This Afternoon ...

Sunlight is shining through our living room window.  A fresh cup of hot green tea is sitting next to me on the coffee table, and I am snuggled up on the couch with my favorite blanket and computer on my lap.  Lunch is finished: dishes cleaned up and put in dishwasher, Little One is happily content beginning "Feet off the Floor Time", but this peaceful serenity every mother looks forward to in the afternoon is ruined.  I am in a battle of the wills with Little Two.   I told you he was passionate, but I failed to mention how stubborn he is.   He still has not figured out that Mommy will ALWAYS win these battles of the will.  It is not because I enjoy hearing him cry; in fact, it often makes me cry.   It is that I know something Little Two does not.   I  know he has been sick and the best thing he can do is sleep to get better, and right now it is nap time not play time.  

It is in these moments I wonder why I believe it is so important to stay home with my little ones; why a parent cares for their little ones like no one else can, and why little ones so desperately need their parents.  It's because no one has as much invested in them or knows them as well as we do. 

I, like most mothers, sacrificed my body to bring my little ones into the world.   Every day when I threw up I thought of them inside and knew they were ok because of what I was enduring.   With all the hours of labor, hours of pushing, and finally hours of surgery, I knew I was one step closer to giving them life.  That is what I have invested in my children: Life.  Their healthy life is more important than all the throwing up, all the nausea, and all the pain.  All that misery pales in comparison to the incredible miracle I've held in my arms at the end.

It's the little things that show how much they love and need us.   It's the way they won't let go of your finger.  How they burrow right under your chin when they are tired.   The smile that lights up their face when they see you. The hug that knocks you down when you pick them up from school. It's when they come sit on your lap just to tell you they love you.  We know their favorite foods, toys, and clothes.  We know what scares them and what makes them laugh.

Only parents know which animal needs to be in their bed at night, or which blanket they NEED to sleep with.   Only parents know the exact spot to tickle their back, in their armpit or under their chin.   Only parents read the stories with the silly voices and make their oatmeal just right.   Only parents cut their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the right way, and make them feel perfectly safe in our arms... 

Right now Little Two is quietly sleeping, and in a couple hours when he wakes up he will not remember this afternoon's lesson: Mommy knows best.