The woman I am raising

A few weeks ago I saw the following quote on facebook and it really spoke to me, not only as a woman but also as a mommy.

It is so hard to think that I am in fact raising a woman.  While today she is my 3 year old firecracker, she is growing every day.  In the blink of an eye I will look at her and see a woman instead of my bubbly, giggling little girl.  I will admit that even typing that brought a tear to my eyes.  I look down and I have a sticker on my hand that she put there before school this morning.  I can hear her saying "mommy cuddle me" this morning.  So, yes it does make me sad to think that those days will come to an end and my little girl will one day go off and face the world as a woman.

I can't change the fact that she is growing up, but I can change how I approach her growing up.  I can sit back and be in tears or jump in and enjoy the ride.  I have loved every stage she has gone through up to and including this point in her life.  However, there is still a part of me that misses her being the baby that I rocked to sleep.  I can never get those days back, but guess what I can't get this morning back either.  I can take the extra minute tonight and tomorrow to cuddle her, but it isn't the same cuddle as I had this morning.

This morning I ran across the following article.  While I do not like some of the language in the article the message is very clear.  What do we praise more about our children their looks or their inner beauty?  I always try to tell Emma how smart she is, how nice she is, how helpful she is, but do we as parents do that enough?  Sadly when most women have low self-esteem it says that we do not do it enough. 

https://www.romper.com/p/what-happened-when-i-stopped-complimenting-my-daughters-appearance-3876?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=partnerships&utm_campaign=TheStir

I hope that you take the time to recognize all of the beauty of your child.  How do you make it a point to let your child know that they are smart, helpful, and wonderfully made?

Snow day

Okay not a full snow day- right now Emma's daycare is on a 2 hr delay. Yesterday when I got home Emma painted snow and snowflakes while I fixed supper. Then after we ate we went outside to play. We didn't get a lot of snow but decided to enjoy what we did have.

After we played in the snow, we came in and fixed hot chocolate. This was the first time Emma had hot chocolate, and I think she enjoyed the colored marshmallows more than the actual hot chocolate.  Before she went to bed we had to open the door so she could tell the snow night night.

So this morning we are on delay. She woke up early but decided to lay back down in mama and daddy's bed.

As I lay here and watch her sleep I realize that she has a lot in common with a snowflake. 1) she was created uniquely by God 2) there is no one else like her 3) she is beautiful 4) she changes my day 5) people's face light up when they see her.

Of course there are funny things snowflakes and Emma have in common as well 1) both can change your plans at the drop of a hat 2) both will have you running to the store for milk 3) both make the journey of getting to your destination an adventure 4) both bring out the little kid in me 5) you rarely know what to expect from either of them. 

I hope everyone is safe this morning, and please take a moment to look at the snow and see what you have in common with it.