Heart. Melted.

At the end of today (living in 2020/21 as a baseline - something we can all agree is already a low bar), I struggled through witching-hour meltdowns, dinner time negotiations and never-ending dirty dishes.  

I made it to the finish line of bedtime and transitioned right into having a tame argument with my husband while I made "adult dinner".  All while listening to our youngest cry it out as she fell asleep. We've come accustomed to tuning it out.  (And, realistically, it never lasts longer than 4 minutes.)  But tonight, the four minutes felt especially long.  

As mothers do, I was watching butter melt to the perfect consistency to pan fry fish, explaining my frustration to my husband and "sink-defrosting" said fish-to-be-cooked.  All while in the background hearing my toddler start singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to the screaming baby.

And that's when it broke. My heart. 

My sweet, albeit <sometimes> annoying  three-year-old was being so sweet. So genuine. So helpful.

My girl. My heart. My love.

Validation

 Picking up kids from school is the best. On a good day, they run to you with arms wide open and scream: "Mahhhm!"

Today was extra special though. I showed up as Zoë's teacher was asking her to help clean up. She started to run out of the yard to say hello and her teacher reminded her to finish helping. She agreed and started gathering all the balls to put them back in their bucket.

As she gathered, she said, "Hi Mom! I'm helping."

"Good job, Zoë. Good teamwork."

"Yeah, I know, Mom. Hey mom, did you bring my fruit snack I wanted?"

"Yep, it's in the car"

"Yay! You remembered!"

"Sure did."

There was a small pause as she reached down to grab the last ball. As she stood up...she stopped, looked right at me and in the most genuine voice I have ever heard from my child, she said, "You're a great mom."

I giggled at first; as you do at all things toddlers say. But she just stared at me.

My heart warmed and I could feel a tiny space fill with much-needed light. I had no idea I needed to hear it. 

But I did.