At the conference, she gifted me with exactly what Jake and I needed, without any of us knowing it at the time: a book by her friend about balloon hats! Gillian did a funshop at the conference with balloon hats, inspired by her desire to *give* and *connect* at the conference. I was so touched when she gave me the extra book that she had:
Little did we know that Monday evening, I would be trying to think of a way to transition Carmen from her mother to spending a Joyful day with us. And the answer was not far away: Gillian's gift of BALLOON MADNESS!!!
SO thank you thank you thank you, sweet Gillian. What a blessing in so many ways...
I'd like to share a little background about the amazing connections between my family and Carmen's family, but it's much too complex to find a *little* to share. I know for a fact that some day I am going to write an article about how the Universe has brought the lives of our two families together time and time again...each of us giving and getting exactly what we have needed in the moment we have needed it.
It began years ago when Carmen's madre, Esperanza, followed what was in her heart and created the Fair Trade store in Oneonta, Da'Vida. I wanted a place to sell my felted spirit bags, and to contribute to the community, and so Jake, Sam and I began volunteering our time there.
The blessings have increased a thousand fold since those first days, and here we are with this blessing in front of us now: Carmen is in our lives regularly and Esperanza ~ attachment parent and future unschooling Mama ~ has the only people she truly trusts caring for her child while she teaches at the college.
So here is a glimpse at our first day with Carmen.
Our day began at the Fair Trade store, as it's a central point in all of our lives and Carmen feels at home there. Jake and I arrived first and when Carmen got there, she was very excited to have the opportunity to play with us! We showed her the international photo gallery from the balloon book. Pictures of people from all over the world with balloon hats! It's SO beautiful and she giggled and was excited to make her own!
Good-bye to her Mama, and no trouble with that first transition at all. Just sheer JOY right from the start.
So Jake and I got started pumping up the balloons for Carmen. She LOVED the whole process. The noise, the pumping, the balloon being inflated. We looked through the photos to see what she would like to make and she decided she wanted a giant flower AND a silly hat. So we started on the flower and had a great time.
I talked to her about the sound of the balloons popping, in case they should pop. She assured me that she would be okay with it. I told her that it's loud for me, and sometimes scares me, and she said, "Don't worry. I won't be scared."
Well, when one *did* pop, I could see she was a bit shaken. I talked about how it scared *me*, and Jake said that it scared him, too. I also was sensing that she might have been sad about the loss of that balloon. Carmen is completely bi-lingual, so we were counting the petals we had on her flower in Spanish and when we got to *cinco* (five), she decided to name one of the petals *Cincy*. So when one popped, I understood that it might be the loss of something that she had named and grown to love that might be difficult.
And even though I could clearly see her feeling a bit upset, I could also see her CHOOSING to not let it get in the way of our Joy. She made a conscious CHOICE to not cry or be upset...she chose to reassure *me* that she was fine and didn't want to dwell on it anymore.
And so we walked forward in Joy.
Needing a change after time just FLEW with balloon-play, Jake and I suggested we get outside and walk to the library to read books and play with the puppets. Jake helped her get her coat on and I sort of stepped to the side to allow *their* relationship to strengthen. Carmen sweetly trusted Jake with EVERYthing. Putting on her shoes and socks and coat, holding her hand as they walked and crossed the street. It was beautiful. I loved listening to their conversations.
The library time was perfect because Jake and Carmen played for so long and I had a chance to find books for my children's library program, which will be starting up on the 24th. And I also had a chance to browse knitting books, and guitar music books...something that I don't usually take the time to do because we are in a rush to get other things done.
After I had gathered two huge piles of books to check out and Jake and Carmen had read numerous books together, we all decided to go to the coffee shop and have a bagel.
It's difficult to write this, because the heart and soul of the day was the Joy in being with Carmen every moment. She is SO funny and brilliant and interesting and Jake and I spent so much time just laughing, and letting go of all else in the world, just to be with her in that moment, in her Joy and her Love and Beauty.
After our bagels we went to the art store. Jake bought Carmen some bird stickers.
And then it was back to Da'Vida, because I had shown Carmen the photos I had taken of her while we were in the bagel shop and she saw the balloon photos and wanted to get back to her balloons!
I needed to do a couple of things downtown, so Jake and Carmen broke out the markers and paper and spent time drawing.
Carmen's papa came at 1:45, and he asked Carmen if she was ready to go. She answered, "Ut uh." I had told her that she would be spending the rest of the day with her Papa and then in 2 more days, she could come to our house! She was very excited, and they packed up all of the balloons and left, with Carmen's Papa reassuring her that yes, her beautiful balloon creations *would* indeed fit in their car!
Jake felt very satisfied and pleased with his time with Carmen.
And so begins a new chapter in the Universe providing exactly what we need and desire.
All is truly well.
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