Dora’s good mood continued after school today, significantly bolstered by her being one of ten kids (out of 24) who will advance to the next level of the spelling bee. She joined us on a walk, enjoying a few inches of snow, and right now, she and Beth are making all kinds of noise as they set the table and make drinks for dinner.


Remember that I mentioned Kaleidoscope in a previous blog? Kaleidoscope is a cool kid’s “playground” created and maintained by Hallmark cards. There are several workstations where kids can create paper crafts with all kinds of mediums. I was a helper in the planetarium setting where they had melted crayons that dried almost instantly when painted onto paper. Oh, and there were neon lights that really made the crayons look extra cool.


Unbeknownst to me, Beth busied herself by making a card for Dora during the 75 minutes we had to experience Kaleidoscope. Dora showed it to me yesterday, having found it the night before under her sheets in her bed. She was really, really pleased to receive it. Talk about perfect timing. She found this card right after we had our talk about “purge your pain or live with your pain, and each day you fight it is another day wasted.” In case you are having difficulty reading the card, it says:

Dear (Dora),
Thank you for participating in our family. It might have pained you to let go of your mother in _____. But it was worth while. Have a good day! Love, (Beth)

Now how cool is that? I had no idea Beth made this card.


Today was one of those days Beth and I were both quite glad she was homeschooled. She worked her little bootie off last night at swim practice. She was one of only two kids out of 15 who actually completed the set, and by far one of the youngest swimmers there. She was so excited about her success and perseverance last night, and she was soooooo tired today. We were going to join a homeschool group for roller-skating but there was no way she was roller-skating material. We hung out in the chair and did a reasonable amount of schoolwork, but part of the time, we just cuddled while she tried to pull herself together. At one point in the chair, she wanted to know if I thought her card to Dora really had made that big of a difference? I assured her it had been well timed and well received. From there she expressed concern that if Dora got her act together, would we be sharing the homeschool experience as early as next August? It was both funny and poignant to see her mixed reaction to sharing me with a healthy sib … especially today, when she was basking in my arms in her fatigue.