I Can Understand Now

We had some heavy rains and high winds here over the last two days.  My daughter's school was let out two hours early on Thursday and school was canceled on Friday due to the number of homes without power and additional weather coming in.   It seemed unnecessary at first, but it turned out to be more intense weather than I thought it would be.

We had one neighbor post a picture of a trampoline that had appeared in their yard, looking like it had been there all along, somehow making it over their fence.   This was interesting because they already had a trampoline in their yard—theirs.  I'm not sure how many houses in distance it had traveled, but there were downed trees and branches in addition to other property damaged around our area.

The road our neighborhood was on was closed in one direction due to a large tree or possibly power lines down; I never found out but we turned around and went to Target via the long route to get valentines cards for my daughter and I called out the damage I saw around us along the way.

On Thursday night, my parent's power was out and wasn't expected to return until the following morning.   We offered and were glad they decided to come over to spend the night with us.  My children were happy to have Mimi and Gramps visiting for the night.

My parents had been at home, in the dark, for a few hours before deciding to come to stay with us.   As I was out in the front yard with a large umbrella, helping my mother in, she said, "I can understand why Reese is bored now."  In the dark, all the things she might normally have done (work on the computer, watch television, read a book, do things around the house, etc.) were all either not possible or much more difficult.

My daughter only really remembers being blind and is capable of entertaining herself—if she chooses.   She has lots of things to do.   She just prefers to have someone do things with her.   This doesn't mean she wants someone to do things for her because she's blind; she just prefers the company and collaborative play.  It still is a good reminder for us though, thinking about how her world is different because of her lack of sight.   We try to balance helping her versus hampering her by doing things for her.

The Big Boy Tiny Girl Good Morning Hello:  My children woke up this morning and went in to see Mimi and Gramps who were staying in the bedroom beside theirs.   I hear my daughter was jumping rope in her bedroom at six in the morning, preparing for the jump rope challenge fundraiser at school for the American Heart Association.   After a bit of rope jumping, she and then her brother went in to see Mimi and Gramps and get in the bed with them—at six AM.   Mimi and Gramps left by seven to get some breakfast at Whole Foods and check on the flooding in their basement.  Nothing like the children alarm clock to get you up early in the morning.