One of the amazing things about parenting are the extreme highs and lows. Nothing ever stays the same, and kids can drive you totally crazy one minute, and the next you'll want to burst with joy just looking at them. Yesterday, we had to make a last minute stop at Safeway. Sure, it was the end of the day, sure she had had no nap, but Lizzy had a tantrum for the ages in the store! Screaming, red-faced, jumping up and down, it was a site to behold. Then, when we got home, she was surprised when I told her I was upset. She said, "I said I was sorry. Isn't it over now?" And that's the other amazing thing about kids- they live in the moment, and want you to too. For good or bad, they are completely involved in the now, and then they move on.
This morning we went to the park with some friends. Lizzy and Paige were having the best time. They rode scooters all around, then moved on to the play structure, where they became involved in all sorts of pretend games. By the time I checked in on them, a whole circle of little girls were surrounding Lizzy, as she led them in a game of making an apple pie by putting leaves into a bucket. There was turn-taking, lovely compliments, including everyone, and sharing. Wow! Is this the same girl as yesterday?! The one going completely crazy because she couldn't have a princess toy? And the answer is.....YES! Of course it is! Because she is all those things wrapped into one. She is joy and pain, lovely and awful, generous and selfish, kind and hurtful, just as we all are. She is transient and ever-changing, and she is the flash of the moment. She is what I strive to be like- my real, truthful, soul-bearing self, even when it's not pretty, it is revealed and present.
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