I Wish I were an Enchantress

It seems that I have been more busy than usual lately. This week have had multiple Dr. appointments, emergency vehicle repairs that couldn’t wait, and neighbors that need help in the next minute kind of stuff. So in order to take advantage of the best time for me to teach my girls, which is morning, I’ve had to assemble a School-on-the-Go-Bag for the car. Usually I throw it together as we are running out the door but I’d like to take it to the next level and have some activities prepared ahead of time. Quiet activities, however have eluded me so far.
Lea does great with reading in the car, which amazes me because I am one of those people who if I glance at a book for longer than a minute, I have to roll down the window for fresh air or pull over and lose my cookies. In my case it would probably be a Chocolate, blueberry, Peanut Butter Protein Breakfast Shake. Rolling down the window in winter however might mean a face full of water, especially with all the rain.
For some reason Lea’s slow, though emotional rendition of her story fails to grab the attention of her two sisters. Princess points at passing signs and giggles with glee when she can spy the alphabet letter she is learning. Hope just babbles… constantly, I might add. If she is lucky enough to have a toy in her clutch, then it’s the toy she is babbling too. If she is pretending that the toy is talking, then her voice goes all squeaky high. If she doesn’t have a toy then she is trying to confiscate Lea’s reading book. And since she’s two, if she doesn’t get it then you certainly hear about it in a not so nice way. So imagine all three noises as the same time. I try my best to listen as Lea spells out a word she just can’t quite get. I help her sound it out.
“Mom, did you see the D? There was a D on that sign. I didn’t know McDonald’s had a D in it. Mom there’s a D in McDonalds.” says Princess about six times before I can say,
“Yes, honey, now see if you can find a J.”
“I forgot. What does a J look like?”
“An upside down candy cane.”
“I want a candy cane.”
“We don’t have any right now, maybe closer to Christmas”.
“M, Y, S, T, E, R, I, O, U, S, what does that say?”
“When is Christmas”
“Next month, sweetie. Mysterious”
“Why is Christmas, Mysterious?”
“It isn’t honey, I was just helping Lea with a word”
“Waaaaa”, from Hope who is trying to get out of her seat belt again and has her arm caught.
“Are you stuck?”
“I suck” says Hope who obviously doesn’t know how to pronounce the T sound.
“Hahahaha,” from both sisters,
“Don’t laugh. It’s not a nice word.”
“I suck, I su…….(well you know what Hope keeps repeating until I can pull over, re-belt her and try and get Lea and Princess back to their activities. It takes some patience and a change of subject, by then Hope is squeaking at her toy, Princess find a J on the Jiffy Lube sign and Lea is spelling E, N, C, H, A, N, T, R, E, S, S. Sometimes I wish I were an Enchantress and could make sense of it all. It is still fun and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. And they say that driving with a cell phone in your ear is distracting. Try driving with kids.