I'm Sad Because...

As we were getting ready to leave Kyla's house after a short playdate this morning, Nourit's eyes filled with tears and she said to me, "I'm sad because I want to go to Abigail's and play with the girls some more." Kyla was going to spend some time at Abigail's while her mom took Baby Cole to the doctor, and although Nourit was invited, I needed to spend some time at home before going to work and told her we couldn't go this time. For a minute I wanted to give in and just spend the next couple of hours playing with our friends, partially because it sounded way more fun than unpacking the suitcase, and partially because I didn't want Nourit to be sad. But, she accepted it, we went home, and she spent a quiet time playing around the house for the next two hours while I put things in order.

It's so nice to hear her articulate her emotions these days. Sometimes, the reason for the tears doesn't quite make sense, but in this case, it was perfectly normal and understandable. She expressed it in a healthy way and moved on. If only I could articulate my sadness so well.

Today, however, I'm happy because I started to play the piano again. From 7:30am-9:30am, I bashed through Mozart and Brahms, just letting my fingers move and letting my brain try to figure out what to work on in the coming months. The plan is to start to work a little bit every few days, getting back in shape, and working toward a small recital or having some pieces ready to audition for potential piano gigs. The hard part is peeling a sobbing Nourit off my lap as I'm abandoning her for a couple hours of music. I remember that feeling all too well - mom going to work when I felt I needed her most. (That was purely my feeling - she was actually continually present when I was growing up, except for her p/t work at the library, and a year of full-time work once I was in school.) Am I selfish for stealing hours away from time with my girls to do this? Maybe. Will it be a good thing for them to see their mom working toward a goal, and doing something that fulfills her? I think so.

Avi and the Pitchpipe

Not to be outdone, Avi decides to follow her big sister in a music career. Pitchpipe is her instrument of choice.

Poetry and Song with Nourit

When Nourit sings, she doesn't sing the songs we know, but makes up her own. She's been known to give a long concert, setting up her stepstool like a podium, and putting a Mozart Rondo for Piano on the music stand in front of her, then pouring her heart out in another language, with hints of a nasal 'n' which tells us she's singing in Nourit-French. It's melismatic, mixed-metered, prosaic, and sometimes interrupted by screams and a dive off the podium to snatch a toy out of her baby sister's hands. Despite this, it's wonderful to hear her interpretation of all the musical influences she's had in her short life.

(To get the full effect, watch all 9+ minutes of the video below. To get to the part where the diva dives off the stage, accosts the baby, then resumes singing like nothing ever happened, start about two-thirds of the way through.)

Rounding this out, she's got a great sense for rhythm and rhyme. From an early age, I noticed her grasp on musical or poetic phrasing. She will make up songs or poetry with words that aren't necessarily found in any language we know, but they definitely rhyme at the end of each phrase. She's translated this skill to book-reading, too. Often, in her well-loved books, we'll begin the sentence on each page and let her finish. Here's what happened when she mixed it up a little:

Excerpted from 'Goodnight Moon'



In the Great Green Room, there was a red "vaboon" and a picture of the "plow" jumping over the "boon." Etc, etc. You get the idea of the game she's playing.

Then we get to the part about the quiet old lady who, instead of whispering "hush" was whispering "puss." Okay, a little gross. But this old lady has some more bad habits. By the end of the story, Nourit had her whispering "cuss." At least she swears quietly.

And Two Molars Make 8 & 9

Wow, I've never seen so many teeth explode in one little mouth in such a short amount of time. Avi has a top and bottom molar coming in - poor baby - but still finds a way to smile!

5,6,7!

You can't see them in the picture, but Avi now has 3 more teeth! Top and bottom right, and bottom left. She'll be all set for corn-on-the-cob by June!

Creative Juices

I'm always amazed at how focused and creative kids can be at such a young age. Nourit continually surprises me with a new and amazingly symmetrical ways of constructing with her blocks or Krinkles, and lately spends time creating elaborate meals out of wooden food, toys, and items from mommy's drawers. Here are some pictures of our budding architect/food designer.



There is kind of a sad ending, though. According to my source on parenting, Love and Logic, if a kid doesn't help put away the toys, you're supposed to take that particular toy away for awhile. Somehow, this seems to backfire on me. Today I asked Nourit to help clean up the playdough. She said no, so I very calmly said it was going in the garbage. She was fine with that. (It made me a little sad, but on the up-side, I don't have to worry about Avi ingesting too much more for awhile!) However, when it came time to put away her wooden kitchen and the 12,000 items of food that go with it, she said, "I don't ever want to play with it again," just so she could get out of cleaning up. With all the love and logic I could muster, I took her hand and brought her over to the mini-kitchen, gave her the food boxes, and said, "Start packing."

Kindness and Syndication

So, I took a little break and googled my name today, and surprise, surprise, my last post on the Chicago Mom's Blog was picked for syndication! ( My very first post was, as well, and I realized today that I probably should have printed each instance out because they aren't all available online anymore.) I'm not exactly sure what it means to be 'syndicated' other than a chosen few periodicals online are reprinting my post, along with my personal blog site. So perhaps it will bring people to my site, where they will either stay and peruse, or leave and go back home. It's flattering, too, both to be chosen, and to see my name 'in lights' for half a second. Other than that, I'm not sure what else to expect out of it.

So what does kindness have to do with this? It was the inspiration for my post. Relying on the Kindness of Friends talks about my utter need and enormous appreciation for my friends and neighbors. So if you are one of my friends and neighbors, I hope you know I couldn't live this life without you!