Ahh, yes. Reciprocation. A mutual exchange. An alternating motion. In my house, it's becoming a much more popular act among my girls and I'm lovin' every bit of it. Here are a few moments of reciprocation I experienced this week:
- Ella runs to me with a big grin and open-armed.
- Adelyn tells me, "Mommy, you look like Cinderella!" and "I love your hair!"
- At bedtime, Adelyn rolls over in the middle of the night to give me a kiss on my back and tell me she loves me. (Hey- no judgement for sleeping in her bed.)
- Ella laughs at my silly faces and thinks my goofy sounds are funny, too.
- Adelyn thanks me for getting her juice without being prompted.
- Ella likes to give sweet kisses.
- Adelyn says, "Mommy, does this make you feel better?" and proceeds to show me her silly face.
- Adelyn is excited to see me when I pick her up at school and proudly announces to her classmates that I'm her mom.
There's something about those moments that feel so rewarding to me. Like all of that diaper duty, the sleepless newborn nights, the career sacrification, the LOOKS sacrification, the nine months of utter misery (o.k... just the first and last 3), all the times I tip-toed around hoping I wouldn't wake a sleeping child, all the times I was forced to watch that oversized-head, "Say it with me!!!!" Dora, all of the ..... sorry .... ALL of those things moms just instinctively do for their children become totally worth it when it sometimes goes noticed. And who am I kidding- I would do all of those things with or without it. But, gosh, it's just so sweet when it does happen. And is it a coincidence that more of these moments occur as the child becomes older/more challenging? I think not. God had it all figured out.
Oh, and on the flipside, Adelyn likes to reciprocate punishments, too. I yelled at the dog and she told me I was a 'naughty girl' and that I needed to sit in time-out in the corner until I could count to ten in Spanish. So I did.... with the biggest smile on my face. :)
