her eyes from onion tears. Her sweetness and weird-yet-practical nature are definitely making me smile today.
