The day started in the usual manner of days around here at the LaLa, we had a lot to get done today the least of which is to get Tatjana to the airport early, but as is the case around here, I hadn’t even walked out the door when a lost dog appeared on my porch courtesy of a neighbor who found her and decided I might be able to help by calling the owner and perhaps keeping her till the owner appeared. No way.
Then airport. Work.
Later, drive across Lake Ponchartrain silk sunflowers in hand to replace the pink peonies in mom’s vase on her grave. Before I got there I stopped to have a meal with my aunt and uncle and learned that even though they are 11 years older than me they said they still haven’t figured it out. Ha! At mom’s grave, the moment I craved, a solemn quiet prayerful moment was interrupted by Tin breaking out of the gate and dashing across the yard where my other aunt’s lunatic dog lay in wait to kill any creature. So a quick sweep of the flower presto change-o and Tin did say, “We miss you Mimi” before we had to dash back to the truck before he could escape yet again.
A visit to my uncle who is building a big old house all by himself, while his son sits in the shade of an oak tree reading and contemplating a life that he is not sure he is living. My uncle said pretty much the same thing that every step of the way he has tried to do the right thing building his house but even though he meticulously hand-planed each piece of wood that would frame the house – the framers mixed all the wood up and he is now putting shims or planing to make up for the lack or excess of mismatched framing. Sheesh. He said, he feels my pain.
Home, and I snapped twice – once when Tin hit me and another when he kicked my hand. Xylophone gained at Uncle’s house – off limits. Drumming lessons in Fortier Park – cancelled due to bad behavior. Then we went to take a walk since he wasn’t napping and I tried to relax into his kinetic unrested mood and we passed Angie’s drum circle so of course, I acquiesced – stopped and meandered over to where he was introduced as the star of the show.
Later sitting in Nonna Mia having a slice of pizza a mother commented on how well behaved Tin is and I realized that everything is in context – here the minor infractions that Tin had made were nothing in comparison and I felt like I was the over achieving helicopter mom who couldn’t just let the toddler personality shine through. Tin being a toddler – who would have thought.
Whose grooming who?