Milky Mouse, Vacuum Cleaners, and Boyly Bows

Lately I’ve been trying to take notice of all the little things that bring me smiles—even when I’m doing normal, everyday housework… like when I was getting ready to scramble eggs, and I started breaking the eggs into the bowl to beat them. It was really hard to put that wisk in there when I found myself smiling down at the eggs just like they were smiling back at me! This morning I was cleaning-up my 2-year-old’s spilled milk. It was shaped just like Mickey Mouse’s head… a perfectly formed Milky Mouse with no other drops around it. Who would have thought that I could be amused with spilled milk (or in naming that spilled milk?!)? And then after breakfast, I was sweeping up the kids’ crumbs. I got them all swept up into a pile in the middle of the kitchen floor only to leave them in the pile. I got distracted in the other room popping the Soothie back into the baby’s mouth. When I returned to the kitchen and got out the dustpan to get the crumbs into the trashcan, I found no pile. I didn’t even find a scattered pile. A scattered pile is not unusual with all the little feet scurrying through our house… and with a toddler who is often sweeping my pile behind me. (She really enjoys the broom… now if I can just get her to MAKE a pile instead of UNMAKING the pile!) So, no, there was no pile. At first I figured that I was just confused, that I had probably only planned­ on sweeping the kitchen and just thought I had since it was on my mind to do it. But, no, there weren’t ANY crumbs anywhere on the floor. I knew for certain that I hadn’t imagined those! Kids + Banana Bread = Crumbs on Floor. (We all know that that’s simple math!) Then I saw what happened to my pile. They had been vacuumed up… into my happy dog’s belly! I definitely notice when my little vacuum cleaner is not nearby… especially after meals. (Hmm… wonder if we could train the little guy to use the “big boy potty”??) Speaking of the banana bread, I was making it yesterday afternoon… B came down early from rest time and climbed up on the stool to work next to me. He, as 3-year-olds like to do, asked many questions. We went in circles for a while with his curious questioning—What is that stuff? It’s called batter. I’m making banana bread. What color is it? It looks a little yellow, doesn’t it? It’s that color because it has bananas in it. Why does it have bananas in it? Because I’m making banana bread. Why are you making banana bread? Because we needed to use some squishy bananas. What’s that stuff called again? Batter for banana bread. Why is the “banabadder” that color? Because of the bananas. Why are there bananas? Because I’m making banana bread. Why are you making banana bread?... (I could keep going through the rest of the conversation, but I think you get the idea!) Luckily for my patience, his train of thought soon turned to the picture of Winnie, Tigger, and Eeyore that was on the counter. He asked if Winnie was boy (Yes.), if Tigger was a boy (Yes.), if Eeyore was a boy (Yes.). He didn’t understand why Eeyore had a bow on him if he was a boy. (He let me know that bows were for girls and weren’t very “boyly.”) I told him I didn’t know, but that maybe Christopher Robin had put it there to help Eeyore keep his tail on his bottom (I reminded him of the Pin the Tail on the Donkey game). “No, Moma. Christopher Robin didn’t do that. Eeyore’s tail has a bow because that’s the way God made him. God gave Eeyore that bow tail.” I told him that I didn’t know if God put the bow on Eeyore, but I did know that God did make us all very special and unique. This morning, after we dropped M off at school and got the dog dropped off at the groomers for a haircut, L told me that she didn’t feel well. I let her, B, and S watch Sesame Street while T slept in his baby seat. We rarely watch morning cartoons, but I figured I’d let them this morning. When I turned on the t.v. Big Bird was really itty bitty and was trying to get Snufulupagus’s attention so they could play. Snuffy didn’t hear him since Big Bird was so little. Big Bird said something about how he guessed that sometimes big people didn’t notice little people just because the big people were so big and the little people were so little. I heard Big Bird say that, and I immediately thought back to banana bread and to Eeyore and to the many other long-string-of-questions conversations I’ve had with my kids. Kids ask a lot of questions because they’re curious and they’re learning and they’re growing… but maybe they also ask a lot of questions because sometimes they’re just trying to get noticed. I’ve been trying to take notice of the little things that bring me joy, and I realize that there is no better example than that of my five little blessings! My hope is that I patiently answer each question and actively take part in each conversation, that I don’t get impatient or turn a deaf ear, that they notice that I notice them, and that they realize just how much I treasure the privilege of having them in my life. I hope that my joy of being a mother is evident by the smile on my face.

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