Every day, I see so many little scenes that make my mother-heart happy. I walk past a room and see a happy moment or hear joy shooting about and I think THIS is it. This is the good life that I've been working for all these mothering hours. I just want to soak in all the happiness and memorize the faces and never, ever forget. And then something else happens and I do forget.
Some things that happen often enough that I remember: Freddy loves to listen to Josh Groban's "Don't Give Up." I think it is one of Eddie's favorite songs too. Freddy puts the CD in the digital piano and sings his little heart out. Georgie joins in, but Freddy really belts it out. Often. And during the worst possible moments: we have company, Trent and I are trying to have a difficult parent discussion, I'm on the phone... Many times, Eddie will sing along, too. His voice is just starting to change, but he wants to be a deep bass so he tries to sing lower than he actually can. That song has a wide range, and it's cute to listen to Eddie struggle to hit the notes, or switch to a lower register and still struggle. Anything to avoid showing that a teenaged boy can hit high notes, right? Hearing them sing just makes me happy.
Legos happen here all, the. time. The older boys have always bought new Lego sets with the birthday and Christmas money they get from Grandma Jeanne. Hooray for generous grandparents! So they each have quite a stash of Legos, in various stages of assemblement. We also have a big bin full of more plain bricks that Gram found at a thrift store and gave to us for Christmas. We have such wonderful grandparents! AND we have two bins full of Legos that live here at the house that were Grandma Susie's. I think I see a theme running here with grandmothers and Legos. On Sunday afternoons, the back room becomes Lego Central and they all get out their bricks and start building. Older, younger - age and gender don't matter as they invent and create and play...together. That's the best part. Together.
Another music thing I like is hearing the kids play the piano. We have two pianos: a digital one and an acoustic piano, sitting side-by-side in the front room. The rule is that whoever started making music first gets dibs on the airspace, but the digital piano has earphones, so two work mostly well. David plays by ear, and will sit down and pick out a song. He teaches the twins how to one-finger some songs, and I enjoy listening to them all play different parts of "Ode to Joy" or other little songs. Love the music in our home.
I love walking into a room and seeing two boys engrossed in conversation. Or one boy leaning over another on the computer, helping him figure out his technical difficulties. Or hearing someone announce he is going on a bike ride, inviting others to go with him, and leaving the house with a group. Or hearing giggles under a blanket fort that the big boys built for the little ones. Or seeing the kids take turns pushing each other on the swings.
These are a mother's payday. This is when the hard work, the late hours, the heartache and tears are all worth it. And I want to cherish each of these moments and remember them forever, but I can't. Fortunately, new joys are always coming up to replace the old, faded ones and life is still good.
I hope that one day when I'm old and my brain isn't working quite like it does now, those happy bits will come back to me at random times. My rocking chair will slow down, I'll set down my knitting needles and laugh - a little gravely old lady chuckle - and be happy all over again.
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