She climbs into my lap and flings her tiny arms around me. And nuzzling her nose deep into my neck she whispers,
“I love you mama,”
like it’s our little secret.
And she pulls away and holds my face in her soon-to-be-four-year-old hands and kisses me strong. And she melts me, my youngest of five…
Her, my kindred-spirit. This physical-touch-love-language daughter of mine, and this moment…this makes it worth it all.
Because I know my days don’t hold a majority of these kinds of moments.
Instead I’m…
- begging for obedience,
- cleaning messes,
- serving food,
- and teaching concepts.
I’m reminding that…
- lights be turned off,
- shoes be put away,
- scattered toys be carried upstairs,
- laundry be actually put in the hamper instead of on the floor,
- wet towels be hung up instead of left in a wad,
- and for the piano to be practiced.every.day.
I’m the…
- taxi driver,
- grocery-shopper,
- appointment-organizer,
- library-frequenter,
- hair-comber,
- middle-of-the-night leg-ache massager,
- and the cheerleader of them all.
And in the midst of our chaotic days, I’m reminded how much I need these sweet and melty moments. And I’m purposing today to seize them…to seek them out and capture them. For I know that all too soon they will shift into different kinds of moments, as they grow and mature into the young adults they are to be.
And so today, I’m slowing down amidst the chaos of our days…
- to stop and play more,
- to tickle and laugh more,
- to cuddle and read more,
- and to hold and embrace more.
Because, I never want to look back with regret that I missed any of them.
Won’t you join me in the seizing?
How do you slow down to seize the sweet moments with the ones you love?
[…] realizing they learn best when they are reassured and have confidence in our relationship–when I hug them like crazy and annoy them with kisses … after all, what teacher does that? I’m also learning to get down at eye level with them, […]