Tuesday, October 06, 2009

My favorite part of the day

Every morning, as the sun filters through the blinds, I am awakened by the sound of footsteps thundering down the hall. Slap! Slap! Slap! Her little bare feet make contact with the laminate, and by the time she reaches my bedside I am fully awake but my eyes remain shut: I am waiting for her to say the magic word.

"MOMMY!" She yells, inches from my face. My eyes snap open and my mouth wears an instant grin. "Good Morning Sweet Pea!" is always my response. "Do you want to cuddle with us?"

"Yes!" she will say, already climbing in. She snuggles herself between hubby and I in our suddenly small bed. And I think to myself, "This is my favorite part of the day."

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Later, after we all get up, after clothes are found and breakfast is eaten and Daddy's lunch is packed, we go outside, ready to send him off to work. We stand by his truck, and I hold her up to his window. She hands him his lunch bag and leans in for a kiss: "Good bye Daddy! We love you lots and lots and lots!" We go back to the sidewalk and wave to him as he drives away.

And I think to myself, "This is my favorite part of the day."

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Now we are alone, my little munchkin and I. We spend the rest of the morning doing housework, taking breaks now and then to read a book or play a game. Maybe a grandma or an auntie will call for a chat. Maybe we'll bake daddy some chocolate chip cookies. At noon I let her watch Clifford the Big Red Dog on PBS while I have a shower. Afternoons are spent at the park or running errands.

The list makes the day sound mundane, but is actually filled with stolen moments of wonderful: a snuggle here, a dance to the radio there. Sometimes, I'm so overcome with her cuteness that I just pick her up and start kissing her all over until she can't stop giggling.

And after each of those stolen moments, I think to myself: "This is my favorite part of the day."

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And then I realize that my life is filled to the brim with favorite parts of the day, from the moment I wake up, to the moment my head hits the pillow. I love this new life of mine. I love making sure that my hubby and my Gracie are well taken care of. I'm so grateful that I get to spend my days in a home filled with love, and laughter and so many favorite parts of the day. And I'm forever mindful that these days are going by so very fast, and soon my little sweet pea will be too big to pick up and kiss all over until she can't stop giggling.

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So tonight, when I go to bed, I'm going to curl up with my husband, and tell him how much I love him. Then I'm going make sure he knows this is also my favorite part of the day, and thank him for giving me the favorite days of my life.

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