Kids and Heartstrings
Posted on October 13, 2009 by FoBaM-Jamie
This is a guest post by Fans of Being a Mom staff member, Meredith. Read more about her mommy experience on the Blogger Bios page.
My husband and I recently attended our 2nd grader’s Open House night at school. We crammed ourselves into two miniature chairs in front of our daughter’s desk, knees at our chins, and listened intently to the teacher presentations about the curriculum and school year. We also had the opportunity to look through some assignments the children had prepared for the evening. In her “All About Me” worksheet, our daughter had written down and drawn pictures of her favorite book, song, and food. In the space labeled “hero” she had put – in lovely penmanship next to a fairly realistic likeness – “my mom.”
Though I hadn’t expected to cry while wedged in a chair at parent night, tears welled up in my eyes, and I squeezed my husband’s hand tight. Suddenly, all the sleepless nights, temper tantrums, and arguments over hairstyles and clothes evaporated. Being a mom is often a thankless job. You never quite know if what you do for your kids makes an impression. But, reading those two words on that photocopied worksheet were enough validation for me – a lovely and genuine pat on the back from my daughter.
My friends and I often joke that a mom’s compensation and benefits package is comical given our 24/7 position. We don’t get performance reviews or raises or sick days. A personal day usually means grocery shopping alone (woo-hoo!) or a visit to the gynecologist. But, every once in a while you experience a moment of insight. You realize that the true honor of being a mom is the chance to share your time, your love, and yourself with a little one who might someday melt your heart by telling you that you’re doing a good job.
Have your kids turned you into a pile of mush with some sweet card, bedtime whisper or unexpected expression of their love? What are your tear-jerker moments?
From a busy mother’s prospect… LOVE THIS!!!!
I have a wonderfull mom moment to share! my 10 year old can be such a bugger at times, but also very very senstive and loving! last summer driving home from a family get together, I looked at him in the rearview mirror, and told him he’s such a good boy, and I’m so luck to have him, and i love him more than anything, yada yada…..he then in turn said to me, mom, do you know what makes me such a good boy? i said no, what? he said, mom, i’m such a good boy because your such a good mother…..I love you more than anything right back!! I’ll never forget that moment!!
my kids did so much to tug at my heart strings when they were growing up but one in particular was my son saying he was gonna leave home&he packed a bag&was gone down the road a few moments&came back&i said why did you came back&he said well i got hungry-many more but that was one i particularly remember
i would have to say, and all 3 of my kids did this to me at some point, 1) when you scold them or “time out”, they look at you with tears in their eyes and say “love you mommy”!! 2) when they are sick and cannot explain to you how they feel… 3) just everyday stuff!!!
What a beautiful story. I wanted to share this, and apparently posted in the wrong spot lol! …. This morning, as I prepped for an important meeting, my 4 year old, Laurel, rambled, chattered and basically drove me crazy with her constant chatter…until finally I yelled, COULD YOU JUST BE QUIET FOR ONE MINUTE?! To which Laurel replied, “Okay Mommy, but I just want to tell you one more thing. You are my best friend and I love you forever.” I stopped, sat down and cuddled for a few before we went to school and work for the day. This is when I know how much I am blessed.
That was so wonderful!
Great story! About 6 months after my second child was born he was going through a very bad case of colic, my oldest son was about 3 1/2 years old. After breakfast one morning, I was probably walkind around in circles, completely exhausted, didn’t shower, didn’t do my hair, pulled it up very badly I might add and may have had on a clean shirt. I was trying to get a few things done but don’t think that was happening. My 3 year old son looks at me and says, “Mommy…..you are so pretty.” I nearly fell apart. It was the most genuine compliment I had received in a long time and it meant I was where I should be…being home with my kids!
A couple of night ago I was watch some movie and it was so sad I began to cry, my two y-o ask are you alright mommy and I said yes, he then proceed to kiss me on the cheek , then give me a hug and say I love you.
Know isn’t that wonderful, my son the noisy child to every live knows compassion. Talk about it makes me tear up again.
Last night, I was just laying on the couch with a terrible headache. My two year old asked me, “Mommy, you don’t feel good?” and I said, “No, sweetie, my head hurts.” So, he asks me, “Can I kiss it?” and then placed the most gentle kiss on my forehead. I almost cried.
My son is 15 months old well about a month ago i was having really terrible muscle spasms in my neck and they were extremely painful. One morning I woke up and the pain was so bad that I couldn’t stop crying. I had pain medication from the dr. but it took about 45 minutes to kick in. My son woke up while I was crying because I was crying so loud, I got his bottle and changed his diaper, crying the whole time. When I was done changing his diaper, he put his bottle down climbed on me and just laid on me for about 15 minutes. Every few minutes he would look up at me and if I was still crying he would lay his head back down. I stopped crying for a few minutes and he got up and went to play and when i started crying again he walked up to me, climbed on me and just hugged me. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen in my life. It’s crazy that a one year old can sense your pain and sadness and try to comfort you the same way you do them. It makes me want to have a million more!!!!!
Beautiful
Due to dropping off my 3 year old at daycare, she will tell me that I can’t go to work and leave her at daycare. I ask her why and she replies “you can’t leave because I love you.”
I love this article it is sooo true! My 5 year old daughter was giving me such a hard time getting ready for school this morning and I was getting a little frustrated, then she comes into the bathroom while I putting makeup on holding a piece of notebook paper with scribble lines going all across the entire page. She then anounced to me that it was a letter that she had written to me and that she was going to read it to me. The ‘letter’ according to my daughter included how much she loved mama and that I was the best mama she ever had and she is so thankful for me and for me getting her “Cuddles” her stuffed bear and she will miss me so much at school but plans on running into my arms and giving me a giant hug when I pick her up etc… In an instant all the frustration of the morning was gone and I remember how being her mama is the one thing I love more than all else!
We have 4 Children, 3 girls and 1 boy. He also happens to be the youngest. On on night last week he was giving me an extra hard time to eat dinner, we ended up playing musical chairs so my husband would be sitting next to him. My husband looked at my son and said “You best eat your supper boy because I’ll send you straight to bed” My 2 yr old son then paused, placed his fork next to his plate and turned to my husband saying “daddy,…?” My husband looked at him and said “yes” Talon then reached out and touched my husbands arm and said “daddy,….you are my best friend” <3
they are so good at that aren’t they, lol!
And its still good when you’re a grandmom!
oh how true being the only girl with 5 brothers then had 2 boys now 14 and 16 stepson 30 stepdaughter 28 just had a little girl named ava i finally get my girl as a baby my stepdaughter was 8 when we got together, my granddaughter is the sun the moon amd the stars and the best part is i can spoil her and send her home to mommy haha payback!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well my saying is “Once you have a child, you no longer own your heart”. I find myself now pulling my daughter closer because she is growing up. (10 years old now!) I tease her day because she gets to him all the time, only knowing that she can get to me also.
My oldest daughter is turning 6 tomorrow, however, this particular moment in my memory happened last year, right after her 5th birthday. She was (and still is) very much into Arial the Mermaid. She watched it over and over and over. We were bickering all morning to each other.. just one of those times where we just can’t seem to get along. I had her (get out of my hair) go play in her room for a little bit while i did some laundry. I began singing to myself quietly. I turned around to see my daughter quietly standing at her door watching me and listening. She said, “Mommy, you have a beautiful voice that sounds just like Arial.” And she smiled so innocently. I said “aww thank you” and went to give her a hug. As I hugged her and kissed the top of her head she said, “But you kind of look like Ursula the Sea Witch.”
I have a 14 month old daughter who throws a fit every 20 minutes but when she comes to give me a hug I forget about my frustration and sanity
My little guy is only 22 months old. But this past September was my 35th birthday. My husband gives me one of those recordable cards from our son. I open it to hear some little man breathing… my husband saying “Say Happy Birthday to Momma” and then his little voice say “Happy Birthday to Momma.” I think this is by far the best birthday present ever. I could not hold back the tears from welling up in my eyes. I know I have a lifetime of more memories to make with him but I know it’s the small stuff. Those little moments, a look, a laugh or that little voice on that birthday card that I will remember forever.
my 16 year old who has adhd and believe me is a challenge everyday i struggling with ms, still never leaves this house or hangs up the phone without saying i love you
When my daughter was a toddler (Shes 19 now) I worked the 4-midnight shift and a lot of times stayed over until 4am getting me home around 5 am. She would be up around 7am and I would stumble to the kitchen make her breakfast. We would then put on a movie and I would lay on the couch with one eye open trying to catch cat naps and still keep an eye on her. She was very good about playing quietly and letting me catch those naps. Her father had talked with her several times about “Mommy being up all night at work so we have to let her sleep during the day”. She was 3 years old and I thought she had no idea what he was talking about. I thought she was just a good kid. On this particular day I was on my 5th day in a row of working until 4am and we did our usual routine. I dozed off pretty hard for a moment when I was startled awake by a touch to the cheek. I open one eye to see her standing over me. When I opened my eyes she leaned in and said “I’m being really quiet so you can sleep aren’t I Mommy? Just like me and Daddy talked about.” I said yes baby and dozed off again. Seemed like only seconds passed and she came back again. “I love you Mommy that’s why I’m being good and letting you sleep”. I said ” I know baby your a good girl” . A few seconds later she was back and by this time I was getting frustrated. She leaned in and said ” Mommy I’m going to take care of you. I bet your hungry so I’m making you some cheese toast” About that time I smelled the smoke! Jumping up and rushing to kitchen I found bread and cheese crammed into the toaster. I started to yell as I pulled the plug. Making sure everything was okay there I turned to give my daughter a lecture when I saw the tears in her eyes. All I could do was hug her and the next day I quit my job and stayed home with her until she could be enrolled in pre-school.
My favorite moment from my 3 1/2 year old son has to be after my daughter was born. She was a preemie and had to spend a couple weeks in the NICU, I was able to stay at the hospital in an extra room for 1 week, and then had to come home, I was going up to the hospital every 3 hours to feed her, and had to miss a couple times, I was so emotional and sad that we couldnt take our daughter home, and was sitting on the couch at home crying, when my son came up to me and said “Mommy, its okay, [while hugging me] You are the best mommy, and your beautiful! Livia is okay Mommy, dont worry” OH it just melted my heart, and made me cry even more. Noah has such a big heart!!! He knew just what to say to make me feel a little better.
When I was pregnant with my 2nd child, I worried about how to make my 3 year old daughter feel special when the baby came. I made up a story that a baby can tell you if she loves you from the very moment she is born – all you have to do is put your finger in her hand, and if she closes her hand, that is her way of saying I love you. (yeah – I know it’s a reflex, and I believe in making use of absolutely anything I can when I need to.) Well, the big day came, and that afternoon hubby brought my daughter to the hospital. The nurses said she had to be gowned if she was going to be near the baby. And they only had adult gowns (and I’ve never understood why, if they had this rule, they didn’t have some kids gowns. Oh well). So, after a nurse and I spent an age rolling sleeves, tieing belts, and tucking up tons of excess fabric, we brought her into my room, which was a ward with 3 first-time Moms (whose husbands were present) as my roommates. When she looked in the bassinet, the first words out of her mouth were “Happy Birthday Jody”. So now everyone in the room is feeling pretty emotional, and I’m so touched I’m almost in tears. Then I told her to find out if her new baby sister loved her. She very carefully put one finger in the baby’s hand and, of course, reflex took over and the hand closed tightly around the finger. I’ll never forget that radiant face as she looked up and said with awe in her voice “Mommy, Jody loves me!”. I still get choked up when I think of it – as I am right now.
And the trick worked – no sibling rivalry from older. If she needed to wait while I cared for her sister, that was OK – because her sister loved her. The girls are now 23 and 26 – and they still have a very close bond. I am truly blessed. (And now there is a grandbaby for me to play with, and make up stories for and they are needed)
My oldest living child will be 3 in November, so he’s in the wonderful terrible 2 stage. There are days I want to pull every single hair out one by one, I swear it would be less aggrevating. But he can also be a sweet cuddly little angel. The other day he was giving his baby brother (1 year old) kisses going, “Muah Mommy. I love my baby brother.” I told him that his baby brother loves him too, he goes, “I love you too Mommy. You’ll always be my friend.” LoL. I don’t know where he gets these things.
i know what you mean. my youngest just turned 3 and now when she knows shes about to get in trouble she runs up to me, gives me a hug, and says best friends!! it makes me forget why i was even going to get onto her..
My 3yo daughter was exhausted from a long day, had had no nap, and was crying and refusing to do anything I asked to get herself ready for bed. I start losing my mind, so I walked away to change into my own pajamas. She followed me, still crying, and when I lifted my shirt over my head, she says: “Mom, I want fuzz in my underarms, too.” I was so angry, but looked at her tired teary face, and burst out laughing, assuring her “Oh, sweetie, you will. Don’t worry.”
Last week woke up with a headache and was frustrated at being awake so early. I picked up my 7 month old and snuggled with him telling him I wasn’t upset with him I just had a headache and was tired. He then put his snuggle blanket on my neck and rubbed my face with his hand. My heart just melted. As a new mom I am constantly amazed by these little moments we share.
When my middle daughter was about 3 years old, she looked at me one day and out of the blue she said, “Mommy, you are the sun up in the sky!” I will never forget that one!
My daughter,who is 5, has a very hard time communiting how she feels, no matter if it may be mad, angry ,sad, or what not, she usually just screams and throws her self on the floor. She recently started therapy to help her. One evening she and her little brother were on the floor playing with playdoh, she made a heart and gave it to me. then she preceded to whisper in my ear,”want to know why i made you a heart?, Its b/c you are the bestest mommy in the whole world”. I cried right there. She has never said anything like that to me, needless to say, the playdoh heart is dried up and still on my desk. i will never forget her breakthrough moment!
Last week my daughter , who is 9 3/4yr s old, went to a Girl Scout Bingo. We were on our way to pick up my mom, her Nana. When I looked in the mirror and realized I forgot to put on Make-up. I had my BOO Bug t-Shirt on All us girls dressed in our matching t’s and Black and orange head bands with antena. So of course I wanted something to look good, like my make-up. And when I said ” Oh poop mom forgot her make-up” my Anna goes its okay mom you look your best natural. I thought I was going to cry.
My granddaughter was getting under my skin a little one weekend, and I yelled at her alot. She gave me that pouty look like I hurt her feelings real bad, then she brought on the tears. This made me feel awful inside. But the worst is when she asked me why I am so angry at her.I couldn’t stop the tears and then I couldn’t helpit but pick her up and hug her and just held her and let the tears go and tell her how sorry I am and that I love her so much.
My greatest moment is when my little girl looks at me and says”You’re the best”. It lets me know that she thinks i’m better than Hannah Montana!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i’m a single mom with 2 boys. one night, my youngest son saw that i had had a rough day. he sat down next to me, hugged me and said mom, when i get old enough to marry (he was 7 at the time), i am going to find a family without a dad and that’s who i will marry. I think i went through a box of tissues at that point
My 5 yo daughter waited so long to go to kindergarten…She was ready last year, but missed the deadline by 23 days. When she went this year she was SO happy to be there, but I had a very hard time with it. She is my youngest and the house is so quiet in the afternoon when she isn’t here. The first few days I actually cried in the afternoon when she wasn’t there! She would come home and tell me all about her day and how great her teachers are, etc. I thought I was doing a great job of being excited about it, but after a week, she asked if she could be homeschooled…I asked her why and she said she didn’t want me to be lonely for her! She is such an angel!
I was having a particularly rough week and one day I just sat down and sobbed. My two year old came up to me and put her hand on my cheek. “Mommy, are you sad?” She said. She stroaked my arm all the while saying, “It’s okay, Mommy. It’s okay.” She then proceeded to say, “Just breathe…like this…” and then breathed in and blew it out…coaching me to calm down. It’s what I do with her when she’s upset sometimes. It was just the cutest thing to me.
…Oh and it helped too.
i was rushin trying to get dinner done in time for my husband to get home and my then 4 yr old was under me everytime i moved and i was constantly bumping into her..i told her to go play so i could finish cooking and (with the most serious voice i have ever heard) she said..but mommy i cant go play..dont u want me to make delicious meals just like you..i have to stay here and watch you, when i grow up i want to be a good mommy just like you…i stopped what i was doing, gave her a hug(with tears in my eyes)and got a step stool, and showed her how to finish our dinner.. i was telling her what to do and letting her her mix and all and turned around to see that my husband was home, standing in the doorway with a big grin on his face.. that day is something i will always remember….
What a beautiful story thank you for sharing.
My Comment was for all the moms but I especially liked Elizabeths story.
My 15 year old son with PDD NOS had to write an Essay about “What’s Important to me.” I received an e-mail from his teacher saying he had written his introduction but was frustrated and threw it away and for that entire week was more and more frustrated. On the day I received the e-mail I came home from work we immediately had a meeting about it. I let him read the teachers e-mail. After a lecture about patience and Dad and I “want you to be successful” speech. We left for a few hours just to come home to a completed introduction for his essay written about me and why I was important to him it was beautiful. I cried. What a kid I am soooo lucky.
I have a 3 year old little girl and a 16 month old little boy. One night I was going through some bills and my frustration got the best of me and I began to cry. My daughter walks up to me puts her tiny hand on my shoulder and says”Mommy what’s wrong,talk to me I love you”. At that moment I became the biggest pile of mush and started to cry even harder. Things got better later in the evening. It soon became their bath time. After taking them out of the tub I began drying my daughter’s hair. She turns to me looks me square in my eyes and says”I am lucky to have a beautiful Mommy”. My night was complete by unexpecting words from one of the sweetest angels’ on earth. I am truly blessed to have the family I was given.
I have a proud moment to share. My husband was laid-off almost a year ago and while he has a job that provides some income, we are still struggling daily. My oldest, who will be 17 next month, knew that I was tight on money and couldn’t afford to fill up my van with gas. So, he took his own money and did so. It made me proud and brought tears to my eyes that he was so self-sacrificing and giving to take some of his own money that he could have used to hang-out with friends or buy new basketball shoes. It’s those little moments that make me proud to have him as a son.
One day my 5 year old and I were playing the “I love you more than…” game. We were going through things like pizza and cookies and candy and at one point she says “I love you more than myself.” It instantly brought tears to my eyes and made me realize exactly why I love being a mom.