This weekend we took an early trip to Santa’s workshop to beat the crowd and get in our Christmas lists. My daughter asked Santa to bring her a train set this year and some more Play-doh. She made certain to reiterate that she wanted a train set two more times before leaving his side.
Outside of his workshop there is a room, a magical room filled with twinkling trees & falling snow. I watched my daughter & her friend as they ran through the fake snow. As the snow formed small piles around them, they tossed it up into the air, giddy with excitement. At first I began to object, but the objections trailed off. Have I ever enjoyed anything as much as they do right now I wondered? I stared at my girl, unable to blink. I didn’t want to lose a precious moment. I felt my eyes well up with tears. I hoped that nobody saw me. I felt silly to be crying, but I just couldn’t help it.
There are moments when a mother cries. The tears are not from sadness, they are from joy. Sometimes there is so much happiness, so much love that your body simply cannot contain it. When it finally bursts, it can bring forth an explosion of smiles & laughter and at other times it flows out as tears. These tears are not bitter, they are sweet.
I felt as if I had never witnessed anything quite so beautiful. I could feel her wonder. It was magical. Her energy was contagious. I found myself grabbing a handful of snow as well. Before I could throw it, I was hit in the face with a small handful of white flakes. My assailant was a dimpled face angel with braids in her hair. She laughed uncontrollably. “I got you, mama.” She giggled & then ran away.
I looked around at the disapproving looks from the other mothers at our antics, but I simply did not care. Let them look. Today, I see life through my child’s eyes. Today, I am innocent and free and I don’t care what others think. With tears in my eyes, snow in my hair, a smile on my face & love in my heart I realize that this is my happy place. This is what life is all about. This is why I became a mother.
Love this! Too often I feel we try to force our kids into the adult world when sometimes all we need is to step into theirs.
It is wonderful to step into that world for even a few moments. To be so young and carefree…what a lovely feeling.
Aww, you said this perfectly and we took the girls to Frozen on Ice last week and Emma told me when Olaf came out, “That she just had to stand for this part.” I watched her and she was in awe at that moment and wished I could have frozen time right then and there seeing it through her little eyes. So, totally get it and we need to enjoy every moment of it for sure 😉
It really is so beautiful. I could just watch her for hours. I can only imagine how happy Emma must have been at Frozen on Ice. She must have been in her glory. What a couple of princesses you have.
I love these moments! Moments like that are when I wish I could stop time, and take a picture so I will remember it for the rest of my adult life.
I think that it is why I am so picture crazy. I look back at all her photos and moments like this and all the feelings come rushing back. If only we could freeze time or at least slow it down. They grow far too quickly.
An inspirational article like this makes me even more certain that taking additional paternity leave from now until after Christmas was the right thing to do for our 6 month old. Some memories are beyond priceless………Also great Blog, again an inspiration for a novice…
Thank you so much for your kind words. How wonderful that you are taking that extra time to stay home with your family. That first year is filled with so many milestones and memories, you just don’t want to miss a thing. I hope that you enjoy your first holiday season together. Drink in every moment. It goes by in a blink. Thanks for the follow. :-). I look forward to reading more on your family as well.
Beautiful.
Thank you. 🙂
Way to go momma!! Those are the memories that will last forever. 🙂
Thanks Sasha. It was a great day. I have been having kind of a tough week and I keep looking at the photos of Mai playing in the snow and it has cheered me up every time.
Love it! This sounds like a beautiful memory that was made.
Thanks you Natasha. 🙂