A while ago, gratitude journals were all the rage. I think Oprah lead the charge on that one. While it smacks of saccharine, I have to admit that when life gets crazy, it’s easy to lose sight of all the wonderful things I have to be thankful for every single day.
It’s Mother’s Day, so here are 10 ways I love my kids this week:
1. I love the way the boys are starting to play with each other. Yesterday, Tristan invented a game called “Mr Fingies” that involved passing a small flat toy under the bathroom door to Simon, who passed it back to Tristan’s urgings of “Give it to Mr Fingies.” Not only was it adorable, but it allowed me to go to the bathroom in (relative) peace.
2. I love the way Simon comes up to us when we have food he wants. You can see it register on his face that one or the other of us has a tasty bite of ice cream or cookie or something he might like. He waddles over and points and grunts at what he wants, then opens his mouth just like the baby birds in the National Geographic videos. It’s especially cute when he does this to Tristan.
3. I love openmouthed wet baby kisses.
4. I love the fact that Tristan is really starting to think for himself. The other day, Beloved was pestering him to finish a few bites of food on his plate, and Tristan told him, “Please be quiet, I can’t think or eat with all that racket going on.” And when Beloved complied, Tristan contentedly ate the rest of his food. Later that same dinner, when Beloved went to go wipe Tristan’s face with a cloth, Tristan told him, “Go over there and wash the dishes.” That’s my boy!
5. I love Tristan’s manners. He almost always says thank you when you give him something, usually remembers to say please when asking for something. He often says “excuse me” when walking past or in front of somebody. I know this won’t last, but I love it while it does.
6. I love Simon’s attitude. The boy just learned to walk last month, and yet the novelty of walking itself is not enough for him. God help you if you try to convince him to walk in any direction except the way he wants to go. You’d think with the entire world to explore, he’d be content to just go, but no, he has to go his way. And he doesn’t need to hold your hand either, thank you very much.
7. I love that they love books. The other day, Tristan was “reading” a book to Simon, repeating it more or less verbatim from memory.
8. I love watching them get smarter and more aware of the world every day. I love being surprised by how much they know and understand.
9. I love going for walks with them. Usually, Simon rides in the stroller and Tristan walks, but we go extremely slowly as every pinecone, stone and crack in the sidewalk must be explored, manipulated and moved.
10. I love peeking in on them when they are sleeping. There is not a single night that my heart doesn’t contract in sheer joy as I look at them sleeping in their beds. They are truly angels – when they are sleeping.
I could go on for hours…
I love lists like this. My list is similar for my kids. Although change the names and some of the instances but basically all the same.
Happy Mother’s Day Danigirl
Isn’t it nice we can say that?
That’s such a nice thing to do. If I had more time, I’d do that for my kids, but I’d feel compelled to come up with ten items per kid times four kids, and, well, that’s forty items — on a Monday morning! I think I’ll stick to drinking my coffee and re-reading your list. I’ll be a good mommy vicariously. 🙂
Please do go on, I certainly would keep reading it – what a beautiful list!
I’m always torn between trying to capture what I love in a photo and maybe missing out on part of it, or trying to use lots of words and still not describing it fully. What is nice about your list is that it neatly explains why those things are special to YOU.
Thanks for sharing!
P.S. The manners thing – how did you do that?
Wow, what a wonderful list Danigirl. I know I can come up with a similar one, but it definately wouldn’t be as well written, you are so eloquent. Thank you for sharing your Mother’s Day with us.
Happy Mother’s Day