I Lean

Which, I blush to admit, is a terrible pun on Aileen, which is the named storm currently blowing its way into/across the UK. The winds bothered the girls last night enough to wake them up, which means they didn’t get the sleep they needed. Z made sure their windows were sealed tight for tonight rather than leaving them cracked for a bit of fresh air, so hopefully they won’t have any problems.

Still, the girls had a good day at school even with the bit less sleep. Littler ended up conking out for a bit, but we let it slide. Adding to the bit of sleep dep, it was someone’s birthday, so she came home with a party bag that we dumped out and played with (and yanno, candy that she inhaled, ha ha). Smalls, on the other hand, was impressively ungrumpy after school and her first day back in after-school activity.

Smalls also seems to be flourishing. Even if the year has only just started, she’s hit the ground running. We think that she does better with structured learning, and each year gets that bit more structured. She claims she was working faster than some of her classmates who historically have been ahead of her, which is impressive. She was telling us about homophones today, took her French dictionary to bed for light reading, and is really excited to show us her burgeoning recorder skills. That’s not even touching on her favourite subjects, math and science. I don’t care if she’s top of her class. I don’t care if she’s dead last. I care deeply that she is happy and loving learning, and so far, so good. We’re really freaking proud of her.

But yes, the weather. It’s been so chilly today, I could weep with joy. Cold means I sleep better. Cold means I feel better in general. Plus really, autumn and winter are the awesome parts of the year. We’ve got Halloween to look forward to, and Thanksgiving with friends, and the extra joy that is Christmas with children. And then we’ve got three of the four family birthdays, so it’s all go! I hope this year comes with a significant enough snowfall that I can share in it with the girls. Poor Littler hasn’t had a proper chance to play in snow since she was born, and that makes me sad. ‘They’ say that this winter is supposed to be one of those super bad/snowy ones. We’ll see.

For now… ice cream. *nodnods*

<3