CHERISH THE WAIT

'How many more days until Seena goes to Papa's?' Sage asked me today. He has been asking me this all week - ever since I told him he gets to stay with me all alone next week during the Thanksgiving vacation. He has some ideas in mind about what he would like to do. Building a puzzle with me is first on his list. Making pumpkin pie is the second. I might even open my new Lego set - the Parisian Restaurant - with 2469 pieces and build it together with Sage.

I do not recall ever having made pumpkin pie as I'm not too fond of pies in general. But we bought one small pie pumpkin last week which I plan on roasting and pureeing instead of using the canned pumpkin puree. Since we will not be spending Thanksgiving together, the least I could do is attempt to make a pie for my boy.

Sage's homework today involved collecting ten leaves of various shapes, sizes, and colours. He was then to place the leaves into categories involving one of the attributes. He chose colour as the attribute, separated the leaves into piles, and counted the amount of each colour. Then he noted the results on his homework paper. I noticed his handwriting has improved greatly and his block letters are starting to resemble those found on architectural plans.

Cinnamon was excited about the tiny green toy frog she received at school today. As soon as she walked down the steps of the bus, she ran to me with the frog in her hand. Something so simple brought great joy to her - akin to children preferring to play with the cardboard boxes instead of the contents within. We should all stop to learn from children at times.

Dinner was a puffy pancake with powdered sugar and fresh strawberries. Cinnamon made a comment earlier, as I was putting together the ingredients, stating it has been a long time since we've eaten a puffy pancake. Indeed it has been a while.

After dinner, the children readied themselves for bed and chose books for their bedtime story. Cinnamon read Shel Silverstein's book 'The Giving Tree' after I read 'Rainbow Fish Finds His Way'. Her pronunciation was flawless as was her reading with intonation. I find that quite impressive from a first grader.

The day consisted of many thoughts as to what the next year will bring and how to go about spending time with my beau sooner rather than later. The transition to our residing in one home - whether in Ireland or the States - will take a while. Being in each other's company as much as possible for as long as possible is an important step before the larger step of living together. Cherishing the time now as we wait for that next great step is an act of patience we must practice. For now, I am looking forward to his day off tomorrow so we can see each other during the day via Skype.