Sweet Moments

Time simply got away from me yesterday, and looking back, I think that's a good thing. This is my Mom's birthday weekend and they have decided to spend it with us here in Austin. I am so glad! I love having my parents in my house. There is something about showing your parents, "See, I can do this. I have this whole "adult" thing down." So naturally, I have to clean my house before they get here. Yep, she's that kind of Mom. I love her to pieces, truly! But my house better be clean when she gets here. She wouldn't judge, but she'll JUDGE! (Mom, if you read this, you know it's true...)
The thing that is so magical about my Mom is that she raised three children...ALL GIRLS! To be honest, she raised three, very different girls, and she raised three girls in almost different generations. There is nearly 7 years between each child! So basically, my parents started over again, every 7 years! YUCK! But they did it! One was in college, by the time the other hit thier rebellious teenage years (we all had them), and the last was being toted to five dance classes per week (I was pretty hard core!).
My Mom is my biggest supporter of being a stay at home Mom. She wishes she could have done it longer than she did, but obviously, times were different. A very truthful piece of wisdom my Mother shared with me once is that, "your babies are not babies forever. Cherish every moment with them and never forget, they are only yours for five minutes."
I am feeling this already, I feel like 4 minutes has passed and Heather be getting married soon. That two minutes has passed and Sophia will graduate from high school next year. But for some reason (probably pregnancy hormones), I got to thinking this yesterday while we were madly cleaning the house. Sophia came to me with a puzzle in her hand. She had made it all the way up the stairs, where I was vacuuming, with a puzzle in her hand and asked, "Play?" Seeing the desperation in her eyes, "Mom, this cleaning is not fun, please stop and play with me," I unplugged the vacuum cleaner, left it where it was and put our shoes on.
Sophia was able to escape the cleaning monster! On a whim (again, probably pregnacy hormones), I tossed her in her carseat and off we flew to McDonald's. We sat at McDonald's, both in a booth--no highchair--and shared a small fry and a strawberry sundae. The smile on my daughter's face was all I needed. It was the best decision I had made all week!
As I was cleaning my house FOR my Mom, I realized that taking my daughter to McDonald's would be more important to my Mom. I took her piece of wisdom and yes, perhaps used it as an excuse to have something sweet, but I used it to relish in those days that just seem to be magical.
I wish everyday could be so magical, but then, they might just seem ordinary. For some reason, my kids don't seem ordinary to me. So I try, like my Mom did, to be a little more magical for them. Isn't that why I'm a Mom?