One Week Later....The Thanksgiving Edition!

The Sappy

I am thankful for another year with my son. A little boy who gets more dramatic, more intelligent, more frustrating (have you ever tried to reason with an almost 3 year old?), more funny, more loving, and takes up a bigger part of my heart with each passing day. A little boy that thinks one kiss from his Mommy holds more power than a warehouse of Band-Aids and Neosporin. A little boy that makes a bow and arrows out of a coat hanger and drinking straws and shoots the pretend buck that lives under the sink because he aches to be ‘just ‘wike my Daddy…he’s weawy cool’. A little boy that puts his chubby, chocolate pudding sticky hands on each side of my face, pulls our foreheads together and says, “I wuv you Mama. Do you wuv me? Yes? Or No?” A little boy that makes me realize that there is still purity in the world, there is still innocence, and there is still joy.

I am thankful for the BabyDaddy, who is so much more than just a BabyDaddy. He is my best friend, my protector, my comedian, my cleaning lady (SCORE!), my cheering squad, my ‘what-the-heck-are-you-thinking’ reality meter, my partner in crime (all misdemeanors I assure you), my compass point, and my rock of Gibraltar. He makes me laugh, lets me cry, and has stood resolutely by me through every single event of importance in my adult life. He gallops through the hallways of our tiny house, a human Secretariat, (or more realistically, Seabiscuit), with the Muffin as a miniature jockey squealing, “Giddy-yap Mr. Pony! Faster!” and whipping him with a plastic golf club. Now ya’ll, if that ain’t love, I don’t know what is. He is a good man, a good worker, and a good friend. He is the official love of my life.

I am thankful for my Mom. As Moms go, she’s pretty much got it down. If one day goes by that I don’t thank the dear Lord I have her, it would be one day too many. My Mom has magic. Real magic – the kind that counts. With her, the sky is bluer and the grass is greener. Adventures lie around every corner; ordinary couch cushions become walls of great castles where knights and dragons wage war and good always triumphs. A walk in the yard becomes a treasure hunt for pirate’s gold. There really is a Santa Claus, magic is alive, and miracles happen every day. If I have learned one thing from my Mom over the years, it is to believe. Believe in everything. Believe in life, believe in love, believe in God, believe in joy, and believe in fairy tales. Believe that you create your own happy ending, and your story is whatever you will it to be.

I am thankful for my in-laws. (Now THAT is probably something you don’t see every day!) Is it hard to live two hours away from the home I grew up in? Yes. But when you have a second set of parents who treat you like one of their own so completely it even makes the words “in-law” seem totally insignificant, things are much easier. If their love for their son and for me is boundless, their love for the Muffin cannot be put into words. Although I have chosen to be a working mother, I don’t feel afraid for my child while I am away. Because he is able to stay with his grandparents, the only thing I get nervous about is whether or not he will want to come home with me when I arrive to pick him up. (The answer to this question is usually a most resounding “But, I DON’T go to home ‘wight now. No, I DON’T!”)

I am thankful for my grandparents. They are the trunk of our family tree. They hold us together; they are where we began; they are our center. If you could see a person’s soul through their skin, I think theirs would be so bright it would blind you. They have seen financial comfort and financial hardship, the births of new generations and the deaths of the old, miracles and tragedies. They have remained steadfast in their love for God, family, and each other for decades. Although my heart hurts and my head spins to think of a day without either of them, I know it will have been both my honor and my blessing to have had them in my life.

I am thankful for my friends. More often than not, my friends are the Krazy Glue that patch up my cracks and keep me from falling apart. They are all different, and each is her own unique blend of fabulous. They give advice, hatch plans, pass the Kleenex, pass the wine, entertain my child, and entertain me. For you girls (and you each know who you are), I am eternally grateful.


The Purely Superficial

On the superficial side, I am so thankful for everything in the ‘comfort’ food group. (I mean YOU twice baked sour-cream mashed potatoes!) I ate so much over the holiday I almost puked. When I didn’t puke, I ate some more. And, as a famous man once saith in Genesis, “IT WAS GOOD.” I have yet to get on the scales – that will be a New Year’s Day cry-and-swear-never-to-eat-another-stinking-crescent-roll-until-next-year thing. I hope all of you had a lovely Thanksgiving, with lots of wonderful things to be thankful for.