Lately, I've been leaving for work early, when the house it still dark and everyone is asleep.
As I was walking past Elise's room last week I heard some quiet talking. Curious, I peeked into her room and found her reading to her doll, Sander-Hander. She had Sander propped up on her lap with the book in front of her. She was reading each word on the page and pointing to the pictures as she went.
It was so cute. Of course, I'm already head over heels in love with her, but sometimes she does little things like this that make me swoon. She loves her doll so much she reads to her.
Beyond the adorable, it was so beautiful that she has learned to value reading and books. The love of reading and books is high on the list of values I want to pass to my children. I felt a sense of reverence watching her read to her little baby.
Speaking of being in love, two bloggers caught my attention while talking about love.
"Love is a gift. It's a gift given by one flawed soul to another. It's
like gold, valuable and beautiful, adorning the beloved. It's like a
treasured Christmas present made precious because you know it is
better than what you deserve. I should have found a lump in my
stocking and instead I found love.
Being beloved means every morning becomes Christmas morning."
Julie Leung -- What it means to be beloved
While I'm not sure that Julie deserves a lump in her stocking, it's no surprise to me that she mentions Christmas morning several times. Both the cultural and spiritual meanings of Christmas are all tied up in unexpected extravagant displays of giving and love. For me the magic of real love is always tied up with idea of the undeserved surprise of it all. I want to be this kind of surprise. I wish I knew what to give you.
"This morning you and I were playing on the floor in your bedroom — I was hiding the phone and you were crawling all over my torso and legs to find it — and you suddenly stopped, your face very close to mine, and you leaned in and pressed your nose to my cheek. We stayed in that position for several spectacular seconds, a hesitation that altered history, a moment so intimate it felt like it could end wars. I could feel you grinning on my skin and even though I wanted to scoop you up and cover you in kisses I let you hold your face there for as long as you would. I know there are only a handful of moments like that in life. Thank you for that one."
Heather B. Armstrong, Monthly Newsletter: Month Fourteen
This is exactly the way that my children captured my heart forever. Don't let my cynicism and gruff exterior fool you, having children changed me forever by exposing me to passionate, undeserved, surprising, extravagant love.
Thank you. I'm pregnant and sick and losing sight of what this is all about and why I was so joyful upon finding out about my condition. I needed the reminder - thanks.