Sissy’s birthday extravaganza seems to be coming to an end. There was the party, the cupcakes, the breakfast in bed. (You can catch up here if you missed it: Breakfast in Bed and Double Digits or Breakfast in Bed Update) Sissy has moved on to the thank you note part.
And her thank you notes come with personalized book marks made out of…you guessed it: duck tape. No feathers included.
Today, Piper, you are a ballerina, and I want to study and to preserve you from head to toe. You’ve gotten so tall lately that I can’t find my baby in your long limbs. I want to remember how you nuzzle your nose against my neck like a kitten. I’m going to watch you dance with your miniature pot belly poking at the edge of your tutu. So what if your shoes are on the wrong feet? You put them on yourself. Your knees and elbows are scattered with scars and bruises. You play hard, P. It’s one of the things I love so much about your spirit. Remember to always play hard and be brave, even if it means sometimes you’ll get hurt. Even your heart will heal. I promise. You told me this afternoon that you don’t ever want to grow up. I’d stop time, too, kiddo, if I could just to keep you exactly like this:
But I can’t. Not even for you, Piper. We’ll both just have to remember today when you were a ballerina and hold on tight for the ride. White knuckles and all.
I apologize for leaving you, dear reader, with quite the cliffhanger in Breakfast in Bed. You’ve spent the day wondering “Did Sissy invite the Piper to partake of her birthday breakfast? Did she forgive Piper’s snotty ways?” Of course she did. She even awarded Piper two mini muffins for good behavior.
It was a delicious way to start the Sissy celebration. There was cuddling. There were stories from birthdays past. Then we each told Sissy our favorite thing about her and gave her a dollar (a weird and welcome family tradition).
The yummyness continued with cupcake decor.
And we watched home movies starring Sissy as a baby. Piper was mesmerized. How could her heroine have ever been so tiny and full of drool? There’s hope yet.
Then on to the good stuff: gifts. A Piper isn’t known for keeping secrets. She told Sissy about her gift five minutes after we bought it, and she reminded her every day leading up to the birthday. “Guess what I got you!” Piper said, but there really wasn’t much to guess about. Still, Sissy played along. She put on her best look of surprise. “Yes! I was hoping for some duct tape!”
“What’s your first project, Sissy?” Piper asked.
Sissy unrolled a reel of neon yellow tape. “I know just what to do,” Sissy said. “Let’s tape your mouth shut!”
Piper loves a good holiday decoration. If it were up to her, our house would be one revolving party complete with balloons and streamers. When you’re a Piper, there’s always something to celebrate.
This afternoon we decided to get our house ready for spring. The cherry blossoms, tulips, and azaleas are blooming all over town. It’s enough inspiration to make me want to clean a closet. Almost. Apparently, though, spring had already sprung and the three stores we went to were clean out of your usual Easter fare. Piper came up with her own solution.
She turned herself into a flower for the rest of the afternoon. Then we printed out some Easter eggs and bunnies for coloring and made our own window decorations. Oh, and I’m pleased to introduce you to the latest addition to our menagerie. Meet Nick and Sally:
They’re noisy little chicks, but they fit in well in our house, if you know what I mean.
If you give a four-year-old a choice of the following Saturday outings: Smithsonian, park, or yard sale, which do you think she’d choose?
Yep. You’re right. Piper chose to grab her money from her cash register and dig through our neighbor’s castaways. First, she raided her allowance stash.
Then she ran out the door with her Nana.
Don’t worry. She brought us all back treasures. And that’s the thing about a Piper. She loves to give gifts. She’s especially generous with the unwanted knickknacks of complete strangers. You won’t believe her fortune.
I know you have your eye on the holiday snow globe, but that’s for me. Isn’t it gorgeous? Santa is dancing with Mrs. Claus while that charming little family looks on. I’m already looking forward to Christmas. The plastic red bird ornament is for Piper’s dad. She says he’ll hang it on our tree this year. The cool cat statue have sustained some minor ear damage but they’re good as new. Meow. Who could resist a Disney globe with all those princesses? Not Sissy. And the bracelet? Well, Piper even got a little something for herself. A girl deserves a treat after all that haggling. But the real find? The super-duper-coolest-yard-sale-find ever? Roller skates.
Complete with knee pads and elbow pads. A Piper falls, you know. I’ll have the super glue ready.
Back by popular demand…Gpa’s guest blogging again:
Piper loves everything. She especially loves the beach.
She loves her cousins. It doesn’t matter which cousins, her Florida or her Missouri, she enjoys being with them all.
The combination of three of her Missouri cousins and the beach was too much to pass up.
It’s about an hour ride from our house on the river to the beach. A long ride for a Piper but she had cousin Jilly to read to her the entire trip. Having someone read to her is another love of Piper’s. A quick, flawless trip.
Cousins, beach, reading, sun….what more could a Piper need?
Just let her go. Keep her in sight at all times, but let her go.
Piper has spirit. Piper cannot be tamed, barely restrained.
Every older person, especially a Gpa, needs to sit, watch, appreciate, and laugh at Piper. I did. The ocean was not my favorite place to be, until today.
Sand castles were built, little cousin P.J. stepped on them all. They ran. They waded. The weather was great, the water was cool, and cousins were there. What a day. What a memory.
I was brave on the trip home; I took the one year old, P.J., Piper, and Jilly for the long trip back.
But, Piper has a unique ability to fall asleep in a truck riding for an hour. It must be contagious, so did her cousins.
As I drove, they rested and recharged. I reflected on the day. Perfect weather, sand, ocean and grandchildren. God has blessed me again.
Arriving home, Piper’s keeper was amazed I had survived and suggested I might be running for Grandpa of the year. It doesn’t matter. I already have my reward.
We’re gamers. When we don’t have a new game to play, Piper and Sissy invent their own. Piper’s latest dinner time game is called “tell your story.” Here’s how it goes:
Pipe throws out a question like “Who has seen a giraffe?”
We all raise our hands like eager school children. Piper selects one of us.
“Okay. Tell your story.”
She’s a complete dictator of the game. If your giraffe story isn’t interesting, she cuts you off mid-sentence and starts another round. “Enough. Who has been to New York City?”
This afternoon we found a new game. Sissy invented it for us.
The game came complete with a folder and accessories for play.
There were rules, of course. Sissy likes rules.
Piper spent the day nursing a nasty cold, so the game was a welcome distraction. She immediately dug into the notebook so I could dictate her first message.
Dear Sissy,
You’re a good sissy. I’m glad you’re my sissy. I like how you draw houses. I love the bracelet you made me. When I get older, will you take care of me?
Love, Piper
Then we tucked the note into the supplied plastic tube and hid it in Sissy’s room. Piper really couldn’t wait for the whole finding the message thing, though, so she dragged Sissy upstairs and pointed at the tube and then ran off giggling (and coughing).
Sissy wrote back immediately.
The game was a hit with much sneaking between rooms. It was sort of like a message in the bottle, but you didn’t have to wait years for the ocean to bring it to you. I was even rewarded with this:
Awww. Piper confirmed that Sissy’s new game was awesome.
“This is so much better than 60 questions, Mom.”
“Do you mean 20 questions?”
“Whatever,” the dictator said. “Hand me that tube and start writing.”
“Hey, Mom. Guess what?”
“What, Piper?”
“I love you.”
Piper is a spontaneous lover. She doles out “I love yous” like beads at Carnival. She interrupts me mid-sentence. Just as I’m ranting at everyone to grab their lunchbox don’t forget your coat did you wash your hands, I lean over to hurry up Piper who is sitting on the stairs pulling on her shoes and she whispers “I love you.” It slows me down. Just for a second. I kiss her cheek. I sniff her a little. It’s what mothers do.
This afternoon we stole an hour together and went to the library. We had overdue books to return and more errands to run, but a welcome cancellation left us with a whole unscheduled hour. A luxury indeed. Our public library is in the town center, an adorable cobble stoned space with shops, restaurants, and people. There is an outdoor ice skating rink and summer concerts. It’s one of the reasons we wanted to live here. Actual live people out enjoying their community. Who knew? The library is three stories with a glass bottomed spiral staircase. The first thing Piper likes to do when we visit is slowly climb the entire staircase. The she holds my hand and leads me through the reference area, shushing me with her finger to her lips. I assure you I’m being quiet, but Piper knows the rules. At the library she actually follows them. After our trek up and down the stairs, we visit the children’s area, which is tucked away in a glass rotunda. This afternoon we planted ourselves on bean bag chairs in a pool of sunlight. Piper fetched books and I read and read. She rewarded me with little “I love yous” between books.
Piper can be a hot mess most days. But she loves really hard and she tells me all the time.
Just as we were leaving the library, Piper asked again “Hey, Mom. Guess what?” I smiled and braced myself for another love reward.
“What, honey?”
“Let’s get donuts.”
Oh, well played, Piper.
Six weeks ago piperism existed only in our hearts and minds. Here is one my favorite pics of Piper’s heart and mind:
So, I decided to blog. My sister-in-law egged me on. Why not record and share Piper’s hilarity? Why not write something for fun again and enjoy the process? Surely, at least my mom will read (Thanks for reading, Mom!). More than 7000 hits later, piperism seems to be going strong. There have been a few…shall we say, accidental followers along the way. I’d like to take a moment to apologize to them. I’m sorry if piperism led you astray. Here are a few search terms and their actual verbiage (in italics) that have been innocently typed into search engines that resulted in a new piperism reader:
girls that like star wars-Whoever you are, we could be friends.
piperism-Really? 26 searches? It’s sweeping the nation.
darth vader mannequin-You’re weird. That is all.
pull up laxatives-I’m sorry. We can’t help you here. Wishing you potty progress.
Here’s a category I’m not particularly proud of: filthy socks, hoarders for beginners, pictures of stink Nice, Piper, nice.
its okay if you disagree with me i can’t force you to be right-Ooh. Someone’s angry. Hope the piperism lightened your load.
soulmates resist you-Now that makes me sad. This blog probably isn’t for you. If your soulmate is resisting you, you’ll never get yourself a Piper.
invalidated barbie-Huh? That implies they were ever validated.
utz cheese chips-Clearly, you aren’t listening. I said the crab utz chips were seasoned crack. The cheese ones are just regular crack.
lalaloopsy underwear-If that actually exists, Piper is going to go gaga. Again.
girls who love yoda-Sounds like a self-help group for recovering nerd lovers. We’re big fans of yoda and nerds. We get you.
chore chart-This one I totally get. I think I’ve even searched on that. How else can you prove to your partner how much more you do then them? It’s all about the score.
mulgated-This actually brought a tear to my eye. I’m kind of proud. My baby made up a word and two people in this crazy world thought it was real. Sniff.
you don’t need anyone who doesn’t need you-Again, what’s with the anger? I know some good therapists if you need one.
Finally, my personal favorite: tutus and the ballerinas that love them. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Piper in a nutshell. You’ve found your blog.
40 posts later. Here we are. However you got here, I’m glad you stopped by. I’m flattered you’re reading. I hope Piper made you laugh or at least helped you see a little more joy in the world. I’ll keep writing and recording the antics and adventures. I’m grateful for the chance. Hope to see you again soon, even if by accident.
Gratitude is a funny thing. It creeps up on you. It can make you weepy.
Tonight at dinner we were imagining what we’d do if no one told us what to do anymore. If you could plan one whole day without responsibilities, how would you spend it? We’ve been having authority problems, you see. It was just a question to start a conversation. I said I’d write more, sleep more, and probably never cook again. My partner wants to go to guitar stores and be that guy who plays every single guitar and never buys a thing. Sissy wants more time to read and to go to Ikea twice a day for more organizational supplies. I tell you, we dream big around here. Piper’s answer? “I’d just want to be with my Sissy. That’s all.”
And it’s enough.
piperism 