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A Special Gift

In an age of competitive parenting, I decided early on that I was not even watching the race much less participating in it. In as such, I don't have any video montage of J's first baby steps, her first words or for that matter any of the myriad firsts that childhood is made of. I trust my memory for what its worth to help me recall those magic moments always. I took a couple of days off towards the end of her winter break just to be Mom and nothing else - sometimes my schizoid existence tires me out. I was hoping to add to my store of memories.

None of the things we did the last five days were exceptional - many mothers are able to do it everyday. J and I read books together, worked on science projects that required no more than stuff from my kitchen, listened to kids music and spent lazy mornings talking about whatever is important to J. Five days of being all Mom recharged me more than several weeks of vacation might have - it is just what I needed before the new year. My best reward came to me this evening - J composed a little poem (this is her second) and I am taking the liberty of assuming that it was meant for me:

Flowers smell sweet
And you smell sweet
You are sweet as flowers are.
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