Love in the Every Day’s

Happy Mother’s Day Weekend! Before I get into this week’s post, I just want to wish every mom, grandma, dog mom, and someday mom a very Happy Mother’s Day. You are loved beyond measure, and even though it isn’t always expressed in a daily appreciation statement (which as a word of affirmation person—is always nice); what you do is important and you are doing an amazing job! Enjoy the weekend and enjoy the following post about a simple moment between a mother and a daughter.

We just switched our little girl from a crib to a regular bed. I knew the day was coming, but I wasn’t one hundred percent ready. We had the room all set up for her and my husband kept asking when we were going to have her switch. I was dragging my feet and so one Saturday when I was gone, he took the crib apart, so we had no choice! That sounds extreme on his part, but honestly, I don’t know if I ever would have been “ready” because that was the last little bit of baby-ness left! It looks like a little house, and I love lying with her in our own little cocoon. The little mother-daughter magic that I seem to feel as her twinkling lights illuminate her innocent face. After the stories, we say goodnight. This is the part that doesn’t go smoothly because she knows when I say my “I love you” and give her a kiss, that I am about to leave her room. She always says, “Mommy, be by you” and it breaks my heart a little every time. Like I’m making the most devastating mistake by bidding her farewell and blowing her a kiss—hoping to send sweet dreams her way. I shut the door and immediately look at the monitor to make sure she isn’t going to sleep in complete sorrow. As always, she quickly finds comfort in the piles of books surrounding her and holds her baby doll tight as she sings Cocomelon songs and falls asleep.

Tonight, was a little bit different though because we read stories in her brother’s room, so when it was time to go to her room, she climbed up in bed and I said no more stories. Let’s close our eyes and go to sleep. She traded her baby doll for a little stuffed bunny and squeezed the bunny as tight as she was squeezing her eyes shut. It was so cute I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, but I didn’t want to ruin the charm. While I was watching her, I thought for sure she was going to open her eyes to make sure I had mine closed too, but she didn’t. I started stroking her cheek with my hand. In those few beautiful moments, I thought about how much I loved her. This overwhelming admiration for the person she will someday become and the person she already is. Thoughts about her future and her funny personality. Her laugh, oh my goodness, her laugh—it’s contagious and you can’t help but laugh along with her. Which I can tell you is a struggle sometimes when you are wanting her to stop doing something.

Motherhood is one crazy ride because before we got settled into bed, one of my kids was upset about not getting to have more snacks and another didn’t want to brush their teeth, so I was feeling frustrated, tired, and a bit defeated. Then just as life in general goes, a few minutes pass and you are on the other side of the frustration realizing just how special and wonderfully chaotic this day-to-day journey is. While I just stared at her miraculous little face, I was filled with gratitude, and you can guarantee that the tiny portion of my day that I just described to you will be added to my gratitude journal in the morning. But for a moment, while I looked at her in wonder, I was reminded that loved people love people. And I must be doing at least a little something right (and so are you) if through the pandemonium—little moments like my baby girl’s eyes shut tight, holding a stuffed bunny, can remind us of what we have and how perfect the simple moments truly are.

There is a famous line from a poem, that I’m sure you will recognize, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning that says, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” But later in the poem, which was brought to my attention after reading Goodbye to Clocks Ticking by Joseph Monninger, there is a line that says, “I love thee to the level of every day’s.” This spoke to me because although not every day is blissful and easy, I do love every day that I get to spend with my family. What a blessing. If we can shift our perspective to a more positive one and find joy in our simple every day’s, can you imagine the beauty we would find in the most mundane? This is my wish for each one of you; a life of intention filled with positive perspectives and beauty in the ordinary.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, friends, and as always, happy reading.

Feel free to enjoy last year’s Mother’s Day post. I feel like it is still just as relevant to my everyday life…except now I use my Yeti coffee mug, so my coffee is either scalding hot or lukewarm instead of cold.