Moments worth waiting for

Granted, raising a child is not easy. At first, the smiles and coos of a newborn are [almost] enough to counteract the sleeplessness and dirty diapers and constant supervision. Then there are so many milestones - crawling, walking, potty training. The older Brent gets, I find myself missing all those big milestones. But I realized that they have just been replaced with many smaller ones.

For instance, one day last week I pulled his daily artwork from the cubby at school. I'm used to seeing random squiggles, maybe some shapes that resemble shapes that have names. I love them all, don't get me wrong. I love asking him what they are, and revelling in the various outrageous responses - and trying to see what he sees. I love gushing about how wonderful they are and seeing him beam with pride. But then one day I take more than a haphazard glance at one, and notice it looks amazingly like a house! I'm talking windows, trees, little stick people. I get to the car and ask him about it, and that's exactly what it is (except the "tree", it turns out - is me! - stuck in between the windows! Yay!). He points out the roof, and his little figure in the window. How exciting!

Or this morning, as we listen to one of the few "girl" songs I am allowed to listen to ("Big Girls Don't Cry", by Fergie, in case you were wondering). He knows the chorus almost by heart, and when it gets there, we both scrunch up our noses and bellow it out with confidence, like the true car rock stars that we are. I watch him in the rearview mirror and become amazed, once again, at how much he's grown....and how lucky I am to have him in my life. It's finally getting to the point where it's not always about parenting. Sometimes it's just about being friends, whether he's propped on my back as I do my exercises in the evening (or laying across my legs during situps), or getting up to dance with me when a good song comes on the radio, or sitting on the patio looking at the setting sun. And though parenting isn't always a walk in the park, being his friend gets better every day.