My Bundle of Joy

I think, like many parents do, that my kids are my pride and joy. But to be more specific, E is my pride and C is my joy.

My firstborn has taught me from the get-go how to be a better person and parent. (I have a whole other blog dedicated to all the lessons my high need kid has taught me.) He has pulled and stretched me farther than I ever imagined I would be moved by a little person, but it has all been for my good. I’m proud of how far I’ve come in terms of understanding the true meaning of loving someone unconditionally (though following through on it is something I’m still working on!). I’m proud of the person he’s growing up to be – sweet, considerate, generous and funny.

My second born (aka. my forever baby) has taught me how to be joyful. She is the one person in our family who wakes up with a smile on her face every day (though she is actually a night owl like me) and is ready to tackle the world head on. She is headstrong, carefree and just happy all the time. She goes with her heart and does what she wants, when she wants. Sometimes she will hear an upbeat song come over the speakers at a store or a restaurant and start boogieing on the spot – twisting around on her feet and swinging her little behind to the left and right – and she even gets me to follow along. She is the one whose room is perpetually like a landmine of purses, stuffed animals, and odds and ends lying on the carpet and trailing out into the hallway (I literally tiptoe my way in and out); this is the scene even a few hours after we clean it up.

This girl drives me crazy sometimes, but I love her.

What I found C doing one day when she was supposed to be napping!

This past weekend for Mother’s Day, she gave me a homemade gift of a cardboard tube (leftover from a roll of wrapping paper) decorated with Minnie Mouse stickers and yellow post its on which she had drawn pictures of chicks (her absolute favorite animal) and our family. She told me to put one end up to my ear and then began talking to me from the other end and vice versa. On one of my turns, I whispered, “I love you.” She promptly replied in a giddy voice, “I love you more!” (Ha ha ha, she got me!) We then proceeded to have a back and forth exchange trying to “out-love” the other person.

“I love you to a googl!”
“I love you to heaven!”
“I love you to all the planets and back!”

It was great fun. 🙂 It was what MasterCard commercials are made of.
Cardboard tube = $0.10
Stickers & Post its = $0.75
A lesson in joy = Priceless

This song comes to mind when I think about my bundle of joy (Aly and A.J.’s take on “Walking on Sunshine”):

Who/what brings you joy?