This morning when I was in the kitchen
rushing around to get the lunches made and the breakfast cooked, Alesia came in
and asked me to French braid her hair. I said OK. She was very sweet about it
and she was already fully dressed. However, I was thinking as I did it, wow,
this is going to throw me behind in getting everything done, and I don’t want to run late. Right after
the braiding was done, Alesia said “Mom, I will help you. What do you want me to do?”
Well, I was flabbergasted. She never offers
to help me in the morning like that. I set her to work. She fixed the sausage
and waffles, got her drink, even helped me tie Michael’s shoes.
So we weren’t late, and in fact I had time to enjoy a leisurely
breakfast.
I thought her helping me showed some real
progress and maturity on her part. I thanked her before she left for school. I
asked Mother later if she had suggested this to Alesia and she said no.
My girl is finally gaining some
maturity. Well, that was my thought.
Then tonight she asked if she could
go to the mall with Elena tomorrow and I said OK, Who else is going? Who’s
driving? When will you be home? She got annoyed. “These are standard questions,
kiddo. I would ask them no matter what the situation.”
She really got irritated when I told
her to speak English on the call. She likes to speak Russian so I don’t know
what she’s saying.
Oh well.
Michael has two tennis matches
tomorrow. It’s pouring rain right at the moment, and we've got thunderstorms moving through. Hope it clears up before
morning.
We watched the end of Saving Private Ryan tonight. I had spread the movie over
three nights because it’s so intense. The kids responded well to it. We also
watched some of the features on the disc, that talked about the actual history
the movie is based on. Michael paid close attention. Alesia was busy making a
birthday card.
SPOILER ALERT [for anyone who hasn’t seen Saving Private
Ryan, stop reading]
The first time I ever watched that
movie, it just blew me away. I went home and cried and cried. What got to me
was Tom Hanks’ character, at the end, telling Ryan “Earn this,” meaning, so
many men have died to save you, you need to lead a good life and earn our
sacrifice. Of course, that’s impossible. It was only 2 years after my father
had died, and I had this eerie feeling I was being sent a message. My dad died
at 65, far too young, but it was his time. He worked like a dog, and left
Mother financially well off. It was like I was being told, your dad sacrificed
so you could have a good life, now go out and really live your life. I just had
that strange feeling that Dad was telling me something, wacko as that may sound,
so be it.
Three of my four uncles were in
World War II, and they made great sacrifices. Today, we are raising kids who
don’t have any real understanding of that. That’s why it’s important to show
kids this movie. Hopefully by the time I show it to my grandkids I won’t be
sitting there crying at the end.
