A few mornings ago, I began my gingerly pad down the stairs...
But then something in me said to stop.
Maybe it was the gentleness in their laughter. Maybe it was the rarity of a peaceful moment between them. Maybe it was just curiosity at what had drawn them together.
But whatever the reason, stop I did.
If only to hear a most darling interchange...
When I tell people about her, I tell them she’s Dory.
No way!!! Me too!!!!
Guys, I have been saying that for YEARS.
It was here I stifled a little snort.
Because. Really.
A kindergartner who speaks with such sage wisdom in regard to the equally sage conversation of an eight and ten-year old? Especially in regard to her memory-challenged mama? And is so ridiculously spot-on?
HILARIOUS.
It was almost so snort-worthy I missed what came next…
But you guys, isn’t mom the best?
The. Best.
Totally the best. And she loves us SO much!
This is where I nearly gave myself away with a little more of a sob than a snort.
Because this.
This is the kind of thing a mama needs to hear in the middle of putting up Christmas trees and making mashed potatoes and getting sick because she just tried so hard to keep everyone else well.
This.
This is the place we all long to find in the middle of a-mama-has-to-be-perfect kind of world.
A place to remember that at the end of all the things is the love you bring with them, that when you feel lost and less-than and something not as awesome as all the other mama-girls…
Your babies see you.
Your faithfulness. Your effort. Your heart.
Your absolute love.
So that when you fade from their day-to-day and someday, their world, you know they will find the you that you meant to be.
Hold onto that, sweet mama friends of mine.
Because it isn’t the perfect tree or the perfect house or the perfect whatever-today-says-you-are-supposed-to-be that will go with them in life.
It is instead the relentless love you've given them in it.
Originally published in December 2016.