A Surprising Lesson the Night I Broke Routine

I am delighted to share a story on Power of Moms this week that I wrote a couple of years ago. It's one I continue to go back to for a timeless reminder, as it's so easy to rush through the everyday magic of our lives raising children...

Late in the day with two little boys can be, well, hard. As much as I enjoy the giggles at dinnertime and the plunges underwater at bath time, when they’re ready to put on their PJs, I’m tired. Yet that’s exactly when they’re winding up.

If you’re like me, you’re a parent who is used to managing schedules. I know how many minutes it takes for my boys to do any part of their daily routine. I know exactly when I need to get up in the morning to get every task done before we need to get out the door. (Translation: I can only manipulate the snooze button so far.) So when we get to the PJ stage at night, I know exactly how long it takes before I turn off their lights and can head downstairs.  But recently, when we get to the PJ stage, my two-year-old has discovered the fact that he has a CD player in his room. His little fingers find and press just the right buttons and knobs to not only start the music, but to turn it up full blast. He particularly loves his new Justin Robert’s CD entitled “Recess.” The first song on the album shares the same title and includes voices from rowdy kids in school ready to go outside.  On top of that, there’s a bold electric guitar riff and snappy lyrics—everything that makes a two-year-old boy excited.

When he first played the music, I was tempted to turn it off quickly and re-initiate a more soothing bedtime tenor. But there was something about his strut that kept me from doing it. He was proud. He was initiating his own dance party. He galloped around his rug with his just-learning-how-to-do-it legs, stopped to jump up and down, and then attempted a spin (which he did—almost). It was too cute.

“Mommy, come dance with me!” he said. I picked him up, and we started spinning together. We spun and spun until we got dizzy; I put him down and we laughed and laughed.  

And that’s when the Justin Robert’s song got quieter and I heard him sing, “There’s more beauty in this world than we could guess, oh yes, it’s recess, oh yes, it’s recess…”

It hit me that I, too, was experiencing a beautiful moment in this world. My son knows I love him. But right then and there, I was showing him that I enjoy him. I was in a moment that captured what is so endearing about his age. And I was allowing myself to experience it, savor it, and treasure just how he expressed it in his own way...

To read the rest of this post, please join me on Power of Moms. It's a fantastic site about making deliberate choices as we mother. Every Sunday they have a spiritual focus too!