Gratitude for Coraline

I have so much love for all my kiddos. Tonight I want to focus on Coraline. In a lot of ways she has been the hardest toddler and preschooler to raise. As with all things in life, it's often our biggest challenges that help us grow and that growth turns into joy and peace. I feel myself entering that stage with her right now. She has made so much emotional progress lately. Her communication skills have grown by bounds and that obviously helps. 

She has the wildest imagination I have ever seen. For years she has had an imaginary friend named Rosabell. Sometimes Rosabell is with us every day of the week and other times she seems to disappear for months on end. Recently, Rosabell died and killed her cat (it was mostly told in that order), but just a week or two ago Rosabell came back to life. It was adorable to see how happy that proclamation (made straight out of Coraline's mouth) made Coraline. She had such a sweet gleamer in her eye when Rosabell was full of life again. The cat is still dead though (bahahah).

One of Coraline's strengths has always been her ability to play by herself. As an often worn our mother of four, I have so appreciated my #3s ability to find a pile of toys and make herself content without demanding anything of me for long stretches of time. This is such a gift to me, and I think it is a gift to her as well. 

I struggled back and forth with school decisions regarding COVID. I could write a giant post on that itself! (Remember, I'm on the school board, anyway). The final decision was to keep Coraline home and to send Reid to school and to let Nell choose between the two options. Ben was always supportive of my swaying mind and helped guide many of my racing thoughts on the issue. He is such a good parenting companion and I am grateful for that too. 

I don't think I am giving Coraline the Education the Oakwood elementary teachers could give her (at least two of them ;) ), but I firmly believe that isn't what she needs right now anyway. She needs our home. She needs her play time. She needs lots of socialization with her best buddy (Mara). And she and I both need that sacred one on one time we are sharing as we do her school work together.

After the first day of school she jumped up and down with happiness. "I love my online school. I was worried I wouldn't like it, but I do! I do!" That was especially sweet because her drawing about her first day of school included a former classmate and her teachers out on a hike in the Nature Center. 

After our second day she jumped up and down with joy again and said "I love my school. I am so happy. I am not fighting with everybody anymore." I was so impressed with her ability to express all that so clearly. Later I did try to ask her why she gets so angry sometimes, and she told me she didn't know where the anger comes from. I just love this sweet little girl and I hope that together we can figure that out soon. 

I am so grateful for that freckled nose and cheekbones and the beaming smile she shares so frequently as of late. Her love is as fierce as her personality and I can't wait to watch her continue to bloom.