Also, I was fixing a soup for dinner, that I had never cooked before, so that was a little more demanding than the same old same old dinner we have most evenings.
So picture this: Lewis working on his homework in the diningroom, Fiona playing with her stuffed animals, me feeding the two cats, killing ants, trying to convince them to find a new home somewhere far far away while wiping and rinsing and washing every possible foodsource away, kids telling me they are hungry ("no more snacking, dinner is almost ready"), me chopping away my very green and healthy veggies, asparagus and sugar snaps for the very green and healthy soup...
So while I am zooming through the kitchen (did you know that the average housewife walks about 10 miles every day in her house - found here! I guess you can knock off 5 of mine for computertime :-) ), I remember Fiona coming in and getting some pencils and paper, and later showing me the picture she had drawn, but at that time I was really just glad she was happily doing something that distracted her from waiting for dinner!
Dinner ended up being really late, 7.30 it was, and after that it was just rush rush rush to bed!
It must have been about 9.00 p.m. by the time the house finally got quiet and I passed the dining room with our big arts-and-crafts/homework/dining table to find this:
Only now I found the peace to really take in what she had brought to me earlier, which was a picture of her Opa, my father, whom she had barely known, since we lost him just before her 2nd birthday. And as her model she had used a framed picture of him carrying her, when she was a baby!
This made me so very conscious of the fact, that it is really what we as parents do, that makes the difference for our children.
We cannot keep the darker moments in life from them, as much as we want to protect and shelter them, they will sooner or later have to experience sadness and loss and have to find their own way of coping with it. But if we talk to them and let them know how much they were loved by those we lost we keep memories alive . Thank you, Fiona, for showing me that this worked for you and that you have not forgotten about your Opa!
It also made me realize, how important it is to slow down, stop and look even when life gets crazy and runs at what we call "Hotwheel speed".
Enjoy the little moments, slow down and look, while I am now waiting for my kids to come home from school, because I really really want to talk to them.
Ants dislike a wide variety of spices, including cinnamon and mint. Sprinkle it around the access points, and they should stop coming in.
ReplyDeleteThat picture is wonderful.
Awesome post!
ReplyDeleteAs far as the ants, I've read to leave some soap residue on surfaces (like wipe them down with a soapy rag and let them dry still a little soapy) to kill the scent trail (the spices in the other comment are probably great at this too).
My "super secret cockroach killer" would probably work with the ants as well (but it's an 'outside' solution). Mix 1/3 plaster of paris (you can get this in bulk at a hardware store and it's a lot cheaper than buying it at a crafts store) with 2/3 powdered sugar. Put it in little piles away from your house but kind of near where the ant hills are (don't want to bait them towards the house). Ants (and roaches) eat it and it hardens...turns them into little bricks. But if you have pets that are going to lick the stuff up, this is NOT a good idea.