When I look at this

Day 8 of 31 at TWT!

I'm standing in my doorway overlooking the sea of 8th graders at class change, feeling like a piece of coral buffeted by strong currents and (very) large fish (with very large backpacks!), when I feel the gentle buzz on my wrist. There's still a couple minutes before class starts, so I pull my arm up and sneak a peek: it's a text from our nanny with a picture. 

Quickly, I tap and scroll down, glad that my new watch lets me take a quick look without pulling out my phone. It's a piece of construction paper covered in colored dots, with a message below: "Rainbow Girl said 'when I look at this, I see my mommy because I love her!'"

My heart feels as if it's flying up out of my chest, through the ceiling, out of my school, and down the street to our house just across the neighborhood to give my sweet Mama's girl a hug. 

My students walk in, and I greet them by name. We read together, play a speaking game together, and write together. We laugh together, and I really enjoy my time with them. One does his best work of probably the entire school year, and I end the day by telling him over and over how proud I am of him.

But when the bell rings, I can't wait to get home to see my sweetie pie who loves me so much that she saw me in a craft of colored dots she made. There's a new text from the nanny: "She made special love cards for everyone in her family! <3" 

She's asleep when Sis and I get home, but in just a few minutes, the door to her room slowly creaks open. She timidly peeks out, and her eyes crinkle into her brightest smile when she sees me. "Mama!" she coos down, peering through the banister of the great room "bridge". 

"Mia said you were thinking of Mama today when you looked at your craft!" 

She nods silently but sweetly, still a little groggy, a long braid sliding up and down her shoulder. 

"I was thinking of you too!" I blow a kiss upstairs as I wash my hands. "And she said you made some love cards for everyone in our family?"

"Yeah!!!" Her excitement gets her skipping and yelling. "For you! And there's one for you, Sissy!" She points enthusiastically down at her big sister. "And Daddy! And grandparents too!" She's frolicking in the upstairs hallway now, bouncing as I scurry up the stairs. 

"I can't wait to see them!" I scoop her up and give her a kiss. Her tiny arms wrap around me and she snuggles her little head into my shoulder as I carry her back downstairs. 

At the bottom, she wriggles down my hip and scampers over to the kitchen table, grabbing a pile of light blue papers. "I think I remember which one is yours!" 

So much love! <3

She digs through the pile. "Happy Love Day!" she declares as she hands mine to me, and I wonder if they watched that episode of Daniel Tiger or read the book today.

"And LOOK! Sissy! This is YOURS!" 

It's upside down, but you can see where she wrote the letters of her name (top left)!

She waves another paper at her big sis, who pulls her into a hug, and croons, "You wrote your name!!! I love it! Thank you, Sweetie Pie!"

Next, she adds a drawing of "our family" to my page, declaring first that the dots will be our sidewalk, then deciding instead that we're resting on cloud pillows. I can't wait to take it to school and hang it in my classroom, knowing that "when I look at this, I['ll] see [her]. Because I love her." <3

My finished "love card"! <3 Don't you love the way she draws people with all their little appendages sticking out???