Today was a great day.For the past five years of Keanen’s life, I have worked or been in school consistently. There has not been a single week that I could spend to learn the details of my child’s life. Today I celebrate a month of getting back to my motherhood roots. Yes it’s not all fun and roses, but its amazing to see what I have missed. That’s not to say I don’t miss my work children. There is not a day I don’t think about the crazy things they did and said. But, it is great that I have been given an opportunity to take a breath and spend sometime with my two most precious gifts.

Today I got to play pretend with Carmen. For three hours while her brother played outside, we pretend played: put babies to bed, puppies in timeout, made dinner, changed diapers, played hide and seek etc. It was the most time I have had to spend with her alone. She actually talks even more when her brother is not around if that even makes sense. And the beauty of it, was I did not hear her cry or throw a tantrum even once. The other day we were at the tailors place and Carmen was having a grand ole tantrum because she had missed nap time. It went on for about two mins and a lady came by and said to my friend Dianna in Bambara” Why does she not beat her?” It made me laugh to think how a tantrum is viewed so differently in different cultures. As long as Carmen gets her nap, she is an angel until something sets her off. Seriously some days I think God sent me a 15-year-old in a 2-year-old body 🙂

When Keanen came in after playing with Numa, our “guard”, he handed me a flower that he had found on his “safari”. He then showed me a dance he came up with. Seriously this kid has some moves especially on the lower half and his rhythm isn’t that bad either. He came up to me and said, ” Mom, I love you forever”. Sweet child. I think Grandma Marilou had a lot to contribute to the sweet nature of this child. Much of his early life was spent in her arms and tutelage.

I am blessed to be able to spend some time with these two devils and angels, all in one. I am slowly learning what truly makes my kids tick. I am learning what they love, what they hate, what drives them and how they can twist things to get their way. I am happy to have the time to know them before Kean starts school in September.