There were so many things...

....that I wanted to tell you about Laurel today, and I kept thinking, stop and write this down so I will remember. But I didn't, and those quotes are gone forever. They leave behind a shadow, an aura of a memory, of holding hands and walking by the river. We went to the library and she insisted on crawling up into the window seat "all by by by myself", and then sent me on errands to retrieve books. Have you read Planting a Rainbow? It's fantastic. Eavesdropping, I watched from a distance while she read to herself, messy blonde head bent over, carefully turning pages and with spot on intonation.

I'm jealous of the stay at home moms today, not because they get more time, but because they get time when they are not bleary-eyed with fatigue after nine hours of work, feeling breathless and panicky about the speed at which life passes. My algebra 1 students get my clearest, early morning attention. Grass is always greener, I know. And aren't many of us dreaming of a cocktail and a good night's sleep even as we enjoy precious moments with our children?