Growth

I'm going to share a little secret. Being a mother is hard. And a child's discovery of temper tantrums does not make it any easier. Try as I might not to encourage them, Henry still seems to find them effective. It's hard to find motherhood rewarding when your only companion for most of the day isn't being nice to you. I've really been discouraged lately.

Yesterday, though, Henry did two wonderful things that made up for all of the tantrums. Ben and I have been wanting to see Life of Pi, which is playing in the theater in our park, but I was a bit anxious about taking Henry. We went last night, and Henry was perfect. He sat in our laps the whole time, occasionally talking to the screen, but being extremely well behaved. Many people in the theater commented on it. It felt good to know that our son doesn't have to constantly be running around to be happy.

The second thing happened as we were getting him ready for bed. We knelt down on the floor for a prayer, like we do every night, and Ben said fold your arms. And guess what Henry did--he folded his arms! That made me so happy I could barely say the prayer. The thing about being a mom is day after day you try to teach your children things, but sometimes it seems like it's just not getting through. Seeing my son kneeling next to his dad, folding his arms for prayer, was one of the most rewarding things I've ever seen. It's good to know we're doing something right.

So Henry, thank you for helping me realize that I am not a bad mom.