30 Day Mom Challenge Day 11: Tell your child “I’m so glad you’re my son / daughter.”
So I got hit with that horrible winter head cold that made the rounds through the holidays. You know, just in time for the kids to be off from school and my husband to be at work? During that week when we had beautiful weather and I had a list of fun activities as long as my arm that I wanted to do with the kids. I’d been looking forward to this week, some pre-paid downtime since I had done my best to get my work done ahead of time so I’d be able to have fun without worry.
But of course, that’s not how it turned out. The first few days were spent in the house, the kids thankfully distracted by their Christmas gifts, while I tried to find the right combination of antihistamine, decongestant and rest that would make it possible to spend some of this free time having fun.
At the end of a particularly long day while I was lying on the couch with my water and a used-tissue-filled wastebasket, my daughter came to say goodnight. She hugged me and said “I hope you feel better; you’re the best mom in the whole world.”
Aww. It’s moments like those that make it easy to tell her that I’m happy she’s my daughter, something that my kids hear from me on a fairly regular basis, along with “I love you” and “I’m proud of you for trying your best.” It can be hard to remember to be thankful for our blessings when those blessings are wrapped in the stresses of our normal days. But it’s important to tell the people we love that we love them, whether they’re at their best or their worst.
So, the next morning, when my daughter woke up and was getting ready for the day and I was nursing my first cup of coffee, I asked her if she remembered telling me that I was the best mom the night before, and I told her that I was thankful she was my daughter and I couldn’t ask for a better daughter.
And that smile that I was given in return was worth more than all the antihistamines in the drug store.
