Staff writer
I gripe and complain about the stresses of mothering, but those who know me know my daughter is the love of my life. Children were not in any sort of plan I had for my life, but when she came along I couldn’t say no.
I won’t lie, everything I feared about having kids has come true — the amount of sacrifice, the work, the poop. It’s hard and I expected it to be.
What I didn’t expect was that parenting would be so rewarding (most days) I’d forget about the other stuff.
Forgetting can be tough this time of year, at least in our household, with the economy still lackluster, the holiday stress building, and so many things to do around the house.
My husband was attempting to tackle items on that lengthy list of household to-dos Sunday while we had a break in the weather.
He’d raked all the leaves from the front yard into a massive pile while I was trying to nap off a cold. Our daughter recently turned 2 and, as you might expect, is opposed to everything. We thought we might try to coax her into letting us throw her in the leaf pile at least once.
I was wallowing in self-pity, thinking how unfair it would be to be sick on Thanksgiving, when I heard squeals of glee in the front yard. Michael came running into the house, “Get your camera, you’ve GOT to come see this.”
I threw on a coat and did just that. Michael told me as soon as he put Lyla down in the front yard she’d made a mad dash for the leaves and lunged in, face first.
And there she was when I came outside, jumping and falling and throwing leaves, laughing so hard she couldn’t catch her breath.
I forgot my runny nose and dived right in with her — haven’t done that in many years.
Michael and I laughed and laughed and hugged our little girl until we realized the sun was setting.
Despite the fact that Lyla is every ounce as challenging as I feared she would be at this stage, today I am thankful that she is in our lives because nobody has to point her toward the leaves.
Nobody has to tell kids how to make the most of a warm fall day and the beauty of the season.
Having a toddler in my life does make for some frustrating moments, but it also helps point me toward the giant pile of leaves, and for that, I am deeply thankful.