As I sent my little girls off to school today clutching their home-made Valentine’s boxes and plastic grocery store bags filled with store-bought valentines (complete with little suckers taped to them) I felt this surge of love in my heart for all my little valentines are teaching me.

Lucy’s sweet friend came over the other day.  They had a big plan to make their own Valentine’s boxes.  When I first saw them taping paper haphazardly onto a cardboard box I almost jumped in.
Everything in me wanted to get in there and control that situation…make those cut-lines perfect, make sure no cardboard was showing, whip out my old scrapbook paper that could have made those boxes look so professional.  We’ve made those boxes together for so many years and have had so much fun together in the process.  
But I caught myself before I jumped in right in the nick of time when I saw those little diligent faces:

They certainly didn’t need a mom to come in and take away their fun.

 They were so excited about their creation their little eyes shone in delight.

 Claire whipped up her own this year too and was pleased as punch about that thing.

 I had stars in my eyes about making home-made picture-valentines this year, but we didnt’ get to it, and they thought the ones they picked out at Walgreens were just about the best things on the planet.

I realized as they walked across the street, hand-in-hand, with smiles as big as the sky wearing their specially picked out valentines’ wardrobes and hair-dos that I sure am training myself out of a job.

And as much as it’s hard to let go sometimes, I sure love who these little ones are becoming all on their own.

Oh boy do I ever love doing projects with them.  But sometimes it’s pretty darn fun to watch them take pride in their own work too.

Man I love being their mom.

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9 Comments

  1. Ohhhhh, I needed to hear this from another mom today! My oldest is now eleven and in the fifth grade – changing classes for school, attending a pretty rigorous sports program, and just all-out gaining confidence and independence in the last few months. I am so torn between having a broken heart over the fact that I'm no longer required to be "right there" for him anymore, and being overjoyed at watching him blossom into the young man he's becoming right before my very eyes. Such a struggle for a mother's heart!!

  2. I can't remember where I heard this quote from but I love it…"The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them." Looks like you are doing a fantastic job!

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