The Mom Moment

I had a Mom Moment tonight...

A Mom moment is something that only a mother can relate to or understand.

It is a moment in which you notice something about your child that is so minute, but it stops you in your tracks and makes you really take pause and take it all in. It could be the first time they laugh, or the first time they dance, or the first time they tie their shoes... It is a defining moment of parenthood.

I've had a few of these moments, but tonight I had one that made me feel so freaking happy....and relieved.

Olivia is almost a year and a half old now, and she is finally starting to really show her personality and emotions in a way that makes sense in situations. She is finally starting to understand and connect dots and respond appropriately. She can point when we ask her where things are, she knows where her belly button is, she knows a few words...she is really starting to learn!

Tonight we were playing with her Little People Princess set. I saw one of her baby dolls lying on the floor, and something told me to ask her where her baby was. I hadn't really seen much of an attraction to dolls in her up to this point so I was interested to see what her reaction would be. Her face lit up, and for the first time, I watched her run to her doll, pick it up, squeeze it, and give it a kiss.

(Hold please while I go pick my heart up off the floor just from replaying this in my head again...)

I died.

I just died. I sat there on the floor and my heart just exploded.

I sat there on the floor, while my heart exploded, and in that moment I felt such an intense feeling of relief.

Thank you Jesus. I am not raising a little sociopath.

I know that sounds COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS...but it is totally a valid fear! All parents worry about raising a criminal mastermind, right?

I should mention that I totally don't think Olivia will become a murderer or anything, but sometimes when she goes through these periods of time when she is crabby and wild, I start to have my doubts!

Maybe I watch too much crime TV, but watching Olivia display these natural and positive actions just made me feel like for a brief moment I was actually doing something right. I couldn't possibly be messing up as a Mom that badly if my child is expressing love and compassion on a normal level. (Whatever normal is anyways..)

I'm sure there is still plenty of time for her to grow into a life of crime, and there are more than enough opportunities for me to mess up and derail her healthy mental development, but at least I know that today, in that moment, I did something right.

While it is completely impossible to tell if we are doing and saying all the right things, as parents we have to enjoy the little moments of victory...The moments that build our confidence as parents...The moments that make us feel like we have it all figured out, for the time being at least...

When and what was your last Mom moment?