Five & A Memorial Day Wreath

Like the effervescent birds that sing song outside our window every morning she both delights and perplexes me to no end. She too is up at the crack of dawn each day guns blazing waking me with questions like, “Can I have a sweet?” We battled for most of this fourth year. Adelaide in her corner with all the confidence in the world, myself in the other with nothing but good intentions, a white flag, and a Reese’s cup just in case we needed some positive reinforcement.

Shaking our heads “yes” in unison - Jason and I are certain, she’s on her way to becoming a daytime soap opera star a la Moira Rose on Sunrise Bay. If that doesn’t work out, she’d make a crackerjack of a horror movie actress. My friend Lo always jokes that she’ll be the one telling the models to “GO!” before they hit the runway. She’s both inspirational and sassy as the day is long, so this checks out.

How we form into who we’ll become has always been a compelling mystery to me.

Childhood is essentially a collection of dominos, one after another. Each memory, decision, whether negative or positive continues to duplicate into a long chain of experiences. So much of US is dependent on what we do when those dominos start to fall. Knowing that I’ve no doubt made mistakes and will continue to do so, I remind myself to think on Adelaide daily.

Being a special needs sibling isn’t a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination. There are moments everyday when Jason and I have to make split second decisions where Preston is seemingly put first. With each one of our children, a different parenting style must be used. The understanding has gotten tremendously better and will continue to improve as she gets older, but to Adelaide these decisions must feel like a slap in the face.

“Why doesn’t Preston have to sit in timeout?”

“Why does Preston get to have Cheetos for breakfast?”

“Why don’t I get to go to therapy and play?”

These questions are simply answered for Jason and I, but to an almost five year old, it’s anything but simple. I know that she certainly accepts it much better than I would. I pray on this subject constantly.

As parents, what is our greatest fear?

It’s a fairly complex question to answer, because it inspires a long list of other questions. When the day comes that Jason and I are no longer here, what will become of Preston?

Will he need someone to look after him? If yes, Adelaide would need to be that person. Will she be ready?

We were at the playground last week in the late afternoon chasing the warmth before the sun decided to disappear. Five minutes after we arrived, Adelaide had taken her bow out for literally no reason like she always does. After overhearing the older kids talk about what was going on nearby, she grabbed onto the wall and stood with her sandals in the holes of the brick so she could see the back of our neighborhood residents club. She could have walked 5 feet to her right and had a completely unobstructed view, but that’s far too boring for Adelaide. Over the fence there were a group of kids taking photographs for prom. She stood there for a while staring and saying absolutely nothing. I can just imagine the view that those dressed up kids had of her. From my perspective, the contrast between the little girl standing on the fence and the one Adelaide will be when she goes to “tron” (what she calls prom)- it’s unbelievable.

Here is what I know about Adelaide. Her smile is the sun. When she hugs you, she uses every limb. She kisses so hard that at times it can be painful. She’s got the music in her heart, all of it. Her memory recall is second to only her father. She loves Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the wildest ride in the Wildernesssss. Vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce is her favorite. She’d live at a day spa if she could. Pink is her power color. She and her father have their own very annoying language.

I love her.

Memorial Day Wreath

I also love decorating for holidays. I like to joke sometimes that I didn’t get the green thumb nickname given to those who garden, but I sure do have a sticky thumb. Sticky because I’m always crafting, DIY-ING, creating, gluing stuff together.

Adelaide inherited this trait, so it satisfies me to no end when she requests an activity where we can invent something together.

The Monday after Easter was depressing. The prospect of taking down all the beautiful decorations honestly makes me want to cry. I decided we’d start some early crafting for Memorial Day this year to take the edge off.

I love to give Adelaide projects that I can oversee, but overall, she can complete on her own. This wreath is a fabulous example of that.

Two weeks ago, Hobby Lobby was having a fifty percent off sale on their ribbons. I had Adelaide pick out several patriotic ones as well as a new small wreath.

For this project, we didn’t need glue. I simply had her cut the ribbon into small lengths at least the size of a regular pencil. Then, I directed her to tie the ribbons in knots around the branches of the wreath until she felt like it was complete.

She is extremely proud of how this wreath turned out and directed me to hang it on the wall next to our dining room table.

We used this same concept in making patriotic garland for our front porch last year. In creating the garland, we used several yards of jute rope. It held up nicely and you can see it in the photograph of all the kids on the swing.

I think we’re going to make a larger wreath using the same concept for our front door, but we might add a little something extra fun to spice it up. Stay tuned, friends! As always, send me photographs if you create one of our projects or tag us on social media using #DarlingClementineDIY - thank you!