Lovelihood

I know that hot dogs wrapped in puff pastry aren't going to garner me any mother of the year awards. But sometimes you find yourself with a package of the dough in the freezer, and some hot dogs in the fridge, and you go for the thing that might just make the kids' day.

For years we've watched for the week that kids set up card tables at our grocery store and challenge customers to a friendly chess match — for a donation, of course. The Boy, now a happy fixture in the school's chess club (not to worry, the club is 100+ members strong, so no nerdy stigma here), pulled a couple of shifts at the fundraiser this weekend and dazzled opponents with his enthusiasm for the game. Less so with his closing techniques.

My hexagon project has been slow-going, as you might expect of a work involving the hand-piecing of what will end up being thousands of cat-paw-sized hexagons. But I did a pressing and started popping out the piecing papers from the internal shapes, and with all the handling and crumpling and folding required to work those pieces into place, the thing is developing the pliant softness of something I can't wait to curl up under. Oh, and the cat likes to hang out while I sew.

Faced with a second sick day with the kids, and a sky full of rain, I put up the chalkboard wall decals that had previously sat unopened in a corner. In their first day of usage, they functioned more as energy release than conduits for artistic expression.

Don't get me wrong. Sick days around here usually involve much time cuddled up with an iPad. And today was no different, with two children home with raw noses and throats. But sometimes, even technology gets tiring, and the old-school boardgames find new allure.

I'm the sort to leave the ones I like best for the end. In this batch, it will be the salt caramels that cary the day. It's all moot, though, when you finish the entirety of the box, small as it is, in two nights.

By the time I got home the kids had safely in bed, sleeping off all the sugar they must have consumed today. But they did leave behind for me some treats and sweet sentiments.