We've had a couple rough months in the Niffer household. It hasn't been anything in particular, but it seems that a lot of things have contributed to the fact that Michael and I are exhausted. And so when I got a call from school saying that my Ellie was sick, I have to admit that I was not looking forward to spending the entire day with Ellie. I know that sounds harsh, but I've long ago decided that I am a much better Mommy when I don't spend the entire day with my children.
That's besides the point. Let me get on with my story.
As it turns out, Ellie wasn't feeling very sick the following day. Surprise surprise. So I tired to fill the day with activities to keep us occupied. We went to the muffin place and had a special "Mommy and Ellie" date. We sat there and talked about her school and her friends and what our plans were for the day.
We went to the store where Ellie proceeded to show me all the toys she wants for her birthday, and yet she was ok with the fact that we couldn't buy them now. I loved watching her look at the pictures of the box and get excited about the chance to play with the items. I loved to see how one toy would catch her eye while another equally impressive toy would just get a "ho-hum" reaction from her. It was a very enjoyable hour for me, and the fact that she didn't break down when I kept telling her we couldn't buy the toys, made it all the better.
We came home and watched a quick video because that's what Ellie really wanted to do before lunch. And unlike her usual, she didn't argue when the video was done. Instead we went to lunch. She ate all her meal. We talked girly stuff like unicorns and princesses.
Then we came home for a nap. She went down easily and slept for 3 hours, which I know she needed. She was sick, after all.
Finally, after the nap we went sledding. I confess, I did not want to go. I have memories of hating sledding. I never liked the hike back up the hill just for a 20 second run down. I was the child who stayed at the bottom, laying in the snow, just enjoying the crisp cold air. But not enjoying the sledding. I knew, though, that I needed to get over that. My daughter wanted to go and if it didn't happen with me, it wouldn't happen until the next snow fall (that's the thing about CO... lots of snow but it melts quickly).
I'm so glad we went! I had a lot of fun and the hill wasn't nearly as hard to climb as I remember the hills of my childhood. Though I excpected to just go down a couple times before Ellie got too cold and wanted to go home, it turned out she had a lot of fun. After going down the hill with me twice, she wanted to go alone. And boy did she step up to the plate! She wanted to go down on her tummy, head first, backwards, laying face up... you name it. She wanted to try it. I was impressed by her courage.
When it started getting dark outside, we started walking towards the car to go home. She made snow angels along the way and we wrote her name next to them so that people would know who made them.
So our day together was exactly what I needed. And chances are it was exactly what Ellie needed too. She's really a beautiful little girl and one that brings so much joy to my life. It was nice to be reminded of that. Thank you Ellie. Even Niffers occasionally need reminding.
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