River and Canyon--My Favorite Things

River was telling me a "few of his favorite things" the other day...I made his picks:  cats, hail, soccer into a song roughly similar to the famous ditty in the "Sound of Music"  he was not terribly entertained (given the quality of my singing voice) but it was fun for a sec.

Saturday I started a list in my head of my favorite things about my boys:

Canyon

The way his tiny limbs drape over my body in the night

The way he says "Want to hold you Mama" and tries to wrap his arms around me and "hold me" tight

The way he believes a "yellow horse lives under your bed" and the "horse is thirsty" so we have to "get it water"

How cute he is about every darn thing

River

How he has started getting up, picking out his favorite clothes and getting dressed

The way he will eat three bowls of salad if I add agave to the dressing

When he teaches me how to kick the soccer ball or flip the skateboard

When he helps his bro get something or understand something better

All the things he knows about all kinds of animals

The way my boys look playing in the light, running ahead with lovely friends (Qi and Tane) making games, swinging from bars, jumping and sculpting in the sand.

They woke up ravenous this morning (both emotionally and physically).  Canyon started early eating, apple-sauce, pancakes, strawberries, toast with jam and finishing, hours later, with tea before they seemed satisfied.  

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River watched lots of t.v. this morning--my attempt to make up for the fact that I skipped over "Jack Hanna" (his favorite) when I saw "Meet the Press" (my favorite).  Oh, well a healthy dose of explanations of the dynamics of race and gender in the presidential primaries and a discussion of the implications of war couldn't hurt him.  He knows--he listens to franti--"bomb bomb"..."you might come back with one less leg but this one will surely keep a bullet from your chest"  he hears it, sings it, he knows, he knows the war is not o.k....he knows how important it is that it ends...Bob Schieffer talked about that today 1/3 of Americans are following the presidential race closely...not as many as follow some reality shows, only 6% of americans follow-the war closely--but it is not going to let us forget...I told river, when Panetta suggested the possibility of the nomination occurring in a "battle" at the convention, that I would go and fight there, he looked scared.  "No baby, with my words, not my body."  Not sure if that makes sense or is really that different.  

Sometimes I am buried by this--arms flailing, keeping my head above the water as the River pours me through the Canyon as I reach for roots to be grounded.  Sink my weight, become a rock in this formation, let it pass over me...flow by, wear me down and shape my contours.