Cold, Anyone?

Like everyone else we know, we've all had terrible colds over the last few weeks. And two rounds of pink eye for the girls. I guess it could have been a lot worse, seeing as we've been exposed to roseola, strep throat, rotavirus, some icky stomach flu, and, we thought briefly, chicken pox (turned out to be another weird virus with hives!). Amidst the runny noses, I devised this little contraption for Clara. It's a felt tissue cover--I'm sure you've seen them in your grandmother's purse--but I put some elastic on the back so she could wear it on her wrist like a little pincushion. The idea came to me when I went to observe her at school and watched her repeatedly wiping snot across her face with her sleeve. Ick. So now she not only has the tissue immediately at hand, but hopefully it gets in the way of the sleeve-to-nostril action. Ha. The tissue flies out during any vigorous activity (it did not survive her wild dancing at music class very well, for example), but she can function pretty well with it on for most things. Like here, when she is wearing it to do her new passion, floor cleaning. A hobby which coincides nicely with a little sister who likes to pick up microscopic specks from the floor to put into her mouth. Thank you, Maria Montessori!