Valentine's Day

Nathan was sitting at the kitchen table opening up his Valentines from all of his friends. This is first real Valentine's day party so it was really special. With the sunlight pouring in on him from the kitchen window, Nathan looked up questionally and asked me why all of his Valentines had hearts on them. Not wanting to miss a teaching opportunity, I quickly dove in the explanation of Saint Valentine and paralleling that with the story of God's love for us. Nathan quickly dropping his Valentines as if they were poisonous snakes yelled, "LOOOOOVE?!! I hate love!" and just as soon as his small paper cards fell to the floor did Nathan realized that with Valentines day came candy. Grabbing a piece of chocolate, Nathan decided that perhaps love was an ok thing.

Mimi

"Mimi, whewe awe ewe?" my two year old, Kalea, whimpers. This is the second time Mimi has gone on an adventure of her own and it's not even 8am yet. As we search the house, Kalea frantically calls out for Mimi in such a desperate call that even I half expect Mimi to spring up from her hiding spot squeeking "here I am" in a small soft pink bunny voice. I don't know how one could even sound pink, but if anyone could, it would be Mimi. Mimi is Kalea's best pal. They've been together since birth. When Kalea was barely coordinated, she would throw Mimi over her face with her soft baby hands and hide beneth Mimi's smooth delicate folds. "Mimi, whewe awe ewe?" Kalea cries out again bringing me out of my large mental book of mommy memories. I follow a clothing trail in my search for Mimi. As I go, I pick up with the thought that if the house was clean, then Mimi would be easier to find. I pick up socks, little boy underwear, a pair of jeans with holes in the knees, and wonder how one gets naked without being noticed while making a beeline to the play room. The trail continues; some shoes, a jacket, a uniform some-what white polo. I wonder if when the school board made the rules for polos if the board was made of all men or were there mommies who knew that when they mandated white polos that by mid-year the white would turn into some-what white. Mother of Pearl, perhaps. "Mimi, qum bacc....." Kalea cries out. The trail of clothing ends and I decide to search another room, the kitchen perhaps. I dump the clothes off in the nearest dirty clothes basket and follow another clothing trail to our kitchen. This time it's baby girl pj's, socks and slippers. Picking up the pink and white pajama pants decorated with sporatcally placed pastel puppies I remember Christmas and how big she looked when she first put them on. There's nothing like warm winter pjs to make a baby girl look big. On my way to the kitchen I spot Kalea's pink backpack that her brother Nathan helped her into this morning. Could Nathan have had the thoughtfulness to put Kalea's Mimi in her backpack? A blurred before school conversation pops back into my head. I was packing Nathan's lunch and he was having a conversation with Kalea about school today. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he was the only one who would be going to school, so I allowed him to get Kalea ready. What did he put in her backpack? A frog....and what else? Then it hit me. Nathan did not want Kalea to forget Mimi so he packed it in her bag for her.
I reached down into the bag and pulled out a crumpled up Mimi. The rattle in Mimi's head sounded and hearing it as though it were as loud as an atomic bomb, Kalea came running out of the livingroom. As the two united in a giant, almost two sided hug, I couldn't help but be a little jealous of the bond that Kalea and Mimi have.