Friday, November 04, 2011

I gave a lot of hugs this morning

Hug #1: Paloma when she ran into our room and right on top of me at 3:30 AM.

Hug #2: Sabrina when she woke up, called for me, told me to leave and go back to my room, asked me to come back because there were monsters in her bed, and finally let me pick her up and snuggle at 7 AM.

Hug #3: Paloma who sobbed that her clothes were all uncomfortable and the outfit she picked out last night needed to be changed. Usually we make them stick to whatever they pick out the night before, but today I just had a sense she needed a hug and a little bit of flexibility.

Hug #4: Paloma, who told me flat out that she didn't like being left at school and wanted the family to be all together. Hugged and then her teacher gently called her over (and good thing she changed and was comfortable because it was picture day!).

Hug #5: Paloma has a very close friend at school whose father, H, has cancer. He has gone downhill alarmingly fast. A few weeks ago, Paloma went with them to a show. Today, I stopped K, her friend's mom, and asked how she was doing. "Good! Not good." And in her Danish-y English (they're recent immigrants) she told me how very, very sick H was today, how he was at the doctor and couldn't talk anymore. And I gave K a strong hug. And she started to cry.

 Hug #6: Sabrina wanted to keep holding hands at preschool this morning. Hanging on and on. I gave her a big hug and told her I couldn't wait to hear how her day goes. Her teacher asked her to help bring the snack inside, and she let go.

Hug #7: I saw a little girl in Sabrina's class crying and kind of wandering around. I gave her a gentle pat on the back as I was walking out and she just fell against my legs, sobbing. So I gave her a big hug too.

Seven hugs by 9:10 AM. One of those days I felt like my mandate as a mama is Free Hugs For Everyone.


And if I could give these sweet kids hugs too, I would!