A good day

We were at Burger King today (I'm not a big fan, so I packed my own sandwich and sat and ate it while all the other patrons stared) and I had an epiphany. Or rather, Cora's observation sparked an epiphany. Of sorts.

We were seated beside another family consisting of the same make-up: a mother and 2 young daughters. While my children dribbled chocolate milk on themselves, and climbed, slid and flipped their way to flushed cheeks, her children were told to sit up straight, chew properly and wait the required 10 minutes without a word for their food to settle before playtime could commence. I chalked it up to different parenting styles and perhaps a rough day on the mother's part. Cora saw it differently.

On the car ride home, she said, "That mom was so mean. She didn't let her kids do anything or have any fun."

"Do I let you have fun?" I asked, truly curious for her response.

"Everyday," she said. And my heart was full.

I screw up everyday as a mother. Everyday. I am mean and I yell and I don't play with my kids enough. I am imperfect, and I always will be. But my goal in life since my babies took their first breath was to bring them joy. I wanted them to smile and laugh everyday. I wanted them to know they are loved and I wanted them to be happy. That alone would make my life complete.

It is good to know that despite my shortcomings, Cora feels her life is fun. I know it won't always be this easy to please them. But because it still is, we skipped bedtime tonight, grabbed a blanket and headed out to the trampoline to watch the stars. We sang Twinkle Twinkle more times than I have fingers to count on and talked about constellations (for the record, Claire corrected all of the misinformed astronomers of the world. That formation of stars we know as the Big Dipper is in fact a toothbrush. Who knew?).

Because their little eyes didn't shut until almost 10:30pm, tomorrow might be a train wreck. I am anticipating the meltdowns to come. But man was today a good day.