I'll Have a Latte Please. To Stay.

The girls turned their chairs around at breakfast this morning so that they could see out the window.  The fresh layer of snow that fell this weekend made the view very picturesque.  With our lack of neighbours and with the shop being closed on Sunday,  all they had to look at was the winter landscape.   They made up stories about foxes and bears and had pretend animal sightings.  Such sweet sister moments. 

We caught the holiday bug this weekend and we went shopping looking for gift giving gems in the local shops on Main Street.  The girls were shopping troopers, they loved all the ornaments in Canadian Tire and how they are all arranged by color.  Callie was shouting, "look mom this row is all blue!  Look, this one's all red!"  We took our time playing which one is your favorite in each of the sections.  Callie wanted the light up Rudolph nose and antlers from the dollar store so I splurged.  The blinking nose didn't survive the first drop on the kitchen floor and today I picked up the headband with one limp antler... holding true to the meaning of you get what you pay for.  Luckily we didn't have high expectations.

We took a break from shopping and I took the girls to the Orange Toad coffee shop for a treat.  This is a grown-up coffee shop that has great coffee and fresh home made baking.  It also has a sign that says, "unsupervised children will be given a free espresso and a puppy."  I'm always a little nervous when we go there that I may be buying dog food on our way home.  I used to get the server to make our order in to-go cups just in case we had to make a quick get away.  But it's not like that anymore.

I now confidently say, "to stay"  when I order my latte, strawberry banana smoothie with two straws and three of the muffins of the day.  The girls get a book from the children's section and we read and sip and enjoy.  I told Callie the story about when Lexi was just a newborn baby we would drop Callie off at preschool and me and Lexi would come and have coffee at this shop.  Lexi would sleep in her little seat and I would read the paper.  I always went by myself because I was never organized enough to make plans in advance.  

Callie then pipes up and says, "you came without me?"  To this I told her the story about when she was just a born baby Christine and I would bring our girls to this shop and the moms would visit and our girls would sit on our knees and all the grandmas in the shop would smile and comment on how beautiful they were.

  

I remember, a lot of years ago now, I was visiting my grandparents and on the side of their fridge the weekly church bulletin was posted with a magnet.  I glanced at the memo and read through the happenings of the little country church that they attended and on the last page was this poem.  It's funny that I can remember this poem from so long ago, long before I was even considering motherhood, when I forget so many other things (like my truck keys at the Wal-mart check-out! True story.) 

The words of this poem come back to me all. the. time.  Like when I look at the stained fabric on the kitchen chairs and think that I should clean them again or when I 've picked up the toys for the millionth time or tonight as I was writing this Callie asked if I could play Chutes and Ladders with her.  I think of those words I read so long ago and how short the amount of time it actually was that I had to order a my latte in a to-go cup.

(Oh, and I did play Chutes and Ladders in case you we're wondering.)


Hand Prints On The Wall
by Anonymous

One day as I was picking
the toys up off the floor,
I noticed a small hand print
on the wall beside the door.

I knew that it was something
that I'd seen most every day,

but this time when I saw it there
I wanted it to stay.

Then tears welled up inside my eyes,
I knew it wouldn't last
for every mother knows
her children grow up way too fast.

Just then I put my chores aside
and held my children tight.
I sang to them sweet lullabies
and rocked into the night.

Sometimes we take for granted,
all those things that seem so small.
Like one of God's great treasures...
A small hand print on the wall.