Fun Evening Memories

Yesterday was a fun evening with Rachel. We didn't do anything particularly special. Just the usual every day tasks...grocery store, dinner preparations. But Rachel was in a particularly good mood. She chose me and a trip to the grocery store over spending time with Gram, which was unusual. She "helped" with the shopping and check-out, telling the girl what each item was as she handed it to her. If she wasn't sure what something was, she just said "and this, and this."
It was a little chilly outside, so we made chili for dinner, complete with the Jiffy cornbread- because that's what you make with chili. Since she couldn't help me with chopping onion or browning the hamburger, I put her to work on the cornbread. I measured the ingredients but she did all the mixing and pouring. She even poured the batter into the pan. I put them in the oven for her (much to her dismay) but while she may be able to steer the tractor, I'm not convinced she's ready for a 400 degree oven. We had music going while we worked and when she was done eating, she looked at me, angled her head just so, and ever so sweetly asked me "MomMom, you want to dance?" Well, how on earth do you say no to that? So we danced. We shimmied, we shaked, we twirled, and we spun. I only wish I had a camera to capture the look of pure joy on Rachel's face as we twirled in the kitchen. I was able to capture it with the camera in my mind and there it will stay forever for me to call up in the less than perfect moments of meltdowns, and in years to come when twirling in the kitchen will no longer be a request.
Thank you, Rach. MomMom loves to dance with you, bake with you, and do the dishes with you. It's ok now- but someday, you'll have to leave your shirt ON while washing dishes...