Dear Bef tagged me for a meme, asking me to list five ways I love being a mama. Ready?

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

I can’t think of any. I’m making a list in my head that goes like this:

1) I love when it’s summertime and we get out the wading pool — but they’re too big for the wading pool now. Yet they refuse to give the pool away, so there it rests, against the fence, gathering dead leaves, sticks and rain water. (Note to self: Take pool to neighbor’s house; leave in front yard.) Also, one kid loves going to the city pools; the other would rather punch you in the nose than agree to it. We go anyway and park him in the shade.

1a) I love when we all work together as a team and come to a family decision.

2) Every time I tell or ask my girl to take care of something (put the dirty socks in the laundry, take a shower, feed the cats, help set the table) as soon as I say, “Honey, will you please…” She responds, “No, I don’t feel like it.” She doesn’t feel like it! That is so precious.

2b) I love that the kids are getting older and more independent.

3) My son collects garbage. Excuse me. It’s what you and I might call “garbage,” but to him it’s “treasure.” (Dead things, sand, rocks, ants, earwigs, tinfoil balls, bullet casings.) (We live in the city.) (Yeah, we started having the “Don’t pick up any balloons! Or anything that looks like a balloon!” talk about six years ago.)

3a) I love the creativity they show.

4) Food. Vegetables offered, vegetables refused. Fruit offered, fruit refused. Mac n chz offered, mac n chz accepted.

4a) Every kid is different, eh?

5) Since I’ve been out on family leave, we can actually walk home from school sometimes. Theoretically, we could walk to school, as well. But who wants to wake up ten minutes earlier? “Oh, GOD, you WALKED? We have to WALK home???” (Other parents on playground hiding their smiles.) Then I am stuck listening to the kvetching for the next 15 minutes. And we can’t run by the library, like I had planned, because we need the car for that.

5a) I like being a mom, even with the chaos, the kvetching, the refusing to practice piano, do homework, pick up the Pokemon cards that seem to be on permanent display across the living room rug. I wouldn’t trade it for nuthin’. Besides, they leave for college in 8 years and four months and 11 years and four months, respectively. That’s not so long from now.

Happy clickin’.

wm

ps edited Monday night to say…

1) I love how sweet my kids are. I love the hugs and the kisses and all the goofy jokes.

2) I love when we watch videos from when they were babies and they “translate” for me . (“I was saying ‘I don’t like this book.'”)

3) I love 7 & 9 cuz they’re not little babies… but they’re not big kids yet, either.

4) I love when we play Uno and Sorry and I Spy.

5) I love watching them grow, play piano, garden.

It’s a wonderful life. Really.

wm