Some weeks you are just grateful to survive. Jane started us off on the wrong foot Monday by tumbling backward down our steep, narrow flight of stairs. I was in the other room when I heard the unmistakeable sound of a little body flopping down stairs. I mommy sprinted only to see her on the bottom step with her head where her feet should have been. I scooped her up and cuddled her and was amazed at how quickly she was up and running again. Whenever you ask her now if she got a bonk, she rubs both hands up on the top of her head and says, “bonk”. That same night, as I was doing the final tuck in before bed, I found Kate with her string of beautifulfly night lights, which usually hang above her closet, wrapped around her little body. They must have factored into the falling asleep process somewhere, I don’t even know how she got to them, but this mama does not like the site of an electrical cord wrapped around her little girl’s neck. The beautifulflies found a new, harder to reach, home. Then the next day as I was parking I side swiped a car. Honestly! During that 24-hour period the Woodfords just couldn’t win.
The rest of the week, though extremely busy, fortunately turned out better. I had a group of Wharton Widows over for lunch: two from Tokyo, one from Korea, and two from good old Salt Lake City. My neighbor down the street ended up canceling at the last minute, which was probably fortunate because I didn’t have another chair. I was going to use Kate’s. We had Butternut Squash Soup and 9 Grain Bread made from scratch with strawberries by the side. Then for a not too sweet desert we had English scones and almond milk. Fall food is the best! It was nice to have an excuse to make a few of my favorite things. My little house smelled wonderful and was bursting at the seems with all those mommies and babies, but we had a really nice time. As soon as I finished the dishes from the luncheon, it was on to the Halloween party for the Wharton Kids’ Club. Don’t ask me why I get myself into these things. Actually, it turned out great. We went trick-or-treating through the business school to different offices and then gathered for a party complete with pumpkin decorating, apple cider donuts, hot chocolate, and face painting. I think everyone enjoyed themselves, so that is a success in my book.
Josh is in the middle of finals. I guess when you are trying to create a curve for grades and your students are those that were accepted to Wharton, i.e. smart, your only option is to make the tests brutal. As far as I can tell, everyone comes out reeling after every single test. Josh has been working really hard and I am sure he will do great. I’m just glad I’m putting on luncheons and planning parties rather than studying for exams. Like my big brothers used to say, “Gee, I sure wish I could do some homework right now.”
Now for my Kate’s Corner section of the letter. One evening, at that witching hour right before dinner, I decided an outing to the park was preferable to battling tired girls and messes at home. As I was pushing the stroller and enjoying the crisp Autumn air Kate stretched up her arm as high as she could get it and held it up in the air. Our conversation went like this:
Mom: “What are you doing, Little One?”
Kate: “Trying to reach up to the sky.” slight pause “I wish a was a beautifulfly.”
Mom: “Oh, yeah. Why is that?”
Kate: “So I could fly up in the air!”
Mom: “Where would you fly?”
Kate: “To Africa to see the animals....and to Roosevelt.”
I had to write that conversation down. It was a picture perfect moment in childhood. I love that in Kate’s mind Roosevelt, UT and Africa “where the animals live” are completely even on the Coolness Scale!
I just went in to check on Kate in quiet time. She wanted a piece of Halloween candy. I told her after dinner she could have one, to which she replied, “I’ll count to 5. If you don’t give me a treat, you won’t be my mommy anymore.”
On the way home from church today we got stuck in traffic. (Sidenote: traffic is so crazy in Philly. There is always a traffic jam somewhere but you never know when you will run into it--Sunday afternoon on the 76, 2 a.m. on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 3 p.m. on the 1, 6 a.m. on the 95. There is no rhyme or reason to it.) Kate was getting restless, as was I, and said, “It’s never going to be for a little girl to be patient!” I knew exactly what she meant.
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