No Matter What

My young son listens. He often hears my discussions with his big sisters about their misbehavior and my unconditional love. Our talks go something like, "I know you made a mistake, and I forgive you. I always love you, no matter what." We hug and go on about our business. Henry has taken note of this exchange. Robbie and I discovered that on separate occasions after Henry got into some trouble we told him we love him, and before we could continue he said, "No matter what." He has been saying it with emphasis lately, and the words make my heart sing.

On a recent walk on a day off school Olivia and Evelyn saw a large dog on a leash attack and kill a squirrel. It was quite awful. Olivia was sobbing, and she asked me why the animal's arms and legs shook before it died. My heart broke. She has such a tender heart and an amazing ability to empathize. That's one of the qualities I love most about my sweet Olivia. I don't think Miss Evelyn gave a rip about the squirrel. She said little. Olivia talked about it again and again, and I don't think she'll soon forget what she witnessed. Later in that walk I told her how a political sign had again appeared in our yard without my consent. I was mad about it. I told her somebody was going to get an ear full if they called me anytime soon. She asked, "Are you going to call the Pope or the President?"

Henry is obsessed with some of Olivia's clothing items. His favorites include her soccer jersey, her big cleats, and a navy Ralph Lauren cotton skirt. He had a terrible fit over wanting to wear Olivia's school plaid jumper, and I said, "No." He put on a blue fairy costume, wore the headband, and announced, "I'm a bee!"

Baby Vivian has decided to exert her opinion. God help me. The baby is in love with fruit puffs and Cheerios. They are like Baby Cheetos to her, and she WANTS them. She also wants MORE of them! She will scream during dinner when I try to spoon feed baby food into her little mouth, then she'll immediately calm if I shake the fruit puffs can in front of her. She knows what she wants, and she has been telling me LOUDLY. And, here we go...

It dawned on me that my girls have never watched our wedding video, so we remedied that last night. Evelyn wanted Henry to watch it with her today, and they sat through a full Catholic mass and watched the reception too. Evelyn got very upset with Henry for saying he wanted to marry Daddy. "He ALREADY married Mommy, Henry. He can't marry you!!" She is so forceful with him sometimes. I sometimes cringe as I hear my own tone in her young voice. The girls told me how beautiful I looked, and they laughed when Robbie said a few different things on camera. It was really neat for them to hear our friends talk about us. My sweet friend Kara said some wonderful words about me that I think really made the girls perk up. Thank you, Kara, for that special story.