5 letters

My days, just as any mom’s, are full of ups and downs.

The kids listen. The kids don’t listen. The kids fight. The kids play happily. The kids cry. The kids giggle.

At the age of three it seems that a lot of what I say doesn’t actually grab Maddy’s attention. I begin to feel like instead of being invisible I am inaudible. Then Maddy turns around and shows that she is listening to Mommy. She does hear what I’m saying.

Every time I take her hands and help her write her name on her artwork or craft she is hearing the letters as I say them. She’s placing importance on the words coming from my mouth.

Somehow she always knows how to turn around and make me feel like I know what I am doing even if I spent the majority of the day feeling like a poor excuse for a mom.

“Mama, Daddy come see come see!” Her excitement is contagious.

It’s only 5 letters. But at the same time it’s 5 letters, in the correct order pulled from a pile of 50-something letters and used to make my pride levels soar.

It’s like the first time she signed a word, long before she could talk. I had to reign in my pride before it turned into those silly mommy tears that seem to escape me at every turn.

Look out world, she’s three and just as likely to tell you she is smart as she is to tell you she’s beautiful and her mommy agrees on both counts.