We had a very stressful Saturday morning. My little Sophie is a very stubborn child who is prone to do what she wants, when she wants, and not a moment sooner. Since she gets this from mommy – we tend to bang heads a little bit quite often. Saturday morning and three pairs of wet panties within an hour time span (after a great poop success first thing in the morning) put a strain on how we felt about each other. She was frustrated with me for continuing to ask her if she had to go pee-pee to the point that she started answering me with, “No-no-no, Mommy!” I, of course, was frustrated by this but trying my best to paste a patient smile to my face – which I did not think was fooling my smart little miss.
When my hubby suggested a trip to BJ’s to get us all out of the house I grabbed it like a lifeline, got us all dressed, and zoomed us out the door. Halfway through the store my husband and I separate and I am pushing Sophie in the cart when suddenly she looks up and says to me, “Mommy, hug me so much!” which just about melted me on the spot – we hugged tightly and while hugging me she says, “Mommy, I love you so much”. To which I could do nothing more than hug my little two-year old even tighter, respond in kind, and try to stop myself from melting into a puddle on the spot because (hello!) someone needed to push the cart.
I remember when she was an infant wondering how it would feel when she could respond to my “I love you” with an “I love you” of her own back at me. I can sit here know and say that being the recipient of the first I love you, without any coaxing, is breathtakingly magical. It’s these moments, these heart melting moments, that make you forget the pull-your-hair-out-by-the-roots moments and make everything worth it.
