The gift of true love given from a child’s heart and returned from a parent’s soul is incomparable.
Tonight I was upstairs running a bath for my 7 year old daughter. Suddenly, she appeared in the doorway. I smiled and reminded her she needed to finish dinner before taking her bath. Her gentle reply transformed what was a mundane task into one of those special moments I’ll treasure forever.
She sweetly said, “I just wanted to give you a hug.” I literally felt my insides swell with warmth. I confirmed, she came all the way upstairs to give me a hug? Yes, she had. Her loving kindness made my heart and my bucket overflow.
At her school, the students practice kindness by writing notes to their classmates describing what they like about them. The note then goes in their individual buckets. We don’t have designated buckets for this at home, but we do acknowledge the acts of kindness that make our inside buckets overflow.
She needed to feel connected to me. I thanked her and paused to take in how much I benefited from connecting with her in that moment.
I am blessed to have the honor of being her mom.
This is what makes life worth living. This is the reward for sacrificing so much for her happiness, comfort, and security. This is the magic of parenting.
And this is what will get me through the next time she screams at me because something didn’t go her way. It’s a roller coaster ride and I’m hanging on with all I’ve got.
One of my favorite movies is Parenthood. Every scene was fantastic, and Grandma’s wisdom in particular came to mind tonight. Click here to watch the movie trailer.
[Gil has been complaining about his complicated life; Grandma wanders into the room]
Grandma: You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster.
Gil: Oh?
Grandma: Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride!
Gil: What a great story.
Grandma: I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn’t like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it.
Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098067/
Sending you light and love.
May the special moments that come your way be abundant and overflow your bucket. Enjoy the ride and get as much out of it as you can!
