As I was reading "The Giving Tree" tonight to my kids, it made me think about quite a few things. The second time through the book, i could barely read it without tearing up. There are so many days, and so many times when I think to myself that I just wish I could just go to the bathroom in peace, that I could read a book rather than being asked to build blocks, that I just need a LITTLE bit of space just for a minute on the couch rather than having a 1, 3, or 5 year old clinging to me. So many days that I get frustrated when i'm trying to walk and one of the kids hangs on my leg, literally, "hugging" it. So many nights that I just want to get the kids to bed rather than spend the 15 minutes they each want of me to lay with them, sing to them, cuddle with them. My 5 year old actually prays every night that I stay in his room with him forever, and most of all I just think that I need my sleep and head to my own bed. But I think it's high time, to stop...stop everything and absorb and give thanks that I not only have 1, not 2, but 3 "little boys" that:
want to gather my leaves and make crowns out of them
climb up my trunk and swing from my branches
eat my apples
play hide and seek
and when they are tired, sleep in my shade
For one day soon, all too soon, these 3 "little boys" will grow up, and then I'll be the one wishing that I could just give all I have to give to just have 1 more day like these days. And I know, much like the giving tree, no matter how old I get, no matter how little I have to offer, I'd give it all to make my children happy for my children are the center of my world.
So tomorrow, my goal is to embrace my children, embrace the clinging, the game playing, the wanting to sleep with me, the wanting to hug all day, the wanting "me" just because i'm mom. For this time is so short...and in the end they are my happiness.
