Remember This Day

Thursday. February 25. 2010. A wonderful, ordinary (helicopter excluded) afternoon.

Notes to self--Remember:

Remember how sweet neighbor Carol told us Drury University would be hosting its first home baseball game this weekend. She said the field was soggy and her son (coach) and team had hired a helicopter pilot to hover over the field to dry it. Would we want to watch?

Remember it was just Ian, Lilly, me and the Drury baseball team.

Remember Ian said, "Look, Lilly! It's a GIRL flying that helicopter!" Remember we talked about how girls can do anything boys can do.

Remember this boy did a pretty great helicopter imitation.

Remember we didn't worry about it only being 39 degrees. Remember we went to the adjoining park. We had the whole place to ourselves.

Ian ran, loving the sweet freedom of outside after a long, cold winter indoors.


Remember it was Ian's first time on these particular monkey bars. He got to the top and said to me, "How do I get down, mama?" He figured it out.


Remember these little feet traveled so high, unafraid.

Remember you felt a tiny tinge of pain in your heart when you looked up and saw this brave girl, so far away from you, climbing high all on her own. That pain wasn't fear for her safety. You knew she'd be fine. It was the realization she was growing up.

Remember you didn't know then that, two days later, she'd be almost completely potty-trained.

Remember your surprise at how quickly Ian could scale bars and ladders. Remember how you thought, "He IS ready for kindergarten. He's grown up right under my nose this year."

Remember Lilly kept saying, "Mama, take a picture of me with my dinosaur."

Remember your hands were frozen and it was hard to take pictures.

And you thought . . .

It's okay to have frozen hands. Because this fall, kindergarten will come for Ian, and the start of preschool for Lilly. Today I get to experience the blessing of playing with Bumblebee and Thumbelina in the middle of a frigid Thursday afternoon.

Remember this day.