As good as it gets

Cora picked out this book herself from the library.  I think the Author is my long lost best friend.  It is the BEST and a must read for any woman considering starting a family.

The first day of Summer (a.k.a. Cora not going to school for three whole months) is daunting to say the least.

I knew "this" was coming so I joined three museums and the zoo, pinned the library storytime schedule to the family bulletin board, enrolled Cora and Allen in four different Vacation Bible schools (don't you judge now) made a ton of frozen meals in case of emergency or mommy chronic fatigue syndrome and stocked the wine cabinet with $3 Don Simone.

Today was typical.  Hauled us to the Y, then library storytime, followed by a picnic and baby duck/ gosling feeding with my grandma.  Cora started sobbing because the "baby geese were growing up too fast and why does God make them get so so big so fast Mama?!!" (my thoughts exactly about you sweet one).

Afterwards it was time for Allen's nap and Cora's "quiet time" which only lasted 20 minutes and involved me scrubbing glitter nail polish off our newly tiled floor due to Cora's husband Jonathan wanting to "redecorate the place with sparkly floors".  Followed by me making numerous threats of the wrath (ok fairly benevolent punishments) I would unleash if she and Jonathan did not stay in the playroom please Cora.

So the thing is I managed to hold it together for most of the day and did my very best to run a tight ship while being loving and fun and herding the three of us to all of those aforementioned places which you mommies know is no small task indeed.

Then Colin called to inform me that he would be working late (my heart sank) so I hauled the kids to one last adventure at the Cummer so I could remain sane and manage to not open the wine before 6 pm.  The outing was fun and I even successfully prevented Cora and her friend that we met there from nearly smashing a huge container of Venetian glass globes in the gift shop and getting thrown out of the Gardens for climbing the walls and roughhousing with her buddies.

After I finally got her in bed, we read her new library books, said her prayers, sang a song and then I asked her the same question that I have asked her every night since she could form sentences: 

"Cora, what was the best part of today?" 

Recent answers have been "catching a whole worm family in my bug box", "when Cate's Mama found shark's teeth on the beach", "going to the Hands on Children's Museum", "Ellsa sharing her high heeled dress up shoes with me", "my new glitter glue",  and "when Daddy did let me watch Micky Mouse on his phone at Mojo's".

However, tonight's answer knocked the wind out of me, simply left me speechless and more grateful for my child and our little life than I have ever been.

"Cora, what was the best part of today?"

"You."

"What did you say sweetie?" (thinking I had misheard her)

"The best part of my day was you.  It was your heart Mama."

***

It is going to be a long, hot summer full of herding and hauling and manual labor and answering philosophical questions and desperately trying to get a moment of peace to myself, but that moment was just what I needed to know that we are going to be just fine. 

Wonderful actually.