Top 5.

I have recently started reading a new blog...wide open spaces. You can read it, too, right here.

One post in particular got me this morning. A friend of the blog's author got a chain e-mail (yick!) that asked her to ponder her five favorite things about being a mom (as posted here). It doesn't seem difficult, but come one, you have to pick the BEST 5 things. That takes a lot of editing. How do you edit motherhood? Well, I tried. Hope you likey!

1. Hugs and kisses...one of the best things about being a mom, hands down. It can turn your day around in an instant.

2. No matter how monotonous my days can seem...there is always something new to discover about my little people. A look, a dance move, a story I didn't know. They are such complex creatures. I think that we, as parents, forget that sometimes. We think kids are simple, that they don't have enough life experience yet to make them multi-dimensional. That's just not true. They are just little sponges that absorb everything...everything. even things we miss. Actually, it's usually always the things that we miss that they don't. They are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

3. I have always felt honored to be able to be a mother. Not just the being able to grow and deliver a new human, but the actual mothering. I don't really think it is the pregnancy that makes you a mother (I know people who have adopted that are better parents than most people).I am especially privileged to be the mother to a little girl that faces unique challenges. We knew Betsy would have developmental problems from the time she was 4 months old. It has changed my life, and as hard as it is some days, it is one of my favorite things about being a mom, being able to care for her and personally know an individual with special needs. It is especially profound seeing my other children accept her, as if nothing is different about her, and hearing them tell other kids why she doesn't talk or walk very well. They look out for her and each other. It's awesome.

4. Although, I don't love this at the time...I love when the boys slam the door to their room because they are mad at me or Jake. I love when they say they're running away, or that they want a new family, or that they are certain that we don't love them anymore. It makes me smile to think that they are experiencing all of the same things that I did as a kid, and one day, they will realize this and understand that I WAS once a kid, and I DO know what they're feeling, and at some point, I felt and did the same things.

5. The chaos. I am not sure I could function without it. I love to be organized and in control. There is nothing in this world that teaches you humility and acceptance like kids. Some things are out of our control. I learned this when I became a mom. sometimes things don't get picked up or scrubbed, sometimes you're late or miss an appointment altogether, sometimes they puke in the middle of your grandma's funeral luncheon. That's life. That's kids. And I love it!

Ta-ta!