the little things life is made of

1) Xir saying: "Will you sing my Cyclopstaur (a horridly ugly plastic toy somebody gave him that he is completely enamored of) to sleep? If you sing Twinkle Little Star it will be just a minute to you but it will be a whole hour for him because he is in a very little world."

2) Anainn inventing a game in which he bends over at the waist and ducks his head under something---a curtain, the hamper lid, or one memorable time, yesterday's bra---becoming in this way "invisible", and then straightens up, beams, and claps his hands: Wow, look, I'm back!

3) Visiting a friend and having her answer the door with her face unselfconsciously coated in a mixture of mud, cucumber, and aloe pulp.

4) Discovering this video (in the course of my research about family sleep-ins, naturally): the camera pans around looks of shock and dismay on the faces of Uzbek nomads as they, in turn, watch a video about crazy American parents who isolate their children in SEPARATE ROOMS!

5) Cleaning a graze on Xir's knee and having him look up at me and say earnestly: "I feel like hugging you until I pass away."

6) Coming home after an impossibly long day of humping the (truly unportable) stroller, baby, kid, and kid accoutrements from bus to bus only to find flowers and a bowl of hot soup waiting for me, courtesy of the best landlady on the planet.

7) Xir's explanation of the difference between a kumquat and a loquat: "Now I get it. With a kumquat you are supposed to eat the peel but it is HORRIBLE. With a loquat you are NOT supposed to eat the peel but if you do, it tastes nice!"

8) Remembering the conversation with my old friend Rob on Wednesday, in which I learned that interesting lives may be hard on the one living them, but can prove valuable for those looking on.

9) Banana muffins with cream cheese.

10) Not being a vegan anymore.

11) Shelayna's one closet, one year blog and its wonderful information about midwifery, circumcision, and of course layering.

12) Having a friend whose only piece of furniture is a spinning wheel. Which she uses daily. And who is turning a pair of socks she knit for her beloved that were too large into slippers by affixing bits of leather (obtained for free from, of all places, a car upholsterer) to the soles and embroidering them with bow and arrow so that "as he learns to hunt he will shoot true".

13) Xir pilfering my headphones and sitting on the bus looking all chill; when I asked him what he was listening to he said "How to discipline your children". Oh yeah, I put those parenting tapes on there. He was really into it, too!

13) The scent of rose geranium.

14) Coming to the end of a truly difficult day and knowing that I learned something, that my children learned something, and that I may be on the right path after all.