Perks

Anyone that said motherhood was easy, was clearly still high on the epidural. Motherhood is not easy. In fact, sometimes it can be down right impossible. There are days your not-yet two year old refuses to stay in her bed for nap (like today). There are days your four year old decides he can debate every little thing you utter in his direction, as well as some things you say not at all related to him. There are days when the kids fight like enemy combatants bent on total destruction. Other days when nothing at all goes right and everyone cries just because you looked their way. There are days when all of the above happen all at once. Days like that you just want to crawl into some far off hide-away and refuse to answer to your name.

Yet motherhood also has it's incredibly high points. And sometimes it has those more subtle special moments that you treasure because you're the mom and you 'get' it. You get why something seemingly silly or even mundane is so very sweet and endearing.
These are the perks of motherhood.

Megan has been saying "I love you" for a while now. She even signs it. When she does it, it's a sweet moment and we all hug her tight and tell her "I love you too Meg." At a mere 21 months we doubt she fully understands the concept of love. Really though, at 33 years old sometimes it's still a bit too abstract for me to get a complete grip on. However, she knows it's something that makes us happy and she knows she hears us say it to her and to each other often.

Yesterday, however, she tried something different. I was preparing dinner when Megan walked over to me and wrapped both arms around my leg. She began doing this a few weeks ago - the leg hug. She wraps her arms around me and then cuddles her head into that spot between the hip and the knee. She looked up at me - her big blue eyes sparkling. "Mommy," she said, "I like you."

And that meant almost more to me than all the other times I heard an "l" word. Like, she got. She understand that concept fully. I hugged her back. "I like you too," I told her.

She crinkled up her nose and made her eyes smile. And then she ran off to torment her brother.