We've all been taking turns being sick, starting with Emily last Thursday. Yesterday was my turn, and the kids were all so sweet taking care of me. It was just a cold, and not a particularly bad one, but I was run down and my throat really hurt. I'm never very good at taking it easy, and even though I had the new Star Wars trilogy to watch on DVD, I would pop up every so often and putz around cleaning. By the end of the day, I had the whole house clean. *lol*

I helped the girls clean up their room at one point, and eventually even Sam joined in after he'd proclaimed that he didn't want to help. Later in the day, the kids were outside and Em came in and said she really wanted to help me with "chores." When I asked her what she meants, she said, "Oh, you know, like dishes and stuff." We'd already gotten the toys picked up and organized, so there wasn't much else to be done. I told her that dusting would be great, which she thought was a terriffic idea. The kids all came in, I gave them wet dust rags and they went to town wiping down the bookshelves and baseboards. Wow! I just burst with pleasure at the generosity in their hearts.

While we were watching the movie, they got me water and more ice for my water as it melted. They were having a grand day taking care of mama and telling me how sorry they were that I was sick. This morning, the first thing Sam asked me when I woke up was how was I feeling? He was so happy when I told him how much better I was. "See Mama," he beamed, "I told you you'd feel better soon!"


A New Era

Tuesday we were out grocery shopping and made the big move into Gameboy land... Dh and I had been discussing for several weeks whether buying Sam a gameboy would be a good idea because he is so good with computers. We both agreed that it would, and during the discussion, the SP Advance came down in price, which seemed to clinch the decision.

Tuesday, Sam chose his blue Gameboy at Toys R Us, and later at a gaming shop, the girls decided they would like to spend some money I had available for them on gameboys as well. So, we left with a few used games, a red Gameboy for Julia and the special edition tattoo one for Em.

The kids have been playing, swapping and sharing with dh and I for the past couple of days. They've been enjoying them on and off, but still finding several other things that capture their interest throughout the day. There've been a few instances of everyone wanting the same game, but overall watching them rotate gameboys rather than stopping the games to switch has been really heartwarming. They've been working together to figure out the games, especially since the used ones don't come with a booklet, and last night they took great pleasure in pointing out to their mama that there were, indeed, two more buttons to use!