My Surprise and My Daughter Shows Me I’m Doing Something Right.

As a parent some days are challenging. Those days make you yell or cry or feel so overworked you can’t imagine things being harder. We’ve all been there. I’ve been there.

On the flip side some days are just sort of magical. Those magical days, no matter how normal and boring they might seem on the surface at times, come along and act like an eraser and somehow make all those rough days seem fuzzy and hard to recall. It’s like a drug to dull the memories of the rough times.

Maddy and I had a wonderful day today. We ran errands. Yes, errands are usually the kiss of death for any day. Lots of boring stops, in and out and in and out of the car, and tiredness make errand days dreaded around here. Today was completely different. Maddy didn’t complain or act out once. She listened to every direction and showed patience I didn’t even know she had. After our errands were done and we returned home the rest of the afternoon and evening continued in similar fashion.

I was thrilled. I love days that go by without a fight, or having to count to three, or timeouts. As I started making dinner before Luke got home I thought I had hit the jackpot.

But it gets even better.

Moments after Luke walked in the door tonight Maddy grabbed him and pulled him upstairs for a secret meeting so mommy couldn’t hear. They were up there for a bit and then hastily came down stairs, checked when dinner would be ready, grabbed their shoes and coats and told me they had something they needed to go do.

My previous training in these sorts of situations told me to keep calm and not ask questions. They had a mission and I obviously was not supposed to know any of the details.

So I made dinner, I read a little bit and drank some tea. Just as any mom will tell you, it is not hard to pass the time while the house is quiet.

After about 40 minutes the front door opened and Maddy burst through running across the living room to me. That is when she proudly handed me a picture frame with a pattern pretty flowers in pink, green, fushia, blue and orange around the edge and a picture of herself inside. Then came the words that made my eyes start to tear.

“Mommy I got this for you with my own money because I’m so thankful that I can go to school and I love you. It even has your favorite color flower, my favorite color flower and Daddy’s favorite color flower. ”

Then Luke confirmed that Maddy had in fact raided her piggy bank and hatched the whole plan. Then the tears were rolling down my face.

Maddy then happily made it her duty to help me pick a spot for my surprise gift. We decided on my desk where I can look at it while I am working.