Autumn Cleaning

Today is a cool 18 degrees celsius.  If we were living in Brampton, Ontario, the kids might be tempted to jump into the backyard pool.  Up until this past week, we have enjoyed really nice Fall weather, but last week it started to rain and the temperatures have really cooled off.  It feels much colder than 18 degrees because of the dampness.  The kids are still wearing shorts and t-shirts to school (with a hoodie in the morning), but the locals have already begun to wear their winter coats and boots.

I have become a climate wimp.  I feel cold all the time.  I wear fleece jackets inside and outside the house all day long.  The kids are constantly asking if we can go back to Canada for Christmas.  They miss the winter.  They have this romantic idea of winter in Canada: snow forts, tobogganing, ice skating, snowball fights...  All I can remember is the freezing temperatures, runny noses, slippery roads, wet boots and mittens.  Reality is somewhere in between.  I will enjoy the winters here in Spain while I can as there will be many winters in Canada to come.

With this Ciara's 3rd week back at school, things are still going well.   We have never had any issues in the mornings when it's time to get ready for school.  She seems a lot happier this year and although she is still not participating much at school, she continues to be very social outside of school.

On Sunday, she told me out of the blue that she was going to clean her room!!!!  Ciara hates cleaning her room, and she loves cutting up pieces of paper as part of various arts and crafts projects.  She feels completely comfortable amongst the chaos and mess.  It is a constant point of contention between the two of us.

So on Monday after her Discovery session, true to her word, she got right to cleaning and organizing her room.  She cleaned everything on her own and her room looked significantly better after she was done.  I hope that she will enjoy being in her clean room now and want to keep it that way :)

Before

After

This may be one of the few times I have ever seen the surface of Ciara's desk.  It's usually covered with stuff.