#cuteness
I babysit the daughter (Ivy) of a doctor at the hospital where I volunteer (to accumulate ‘clinical hours’ for my med-school applications). According to my mom, the purpose of my current existence is to get into med school.
That may sound crazy or theater-mom-ish but she has strong arguments - like Aristotle (all things strive toward full potential), stoicism (there’s a role for all living things) and vitalism (there’s a purpose, in life, beyond survival) - so, who am I to argue?
Straight brag, I’m a certified, Girl Scout Safe-Sitter®. Little Ivy and I will be eye to eye (metaphorically) for three hours today - no phones, TV or Internet - just paints, swings, barbies, a Montessori math game and a new toy called “MyFirst camera” which lets her take pix, and then print them, low-res and smeary, on ultra-thin paper.
I met Ivy when she was 4, now she’s on the edge of 6. She’s got large chestnut brown eyes that match her hair - which is cut in a shoulder length angled-bob. She’s about 3½-feet of cuteness, in her pink ballet-flat shoes. I’d describe her clothes, but she changes about every hour. “What are you wearing now?” I find myself asking the princess or jedi. “Can I help you officer?” I ask the business-like cop in a ballet tutu.
We’re old hats at this babysitting gig.
When Ivy picked up her camera, I asked, “Can I take your picture?” reaching out to take the thing.
“In a minute,” she said, lining me up in the viewfinder. “No,” she said, suddenly turning into a photographer highly critical of my look, “(pose) Like a model,” she directed, before striking, for a brief moment, a perfect, indifferent, hands-on hips pose herself. Kids pick up on everything. I took her direction and struck a pose.
Later, as we painted dragons that looked like flowers, she asked, “Why’s the sky blue?”
When Ivy asks questions, it’s like she’s getting a second opinion or testing to see what I know.
“Blue?” I asked, acting like I was confused. “The sky is GREEN.”
“NNOOO,” she said.
“You’re colorblind!” I exclaimed in alarm, “Does your mom know?!
“The sky is BLUE,” she said, with the seriousness of certainty.
“We’ll see,” I said, like a doubting thomas.
I held up five fingers, “How many colors am I holding up?”
She looked at me, side-eyed for less than a beat, then said “No.”
We had hours of fun.
Later, when her mom came home, she asked “How’s it going guys?” As she set down her purse and keys.
Ivy looked up from her work, gluing a collage of the day's photos to poster board and said, “Ok.”
“We had fun,” I reported, “I’ve been teaching her some comedy things.”
“Like what?” her mom asked, nonplussed.
Ivy eyed me suspiciously.
“Like when she falls, she should wait for the laugh. She can’t just - hop right up.”
Mar 23, 2024
Mar 23, 2024 at 11:31 PM UTC
Little bear, don't be afraid
Everything is going to be okay
The sun will shine once more and, the birdies well they're just sleeping
The waves are calm but they aren't gone
Little bear, don't be afriad
Everything is going to be okay
Just close your eyes and go to sleep
And when you awake oh, the joys you will see
May 23, 2019
May 23, 2019 at 1:08 PM UTC
When I lean into
you
my God
how my nostrils quiver
for the smell of
you is
so human
-DDF
Dec 21, 2015
Dec 21, 2015 at 9:40 PM UTC
Learning the ways of the world,
Of course it will help us both,
Vehement opposition we faced,
Exemplifying quality throughout.
You descended here as the perennial spring,
Of my heart you are the beat,
Up against the dark skies you help me shine.
Oct 24, 2015
Oct 24, 2015 at 8:41 AM UTC
It might be love
It might be fate
It could be so many things
As a quote says "My atoms have always loved your atoms"
I think that explains a lot.
Basically, I love you
And I love how you get mad at me
It makes me love you even more
I find it cute
I find youcute
I find cute when you say my name
I find cute when you call me baby
I love you, and I love your flaws
I love you
Sep 16, 2015
Sep 16, 2015 at 12:12 AM UTC
You are so beautiful,
You are so fun to be with,
You are so cute to care for,
You are all I need & you are all I have.
I love to keep talking with you my darling,
I am so addicted to you Kripiji,
I cannot imagine my life without you,
I don't want my biggest fears to come true.
Mar 10, 2015
Mar 10, 2015 at 5:56 AM UTC
Vibration of her voice
I can feel them here
even after so many years
In my heart
repeating the same words
she used to say
'I care for you'...
Dec 22, 2014
Dec 22, 2014 at 7:51 AM UTC