If nothing else, I will blog about this afternoon

Ok, so it’s been over a week. I haven’t been on a cruise or mountain climbing or any place without internet access, I’ve been stuck in AuctionLand. The school’s fundraiser is Saturday, and I’m responsible for about 80% of what’s going on. How’d that happen? I’m not really sure. It started with looking at software that would help manage aspects of the auction and morphed into doing that “administrator’s portion” of the event (w/o the administrator’s salary, of course). ANYWAY.

M and I just had the most amazing afternoon/evening. I am waxing poetic about it so I can go back and enjoy it another day…say a day when she’s throwing food, hitting, screaming, etc.

I picked her up this afternoon and she was happy as a lark. She walked with me through Staples and really listened as I was selecting the proper ink cartridge I needed. She put everything back she took off the shelf. She carried the cartridge to the check out and gave it to the cashier, and picked up a free catalog on the way out the door.

In the car, she said,”eat! eat! eat!” which is code for “Please play my CD, the one with the song “Apples and Bananas”. On the way home, she sings along as best she can, spots airplanes, reads the catalog and plays with the Mardi Gras necklaces from Church on Sunday (it was a fun Mass).

The phone rings as we walk in the door. I answer it and start talking. She goes over to the shoe area, takes off her coat, sits down, takes off her shoes…..and then starts playing with them. For 45 minutes, while I’m on the phone and then making dinner, she plays with her shoe farm. She puts on boots, crocs, mary janes, takes them off, puts them on, takes them off….you get the idea. She finally settles on a pair of crocs and then walks over to her box of 26 alphabet books. And she sits down and plays with them for 30 minutes while I get dinner on the table and eventually just find a good spot to watch her work. She was so intent. I finally get her attention as she’s getting the last few books in the box, and help her close it up and she willingly comes over to the dinner table.

She sits down, attempts to make the Sign of the Cross, doesn’t eat while I say grace, she says her version of “Amen” when I’m done and she proceeds to eat almost 75% of her dinner with no coercing on my part. She drinks from a regular cup, eats nicely and we chit chat back and forth (mostly about apples). She signs for please and says a version of thank-you consistently throughout the meal. Nothing is thrown or dropped.

After dinner she helps me unload the dishwasher and finds her container of silverware. She takes it and plays with it while I finish the dishes. When I tell her it’s time, we head to the bath tub.

She proceeds to take a nice bath, playing and chatting. She doesn’t really get upset when I wash her hair. She plays peek-a-boo with her Elmo toy. She spends most of her bath filling little bottles and emptying them. AMAZING to watch.

We then head the bedroom, where she typically runs around like a banshee naked while I try to catch her. Today, we started off in her bathroom. I suggest she sits on the potty…..she does. AND SHE PEES (usually, she pees on the floor while washing her hands after sitting on the potty). And then she washes her hands, brushes her teeth, lets me brush her teeth, gets into her jammies with no wrestling, we say evening prayers and she goes down like the angel that she is.

Seriously, the best afternoon/evening I’ve had in a long, long time. I may frame this post and stick it somewhere to savor the beauty a bit longer.