A few days ago as I was getting dressed for the day Emma stood there talking to me while I threw on some jeans, a long sleeve shirt and a short sleeve tee over top. It’s pretty much a comfortable standard in my limited wardrobe. When I was finished she shoved two black hair bands in my face and asked me to put pigtails in her hair. I sat on the edge of the bed and she stood in front of me while I parted her hair down the center and tied the stray pieces back into two low pigtails at the base of her neck. When we both stood up, I noticed her looking at me, checking me out, my jeans, my shirts, my sneakers. And without a word, she turned and disappeared into her room. I really thought nothing of it until she came back to my room a few minutes later–jeans, sneakers and layered tees. She shoved two black hair bands in my face and said, "Put your hair in pigtails. Pleeease?" So I did the same–divided my straggly hair into two short piggies at the base of my neck and we headed out the door together on a Sunday morning donut run, Emma skipping along behind me.
In those few moments of getting ready for the day I was once again struck by how important my relationship with Emma is. She watches me. She copies me. And for good or bad, she’s a lot like me. Everything I do is teaching her something, or revealing something to her about life, love…..or heaven forbid, the poor girl–fashion. It’s caused me to be a little more careful lately about the important things. To pay a little more attention to our relationship, to how I talk to her, to others, to how we spend our time together.
It’s a lot, isn’t it? Parenting. Mothering. Raising children. But it sure is a gift. To be the person that molds them, influences them, to be the person they admire and look up to. May that never change…Obviously, there are people who will come in to our children’s lives and also leave their mark, just as people did in my life. But for now her world is pretty much tangled up in mine. And there are definitely some knots in our little relationship, but there’s a lot of beauty, too. Beauty and pigtails, jeans and layered tees–for good or for bad.
A few days ago as I was getting dressed for the day Emma stood there talking to me while I threw on some jeans, a long sleeve shirt and a short sleeve tee over top. It’s pretty much a comfortable standard in my limited wardrobe. When I was finished she shoved two black hair bands in my face and asked me to put pigtails in her hair. I sat on the edge of the bed and she stood in front of me while I parted her hair down the center and tied the stray pieces back into two low pigtails at the base of her neck. When we both stood up, I noticed her looking at me, checking me out, my jeans, my shirts, my sneakers. And without a word, she turned and disappeared into her room. I really thought nothing of it until she came back to my room a few minutes later–jeans, sneakers and layered tees. She shoved two black hair bands in my face and said, "Put your hair in pigtails. Pleeease?" So I did the same–divided my straggly hair into two short piggies at the base of my neck and we headed out the door together on a Sunday morning donut run, Emma skipping along behind me.
In those few moments of getting ready for the day I was once again struck by how important my relationship with Emma is. She watches me. She copies me. And for good or bad, she’s a lot like me. Everything I do is teaching her something, or revealing something to her about life, love…..or heaven forbid, the poor girl–fashion. It’s caused me to be a little more careful lately about the important things. To pay a little more attention to our relationship, to how I talk to her, to others, to how we spend our time together.
It’s a lot, isn’t it? Parenting. Mothering. Raising children. But it sure is a gift. To be the person that molds them, influences them, to be the person they admire and look up to. May that never change…Obviously, there are people who will come in to our children’s lives and also leave their mark, just as people did in my life. But for now her world is pretty much tangled up in mine. And there are definitely some knots in our little relationship, but there’s a lot of beauty, too. Beauty and pigtails, jeans and layered tees–for good or for bad.
