My Heart is Smiling: Paint Your Own Pottery

I love to read "mommy" blogs and I have a few favorites that I follow closely. It is my favorite way to start a weekend morning: a cup of coffee and a few inspirational words from my favorite mommy bloggers.

This morning, I read a passage from a blog written by a young mother whose own mother experiences a recurring dream. The grandmother dreams that her own kids are little again, and she's back in the days of rocking them, reading stories, holding their hands to walk across streets to parks and picnics. She says that when she wakes up, for one second she thinks her kids are still little and in her house, and that when she finally comes to realize they are not, there is a moment of heartache - a paralyzing reminder that those days are gone, and that her kids have moved on.

I think about this a lot.

I know that every mom wants to encourage their children to build independence and explore outside the comfort zone of their own home. I know that I will be happy and do all that I can to encourage and support their independence and explorations away from home. But I also know that what I have right now - three little boys who comfortably remain in the security of this tiny piece of time where they are ours - is fleeting. Hundreds of times each day, I think to myself, "I'm going to miss this."

And since time stops for no one, I am determined to be mindful of these days and soak up the precious minutes that are the childhood of my darling baby boys.

Today, we made art.

Drew, Owen and I ventured to a new local establishment this morning (Glazy Daze Pottery in Columbia, IL) where we created our very own pieces of artwork. Drew chose to paint a bulldozer, Owen chose to paint a jeep and I kept busy tending to the boys' constant switching of paint colors and brushes in a store full of breakables. Yikes. And baby Evan stayed at home to nap with Daddy.

It was definitely stressful at times, but the important thing was that we were together.