The Good Days and The Bad Days

Being a mom is rough.

Some days my kids are so exasperating, I can't imagine why I ever thought I would be good at being a mom.

Some days I find that I yell 95% more than I hug.

Some days I mentally calculate how long until Gracie and Annelie start college, and hope they will go out of state, possibly out of the country, so I can finally have some peace and quiet.

And some days, my kids are so darned cute and funny and outstandingly brilliant that the idea of them growing even a day older makes me so sad I just want to cuddle them close and never let them go.

Yesterday was one of those days. One of the better days. One of the days where my kids were so sweet and funny and creative and cute, and I couldn't stop smiling at them and wondering how I could possibly be so lucky that these amazing people are mine, all mine.

It wasn't a day too far out of the ordinary. We went for a walk, we took the city bus to the library, and ate cupcakes at a bakery. We do this sort of thing every week, and find that it is hit or miss. When will Gracie be mean to her sister? When will Annelie have a tired-kid melt down? Will they scream and run around the library, causing annoyed and embarrassing stares from everyone around us? When will Annelie shove Gracie's cupcake in her mouth when Gracie isn't looking, resulting in the worst fit the bakery has ever seen a kid pitch?

You just never know with kids, do you?

But yesterday, none of that happened. It was all laughter and smiles, kids saying please and thank you and me thinking, "Wow, my hard work is finally beginning to pay off!"

Its funny how there can be days and days of rotten awfulness, but one perfectly wonderful day takes all of those bad feelings away and reminds us just how wonderful being a mom can be.

xoxo,