Vacation

Wrote this last week, never posted...
Friday, November 2:

Miss Barbara, Lucy's teacher, is on vacation
She left today for Aruba

Barbara has been telling the class she is going on vacation and will be gone today and next week in an effort to prep them for her absence

Lucy is terribly fond of Miss Barbara and I'm not sure how the week will play out.......

Especially after this conversation in the car on the way home last night:

How was your day Luce?

I hear her exhale and adjust my mirror so I can see her
She is looking out the window and sort has her bottom lip poked out as one does after they've exhaled a deep sigh of...defeat....

Well Mama, Miss Barbara is leaving me tomorrow, how do you think that made my day?

I coughed to cover up my laugh and said

You mean for vacation?

Yeah Mama, for vacation!

Well, Miss Danielle will still be there and Miss Barbara told me Miss Sarah will be helping out - and you met Miss Sarah this week...she's nice yeah?

Yeah Mama, Miss Sarah is nice and I like Miss Danielle.....

She pauses for a moment and looks in my direction, makes eye contact and raises her arms and says

But they just aren't Miss Barbara....and what if Miss Barbara likes vacation and Aruba so much she never come back to me?!?!??

Oh honey, she'll come back.....

Why did she go on vacation?

Vacation, Lucy, is when people take a break from their job or from school to rest and relax so when they come back, they have lots of energy and feel good

Oh, Miss Barbara needs to relax?

She does honey, she just needs to relax and get some rest

But Mama, she does yoga….’member she showed me how to do yoga? That’s how you relax…with a yoga breath!

Well, sometimes Lucy, people need more than yoga…they need more of a rest

'Cause I make her crazy Mama?

At this I did laugh aloud

No honey, you don't make Miss Barbara crazy! She loves you very much

Mama, you love me and you told me the other day I was makin' you crazy........Mama, you can make me crazy, can I get a vacation from you?

Uhh

And if I do go on vacation, can I take Miss Barbara and you and Daddy just go somewhere else? I don't want her to miss me while I on vacation like I'm gonna miss her on vacation - when you miss someone, it hurts

Umm….wouldn't you miss me and Daddy?

No Mama! You two are making me crazy!

We are?

I don't know Mama! I just said that 'casuse I miss Barbara so much!

She threw her head back in her seat and closed her eyes

Honey, we just left Miss Barbara.....she's not even gone yet....and when you said good bye you sort of dashed out...you didn't even give her a proper good bye

I didn't want to make a scene Mama!!!!

How I don't drive off the road sometimes amazes me...and where she gets this stuff amazes me even more

We pulled up to the house and Lucy informed me if we could go see Hobson (the neighbor's cat we've been cat sitting) she'd feel better

As we walked across the Circle, Lucy tugged my hand

Mama?

Yes Lucy

You're not making me crazy

I'm not?

No Mama - I sorry I said that

Is Daddy making you crazy?

No Mama.......I just said that 'cause I think I'm really going to miss Miss Barbara and I'm going to be sad

We stopped and I knelt down in front of her

I'll miss Barbara too Lucy

Yeah....she sort of swung side to side

Come on Luce, let's go feed Hobson

We started back off across the Circle with Lucy sort of skipping along and me waiting for her to fall

She stopped in her tracks, turned around and yelled out to me

You know what would make me not be sad Mama?

What's that honey?

If we got a dog.......

Maria the Mum