Little Moments

For me, one of the biggest blessings about blogging is that I have the opportunity to meet others who are in a similar stage of life as I am. And because of this, a number of us are starting to enter the two-and-a-half to three year old "wonder years". It's interesting to see and read how different every kiddo is, but I am especially thankful to have gotten to know some other mamas of children who are "strong-willed" or "spirited", because I think they're a bit of a different breed. I have no doubt that as a teenager, I'll probably be thankful that Lizzy is so self-assured, determined, and vocal about what she wants...but right now, in the thick of the weeds, it can just be hard.

I've no doubt that this stage is hard for every parent, but I imagine that it's just hard in different ways for all of us depending on the personality of our kiddo. Which is why if I told some random mom at the park that while I will always love Lizzy no matter what, that lately there are days when I don't actually like her very much, she would probably look at me like I had three heads. Because what kind of mom says that?! But when I tell Leah or Andrea (pst- Andrea...I don't know if you are okay with having your new blog linked, so let me know if you are!), they just get it.

They get what it's like to have a 50 minute, unrelenting temper tantrum at 8pm because your kid wants to run through the sprinkler, right then. To keep putting your screaming, kicking, and hitting kiddo back in a time out for 45 minutes before finally getting them to sit for the prescribed 2-3 minutes. To have your kiddo throw a temper tantrum at a restaurant because someone else is sitting in the chair that THEY want to sit in, and have to leave...and then for them to STILL be screaming mad 45 minutes later by the time you get home. To have a kid who is potty trained, but will pee on the floor on purpose (and then laugh about it) any and every time they are mad about being told to sit in a time out.

There have been days lately where I feel like we did nothing fun. We'd start to play with blocks, and then out of nowhere, Lizzy would throw a wooden block at my head, and thus would start a cycle of discipline that may not end for hours. Literally. There have been days lately, where like a teenager, I was sure that Lizzy could ruin each and every fun activity that I had planned. Sometimes, it's exhausting...and it is easy to focus on the HOURS of so, so hard, rather than the seconds where Lizzy spontaneously says, "I love you always." 

Yesterday morning was not without more than its share of tantrums. But it also had a fun little moment mixed in there, and today, that's the moment that I want to remember. I brought out the camera, and we took silly, imperfect, half-blurry self-portraits on the couch. Lizzy is just beginning to think that it is absolutely hilarious to stick our tongues out for pictures, and after seeing each one, she laughed this long belly laugh that was just absolutely contagious. And I held her close, and tried to be in the moment...forgetting about the laundry or that we were supposed to be in the car to Target already, otherwise we wouldn't make it back before lunch. And we laughed.

Today, I'm trying to remember that sometimes the little moments are as big as the big moments. Really.