With a 2 year old, its all about distraction...

Yesterday was Easter.  What does one do on Easter? Play bells at church and have an Easter egg hunt.  We were enjoying a lovely potluck breakfast, especially my favorite classic Lutheran potluck recipe, the one with cool whip, cottage cheese, dry orange jello, coconut, pineapple and mandarin oranges, while the youth group was hiding eggs for the little ones.  They were smart and hid eggs in front for the big kids and on the playground for the little kids.  What they didn't know was that Alice has coveted that playground for months.  Every time we go by, she begs to play on the brightly colored plastic slides and toys.  So yesterday when the gate to the forbidden garden was finally open to her, she could care less about eggs.  Even eggs with CANDY in them.  ALL she wanted to do was to play on the toys.  And it was cold (later in the day it became warm and beautiful, but at the moment of the egg hunt, there was a very chilly wind blowing.) So after helping her put half a dozen eggs in her little basket, Abby tried to get her to leave.  No.  Not happening.  Pitch a fit! Scream at the top of your powerful little lungs.  Abby, with her 36 weeks pregnant belly, tries to pick her up, but she is juggling toddler, diaper bag, and Easter basket, so I carry the Screaming Siren out to the car.  She is not just crying, she is flat out screaming...and I walk through the church with her to the parking lot.  Oh, look, an airplane flies overhead.  Instant silence.  Smiles.  Waves at the airplane.  "Hi plane, hi!" Her chubby little hand is waving at the plane and all the trauma from 3 seconds before is gone.  Abby puts her smiling in the car and drives off.  Scott and I shake our heads and go home.

Always thinking about Aiden

When Aiden was in preschool, he had lots of friends (and a couple of frenemies) but one of the boys we heard about a lot, was, let's say, Mario.  Mario didn't speak much English, but boys have a common language that does not require words, and so they were able to play and develop a friendship.  I had his big sister  in my class when things went to hell in their family.  Drugs, money, guns...you know how it is...We got involved with trying to help the mom and kids and when Mario was in second grade he was in Scott's class.  I knew that the baby in the family was named Aiden, but what I just found out was that Mario's mother told him he could name the baby and so named him Aiden, after his good friend at school. I love that our Aiden will be remembered in that family for all of little Aiden's life.

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