Last weekend we had a lovely little road trip to Grand Rapids...
Soon I hope to get around to posting some pics from that trip. In fact, I had planned to do that here, in this post, but today I just had to take a pause from the normally scheduled blog activity to just savor some feelings and emotions that I
often sometimes tend to get swept away in...
I believe it was in that epic nineties movie,
Hope Floats (Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick Jr. - go Netflix it if you gotten around to seeing it these past fifteen years), that the quote "My cup runneth over" is thrown around a few times (originally quoted from a Psalm, I believe)...well a few times today that was how I felt.
Just entirely overwhelmed with gratitude.
Not only gratitude that the Lord has blessed me with a child, but also gratitude that I only work part-time and I am able to spend most of my days with my son. These days are sometimes filled with such precious little moments...
Like today at the park when he just stood there, absolutely stock still, despite my greatest coaxing, and would not take one step on the wood-chips until his mommy came and held his hand to assist him...
Or during bath-time this morning, listening to his little boy/baby talk ramblings in the tub, and teaching him how to use his little fishing rod to rescue his little plastic fish
Or giving up on trying to convince him that he cannot actually drink from a can of shaving cream
How about enjoying chubby little baby feet contentedly bouncing against the high-chair while chubby fists shove handfuls of berries into even chubbier cheeks...
Or enjoying his excitement on those rare winter occasions when I let him rough-house with dad or run around the living room in nothing but a diaper
Or how about those fleeting moments, moments that are so easily missed, that I get to vicariously experience the wonder and enchantment of childhood...today he stood transfixed while watching the construction guys pouring concrete outside...
Yes, you've got it right, that is right outside his bedroom window. Makes for interesting nap-times...
in playpens in parents room...
but then that brings me to another moment...one that will never get old...
...watching your child sleep...
Yes. Before we go to bed, my husband and I shamelessly go in his bedroom at 10 pm every night to watch him sleep, and I think we are both secretly and guiltily pleased if he happens to wake up and whimper so we can come to his rescue, give him a big hug, tell him we love him, and put him back to sleep...I'm sure were are not the only parents out there who do this...C'mon, don't leave me hanging here...
ah, alas! here is one of the best moments of all! ...that happy, bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked, freshly-rested post-nap baby face
(can you blame me for being unable to stop kissing those cheeks?!)
How about this moment today, when I experienced that
ridiculous ill-deserved appropriate sense of motherly pride as I watched him figure out how to correctly work the pound-a-ball toy I got him for Christmas
and hilarious laughter watching his little face wrinkled in fear of getting hit as he pounds
(sorry, he kinda looks like the hulk. Let this be a lesson to you budding photographers...1)ALWAYS check your white balance before you shoot, 2)always shoot in RAW so that you can adjust white balance post-processing :)
Anyways, these are the moments I'm talking about, that truly make me feel like my soul is running over with thankfulness.
Of course we all know, whether we are parents or not, that sometimes the way we represent ourselves on blogs is not always an accurate picture of real life...I suppose that is the escapism that most of us are searching for...
so I'd be lying if I said that days off are always perfect. Yesterday was the first time I brought a child with me to a doctor appointment for myself. I was a bit nervous before-hand, nervousness that proved to be well-founded. Realizing I left our stroller in my husband's car, baby breaking into tears the moment we walked into the exam room, baby trying to run up and down every hallway, and being told AFTER I saw the doctor that he was not in my insurance network...spending an additional 20 minutes in the waiting room, getting insurance company on the phone and trying to straighten everything out, all the while attempting to corral a toddler who insisted on trying to tear off magazine covers and hand them to every elderly gentleman sitting in the waiting room...phew! Needless to say, I walked out of there with a mild film of sweat coating every inch of my body. And yet...another wonderful moment of parenting...that small but satisfying sense of accomplishment at such a seemingly trivial achievement. I did it! I survived, my son came out in one piece, and the office ladies were even sad to see us go. Hooray for a successful day as a parent.
As I drove home, I couldn't help but contemplate what one of the office staff had told me, as she reminisced about those wonderful days back when she had little ones at home. "Forget about the dishes, forget the laundry, just enjoy this time while they are little." She is so right. It is very easy for me to get caught up in my task list for the day, and get frustrated when little Will is messing up my plans. Sometimes I throw up my hands in frustrated defeat as I give up on what I was trying to accomplish and just get down on the floor and play with him. And
never have I regretted doing just that. It is in those moments that I am reminded of why I chose to become a parent in the first place. I only hope that as we (hopefully) expand our little brood, and the years continue to fly by, that I do not loose those moments of grateful appreciation for the privilege with which I have been blessed.
Heaven only knows the time flies by and they grow up SO quickly!!
