Mom Moments

I have moments occasionally that really wake me up to the fact that I'm a mom.

Some of these come from things that I see or do that make me think

"You know you're a mom when..."

I know I'm a mom when in an effort to find my wallet, I come across fruit snack wrappers, lego pieces, a plastic army guy, bandaids, Hubba Bubba gum, flushable wipes, camera, a rock, and disinfectant spray in my purse before reaching my actual wallet. 

All of which are treasures in my purse because of my three year old.

I know I'm a mom when I realize as I'm checking out at the grocery store that I have a collection of stickers all over the front of my shirt that I'd forgotten about.

I know I'm a mom when I hear the call from the bathroom: "Ma-om, I'm dooone!"

I know I'm a mom when I register Michael for Pre-school and they ask me if I have a preference on who I want his teacher to be. Really? Already I have to make these decisions?

I know I'm a mom when I catch myself singing the "Scurvy Pirate" song from Backyardigans while doing dishes.

I know I'm a mom when my darling little blond-haired boy gets hurt or upset and comes running to me and only me even when there are plenty of other loving adults around.

And although I'm anxious for the day when Michael doesn't need wiping assistance in the bathroom anymore,

moments like these warm my heart and make me smile.

I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Being a parent is a blessed role.

The other night I awoke to Steve finally crawling into bed at 2 AM after studying.

Seconds later, we hear Michael crying.

Steve goes in to find Michael digging all of the blankets out of his drawer.

He picks him up and brings him back to our room for a minute. Michael nuzzles in to bed next to me telling us how he woke up and couldn't find his blanket.

Then he says he's hungry. 

Any other night we probably would've kissed him goodnight and tucked him back in bed telling him to wait until morning for breakfast. But that night was different.

Steve went down and brought up a plate of crackers.

Then he propped Michael up on his side of the bed and set the crackers on his lap.

For the next 15 minutes, we sat there talking with our son while he ate.

After the crackers were gone and his tummy wasn't hungry anymore, he cuddled in between us.

He wanted to talk.

Michael is quite the conversationalist.

He always starts off by saying, "So, mom/dad... what do you want to talk about?"

No matter what we say, he'll talk with us about it. 

So we talked about our baby and superheroes and the letter W. We talked about shooting guns and dressing up for Halloween. We talked about silly names and playing games on our phones.

When Michael got sick of one topic, he'd change the subject by asking that same question again.

All the while, Steve and I were smiling over top of our little guy's head.

It's hard to believe we have a (almost) 4 year old.

He's so grown up.

He's so smart.

He's sweet and pretty darn funny.

We can't get enough of him.

So even though being a parent sometimes means late nights, wiping bums, and dealing with tantrums,

I love it.

It definitely wouldn't be the same without Steve, so I'm very grateful to have such a good other half to share the responsibility with.

He's a great parenting partner and really helps balance out our family life.

Some days we even feel like we've really figured out this parenting thing in the last 3 1/2 years.

That of course changes with every phase Michael enters and we know we can't really know what to expect when our baby girl arrives but we're up for it.

Here's to continually figuring out parenting and with that,

hopefully many more wonderful mom moments.