Tuesday, January 13, 2009

There's a time to be a stickler about bedtimes...

...and then there's a time to throw the whole thing out the window, and give a sweet little three-year old girl (who's having a hard time falling asleep) a special time with "just Mommy," long after everyone else has gone to bed.

Marie and I just spent the best hour together in I-don't-know-how-long, nibbling on tomorrow's breakfast (homemade granola straight out of the oven), drawing silly pictures of Baby Carrie and Mr. Edwards, and swapping "boo boo stories."

After we finished, she looked at me and said, "I fink I ate enough food. It's time for me to go in da back," and off she went... and I tucked her in with tears in my eyes, and told her how thrilled I am that God allowed me to be her mommy.

Too often I miss moments like these, as I bustle around trying to get everything done. I have to remember that it's not all going to get done, and I need to be OK with that. My vocation is to raise saints -- not have a perfectly organized house straight out of Southern Living, or to make all the phone calls I think I need to make, or to be the best read blogger on the block.

For tonight, I remembered how important it is to be Marie's Mommy... and it was the best hour I could have possibly spent.

3 comments:

Barbara said...

Those three year olds can really make you stop and savor the moment, can't they? You've reminded me of a morning last January when I set aside a little time and was so grateful for it afterwards.

http://thinkaboutthesethings.blogspot.com/2008/01/morning-magic.html

Beth said...

What a great post Ouiz. Marie sounds like such a sweet girl.

Ouiz said...

Barbara, looks like you took a rough morning and turned it into something beautiful!

Beth, thank you! She is an amazingly sweet little girl... I choke up now and then when I look at her, thinking of how grateful I am that God allowed me to be her mommy (I'm sure you have plenty of moments like that with your sweet little girl, too!)