A Wild and Wonderful Day

Sometimes it takes much patience and a magnifying glass to search for and find the sweet nature of a child. Today I found a huge dose of sweetness in my little Hannah that I will not soon forget. Let me set the stage for the kind of day we have had so you can really see how an unexpected surprise our naptime encounter was today.

We went out early this morning to make our Wal-Mart run (it is payday afterall). Today we were going to be filling up the cart with all those things you wait until payday to get. It was going to be a big shopping day so Hannah couldn't sit in the big part of the cart, she was going to have to walk. I walked her little hiney all over that store and she was such a champ. She never ran off, never complained and never once asked me for anything for herself. It was one of those times as a Mom where you give yourself a little pat on the back for raising such a well behaved (in public, may I remind you) child. The adventure of that outing didn't end there. By the time we checked out it was raining cats and dogs outside. I decided to make the most of Mommy running with the shopping cart through parking lot in the pooring rain. We had the best time screaming and laughing all the way to the car.

By the time we were able to get back home, unload the groceries, and take a potty break it was time to get back in the car and drive to go have lunch with Chris. The whole drive (through the rain) to go pick up Daddy Hannah was just jabbering on about "getting Daddy from work" "going to see my Daddy" "and eating lunch with my family." She was excited, so excited that by the time we got to Daddy's work she had fallen asleep in her carseat. We made it into the restaurant and had such a wonderful time. I am not trying to sound prideful, but it was another great moment as I looked on at both of my kids: eating their lunch, minding their manners (as best as Caleb can for right now), not throwing food or breaking plates, and just generally being good kids. We finished our wonderful family lunch and took Daddy back to work. Hannah wished him luck with his work and then swiftly declared "I will not take a nap today." As Chris exited the car his last words were "Good Luck."

We headed home. By this time both of the kids were way past their naptime and were getting cranky. I drove on through the rain and the now overpowering wind. Driving in rain can be stressful, let alone a two year old that is screaming and crying about the nap she is not going to take. I bet I didn't say five words to her the whole drive home but she managed to carry on a conversation of cries for the entire drive, telling me her plans that did not include a nap. By this time I had had it with the screaming and arguing (with herself) and the tension it was causing.

After I was able to get Caleb changed and in bed I managed to atleast get Hannah up to her bedroom. The whole time (maybe 15 minutes) since we got home she had been continuing to cry and argue about her nap. Today, covered in my God-given patience (clearly not from me), I decided to offer my services as a snuggler to Hannah to see if that would get her to lay down in bed. We laid down in bed together and she was able to calm down. As if a switch had been flipped my crazed daughter turned into the sweetest, most loving little lady.

As we laid there in her bed she asked "You want covers?" I told her no since I knew I would be out of there and doing my own thing in no time (yea right!). She insisted on using her prized pink fuzzy blanket to cover me up. I happily allowed her to cover me up, but the whole time she was concerned about my feet getting too cold, since the blanket is one made for a child-sized body. At this point I was willing to just lay there and take a nap with her. She began caressing my face, smoothing out my hair, and even offered to rub my back. At one point she leaned over, grabbed my hand, pulled it up to her face and said "I'm keeping you." What a moment! I'm sure ten years from now (probably less than that) she will wish I was not even around. But for now she is keeping me and I am thrilled!

I did finally manage to get up and leave her to fall asleep for her regularly scheduled nap. As I left her room, she blew me a kiss and said "I love you." Isn't that what the parent should do as the child goes to sleep? She never ceases to amaze me with her maturity and sweet, caring personality.

Hannah, I am blessed to be your Mommy!