My sister-in-law Heather posted on her Facebook page not long ago that she has "gleaned from Facebook that having kids sucks more days than it doesn't."
This statement made me sad and all too aware that it is much easier to write about the bad than the good; too easy to note all the things that went wrong or didn't happen instead of reflecting on all the little moments that make me so happy to be a parent.
Today was a good day. I have to start out stating this because as most who read my blog by now know that not every day is a good one for me. But Penny was less cranky, I was less cranky and she even got in two naps. Plus there were two noteworthy, nay, potent, moments that reminded me why I wanted to become a mother in the first place.
The first was when Jason, Penny and I were playing out back. She has discovered a new love for the outdoors since the weather has finally started to warm up above freezing and wants to be outside every chance she can get. She wants you to put on her shoes, find her jacket and then she's at the door trying to figure out how the handle works. Today she was mostly just exploring the back patio when she spotted a garden box that only has dirt in it. She was in the midst of bringing handful of the soil to Jason when he told her "thank you." And she replied "thank you" in sign language. Normally this wouldn't seem like such a big deal until you note that this is 'thank you' and you add in a palm-ful of dirt and an open slobbery mouth. The sad thing was Jason and I were laughing so hard we had a hard time trying to help her get the dirt off of her face. I was absolutely no help with tears streaming down my cheeks from laughter as Jason tried to wipe off as much dirt (which was quickly turning to mud) from her cheeks and chin. And the tough little thing that she is, she seemed undisturbed by what happened and just wanted to continue playing.
Just a little while ago was bath time. This is by far still her favorite part of the day. Even if she's been extra cranky all day long, you can usually get some laughs out of her while she's in the tub. But today was a little exception. Today she was completely focused on me. She insisted on washing my face and arms with her wash cloth. Then to make sure I was truly clean, she wet her hands, slapping and rubbing my cheeks over and over again. This process repeated itself a half dozen times and was interrupted only by sweet baby kisses and the resting of her head on my arms.
I am so lucky to have such an incredible little sweet potato as a part of my life. I write this not so you will know how wonderfully lucky I am, but as a reminder to myself. I need to remember that the amazing times are even more numerous than the tough ones and forget that they're usually not spaced very far apart.
Over the years Valentine's Day has been pretty hit or miss for me. Usually more misses than hits.
Like that time in kindergarten when the boy everyone avoided because of his tendency to wet his pants in class made me an extra special valentine and told everyone we were going to get married.
Miss.
Or in junior high when the school put up paper hearts all around school with every student's name on them and you had to search yours out to see if anyone special took it. And I found mine with a maxi pad stuck to it.
Miss.
But then there's the time when Jason sent me tulips at work and called me his girlfriend for the very first time.
Definitely a hit.
Or two years ago where I found out I was pregnant. On Valentine's Day.
Again, a hit.
But this year was a little trickier to discern. Hit or miss? It definitely didn't involve a miss but I cringe to think of it as a hit. I'll let you decide.
Jason had to work on Valentine's Day so I was going with a friend to the mall, trying to avoid that long stretch of time where Penny doesn't want to nap but also doesn't want to be not cranky. I had a few minutes before I was supposed to be at the meeting place so I thought I'd get the car washed. There was already someone ahead of me in the automatic wash lane so I was waiting patiently, thinking how apropos it was that a cop was in front of me since I would be spending the day without mine. Then my friend called to say she was already at the mall. OK, no big deal. I'd gone this long without a car wash. I'd do it another time. With someone already in front of me and a drive that opens right onto the open road, I decided to do a three-point turn so I wasn't backing out into traffic. Problem was, I didn't notice how close to the brick wall I was. And once I'd pulled into it, there was no other choice but to reverse.
The cacophony of screeching and rattling as my right headlight hit the pavement brought me to the attention of the car wash owner, who just happened to be there, and the officer, who the owner flagged down. I'd already called Jason before I even got out of the car. I didn't think I could handle looking at the damage without him there. I checked on Penny, who was fine since we were only going about 3 mph when the wall jumped in front of me and I got out of the car to talk to the spectators.
Luckily the officer knew Jason well and the owner could see I hadn't damaged his wall. Jason got there and I just fell into his arms crying because that's what I do when I don't know what else to do. The owner was a little disconcerted by this until he realized who I'd meant when I said I'd called my husband. No accident reports were filed and I was sent on my way since the car was definitely still drivable. So off to the mall I went, still in tears because this was my very first accident. I made Jason come have a cupcake with me since it was the only way I was going to feel better about having run into a wall.
I'm just glad it hadn't involved another car and that our insurance rates didn't go up. It's been a few weeks and the car has been mended beautifully. Except for how shiny the new headlight is, you wouldn't know there had been a problem.
So as far Valentine's Days go, not the best but definitely not the worst. Is there a middle ground between hit and miss?
