Sunday Citar ~ Kids

Welcome to Sunday Citar!! Here’s where we all share a quote… a favorite, a new find, a laugh inducing or tear inducing quote you love this week. (Citar = to quote in Spanish)

“They know me in a way no one else ever has. They open me to things I never knew existed. They drive me to insanity and push me to my depths. They are the beat of my heart, the pulse in my veins, and the energy in my soul. They are my kids.” ~Terri St Cloud of Bone Sigh Arts

I’m sitting at the end of my kitchen counter surrounded by a pile of football paraphernalia and printouts of cliche field terms fused with food like Cream Cheese Kickers and Sideline Salsa while I’m munching on leftover pad thai and sipping the last drops from a can of Dr. Pepper. Naughty, naughty.

At the end of a day my mind plays back the highlights of the day, like it’s being announced on SportsCenter and there are clips flashing across the screen of when the kids ran off in either direction while mama stood in the middle of the swings and tried to call them back, or when big sis walked through my bedroom door in the morning like the pied piper with little brother hot on her heels dragging behind him his new Lightning Mcqueen blanket that he scored from Nana during our visit to Michigan. Sometimes it’s the moments where Aliyah proudly announces she’s dressed Brayden all by herself, and other times it’s those times I let out a long sigh and laugh because it’s much preferred to crying even though that would be my first reaction… but then it would just mean three of us crying at the same time anyway. On days like today, where there’s much to do and I’m gulping down the thoughts of there isn’t time to instead let my girl rest on my lap while we look for fake puppy shampoo on her Leapster for her fake pet, I realize that I’m doing just what I should be.

As I lift my almost empty can to toast this last sip, I feel lucky. Lucky to experience the beautiful change, this paradigm shift that happens when you welcome a little one into your life. Lucky that my heart shifted to match the beat of theirs. Lucky to know when days end without needing a shower it means that there wasn’t enough kid in it. Lucky to feel what seems to be insurmountable insecurity with the challenge of their responsibility and yet, a pride I’ve never felt before, knowing that I can.

They are my kids, my babies. They are the small things that make life beautiful, and make me far more than lucky, blessed even.