Playing with Rachel and Michael

Hello! This is Cindy. :) Nellie is still waiting for her operation, but I think she's sure to be okay! Don't you think so? Today I got to look after Catherine's little sister Rachel, and Carrie's brother Michael. They're four and five year old, and they're really cute! I love playing with them. :)

Anna let Rachel play with her doll Inga for the day, and she just loves her!
We started off playing Snakes and Ladders for a while, and Michael won most of the games. Finally, he and Rachel got a bit tired of it, so we decided to find something else to do instead.
"What shall we do, Cindy?" Michael asked me while I packed the game away.
Rachel got up and ran to the window.

She could only just see over the windowsill if she stood on tiptoe, and she looked sadly out at the grey clouds.
"We can't go outside..." she told me, with a sigh. "It's all rainy."
I thought for a few seconds, and then I had an idea. "Do you want to play with a ball?" I asked.
"Yes!" Michael and Rachel cheered together.
"Alright," I said, and I went to fetch a ball. I sat down on the floor with it and explained what we were going to do. "Rachel, you sit over there, and Michael, you sit down there, and we'll roll the ball between us, and catch it. We have to say who we're rolling it to before we push it."
"Okay," said Rachel, as she and Michael sat down.
"Can I roll the ball first?" asked Michael.

Rachel didn't seem to mind if he went first, so I said he could, and rolled it to him.
"Can I start?" he asked.
"Yes."
"I'm going to roll it to you, Cindy!" he said, and cheerfully rolled it over.

"Are you ready Rachel? I'm rolling it to you."

 Rachel caught it, looking very happy, and then a bit confused. "Who do I give it to?" she asked.
"Anyone you like," I told her.
"I'm giving it to you, Michael!"

We played 'rolling the ball' for quite a while, but eventually Rachel and Michael asked if we could play something else.
"Alright. What do you want to play?"
While they thought, I got up and put the ball away.

"I think we should play dolls!" Rachel said when I got back, hugging Inga.
"Nooo," Michael groaned. "I don't wanna play dolls."
"What do you want to play?" I asked.

 "I'll show you." Michael got up and ran out of the room.
 He came back in a moment and sat down again.

"I want to play with the parachute-man!" he said happily. "It's got a tiger!" He was holding a little parachute toy that Carrie gave him yesterday - the parachutist was a cute little tiger instead of a soldier, like they normally are.
"I don't wanna play parachute. I want to play dolls..." Rachel said, frowning sadly.
I wasn't sure what to do, but then I thought of something they would both like.
"I have an idea," I said smiling.

"What?" asked Rachel.
"I'll show you in a moment."
Rachel watched me with great curiosity as I went over to my bed and pulled a book out from under the pillow. It was a book of little prayers for children, that I was given when I was little, and I knew it had lots of beautiful pictures inside that Rachel and Michael would love.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It's a book of prayers. And it's full of pretty pictures. I'll read some of it to you, and you can both look at the pictures too."
Rachel smiled. "Yay!"
"You sit on the edge of the bed, and move up a bit, and I'll come and sit next to you so you can see the pictures."

 

"Come on Michael," I said, patting the bed on the other side of me. You come and sit here and we can look at the book together."

Michael got up and came to sit next to me.

I opened the book, and they both leaned in to see the pictures.

They liked the little prayers, too, and we spent ages sitting there and reading, until the early afternoon, when they went back with their sisters. :)
I had a lovely Saturday with Michael and Rachel. I hope you had a great Saturday too! :)

News On Nellie

Hi everyone! It's Elyssa here. We're sorry we haven't posted for so long again, but Nikki got mumps, and then there were a lot of other things to take care of too. Kit's cousin's arrival has been rescheduled, so she won't be here for a while yet, but we have been told what's happening with Nellie.

A few days after the accident, Lindsay and I went to visit her in the hospital. Samantha came with us - she visits Nellie every chance she gets. Nellie looked like she was in a lot of pain, and she was wearing casts on her arm and leg, and a splint on her finger.
"I brought Lydia for you," Samantha said, trying to smile. "You can keep her until you're out of here." I thought Samantha was doing a very good job of staying brave. She was more upset then any of us about Nellie being hurt, and we all kind of knew that she thought it was her fault, although she didn't say anything.

"Thank you," Nellie said, smiling, as Samantha put the doll down next to her.
"How are you doing in here?" Lindsay asked.
"I... I'm alright. Everybody's very friendly." Nellie looked a little distant.
"How much longer do you have to stay?" I asked.
"Well... I... They say quite a bit longer," Nellie said slowly.
"How much?" asked Lindsay.
"They... They say they don't know..."
"But why?" Samantha said, sounding very concerned. "Is something wrong?"
Nellie took her glance away from us.
"Wh - what is it?" Samantha asked, sounding almost tearful.

Nellie looked away.
"I... It's... They say... the break in my leg isn't going to heal normally."
"What?" we all said in shock.
"What does that mean?" Lindsay asked.

Nellie turned even farther away, and I could see she was trying not to cry.
"It - it won't heal with just the cast," she said. "They're going to take it off... And, they have t-to operate."
"Oh, Nellie!" Lindsay said.
"Is it a safe operation?" I asked.
"Yes... it's safe for me... but... they say it might not work."
"A-and... what..." Samantha gulped. I could see she was shaking. "Wh-what would that mean?"

Nellie turned to look at her and closed her eyes.
"They... they say if it doesn't work I won't walk again," she murmured.
We were all horrified.
"Oh... Nellie..." Samantha whispered shakily, her eyes filling with tears. She bent over and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry Nellie... This is my fault... I could have stopped you falling, but I didn't, and it's my fault... I'm so sorry..."

Nellie put her arm around Samantha.
"It - It's not your fault, Samantha," she said, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. "It was mine... I just slipped.You could never have done anything about it. It wasn't your fault. I promise you it wasn't... Please don't think it was."
Samantha slowly stood up.
"But...but I could have stopped you falling..." she said.
"No, you couldn't... I promise you, Samantha, it wasn't you fault."
"But now this is happening to you, and -"
"It's not hopeless. They're going to try the operation, and it may well work."
"But what if it doesn't?"
"Don't think about that... It'll be okay. I promise," Nellie said, trying to stay strong.
No one said anything for a moment.

"When are they going to do the operation?" Samantha asked finally.
"It hasn't been scheduled yet, but they say it will be a few weeks."
"Will you be okay?" Lindsay asked.
"Yes, I'll be fine." Nellie tried to smile.
"We'll come and visit you again," I said.
"Yes," said Samantha and Lindsay.
"Thank you."
I looked at the clock on the wall. "We have to go now," I said. "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay," said Nellie. "I'll see you again soon."
"Yes, see you again," said Lindsay.
"Goodbye," said Samantha.
"Goodbye... I promise you I'll be okay."
Samantha nodded, and soon we walked out and went home.

We found ourselves sitting in silence and staring at the walls. None of us could even believe this was happening. How could it be? We couldn't talk; we all had to take some time to think, and take the news in.
"She must be okay..." I said suddenly. "Surely..."
Lindsay glanced over but then turned away again. "I'm sure she will be..." she said slowly.
Suddenly Samantha flopped down across the bed and burst into tears. We turned in surprise.

"Ohhh...!" she cried. "It's my fault! I shouldn't have let it happen!... It was my fault!..."
Lindsay and I looked on, uncertain of what to do. After a few seconds Lindsay got up and sat down next to Samantha.

"Samantha, it wasn't your fault," she said, putting a hand on her back.
"It was..." Samantha sobbed.
"It wasn't. Sam, if you'd been able to stop her from falling, you would have, wouldn't you?"
"Yes..." Samantha murmured, slowly sitting up.
"Then you couldn't have done anything about it, because if you could you would have."

Samantha looked away from Lindsay, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"But I tried..." she said. "I tried to get a hold on her arm, but I couldn't."
"The thing is, you couldn't. You tried. You did everything you could. Nothing is your fault."
"But it wasn't Nellie's either..."
"It wasn't yours."
"It wasn't anybody's," I said. "It was purely an accident, and no one could have stopped it... But there's only a chance of the operation failing, and it's probably a small chance... Nellie is almost certain to be perfectly fine..."
Samantha nodded, with a sniff, and tried to stop the tears falling.
"Everything's going to be okay," Lindsay said, but she sounded sad.