Happy Mommy Moments

Anyone who has ever been around kids - your own or other people's - knows that they can be little monsters sometimes. They're kids. Sometimes they misbehave. Sometimes get into trouble. It's just one of those unfortunate inevitabilities in life. Fortunately for me, though, those times are greatly outweighed by the times when my kids are incredibly awesome.

When my daughter woke up yesterday she ran to my room, climbed up in my bed, and gave me a big "good morning" hug, after which she told me "Mommy, you're the best Mommy in the whole world." Nothing like having your heart melted to wake you up in the morning. I have no idea what prompted her to say that, but I'll happily accept it.

Life is full of great moments like that when my kids are around. Last week my daughter and I had to stop at the bank while my son was at school. Now, if you have kids you know that going to the bank is super-exciting, mostly because the tellers always have suckers. When it came time to pick out her sucker, my sweet little three-year-old asked if she could have two, so she could take one to her brother. (And of course the teller, recognizing the sweetness of the gesture, gladly gave them to her.)

That very same afternoon when we picked my son up from school he proudly told us that he had gotten to go to the treasure box that day. (The treasure box, as we then learned, is a box full of little toys that the kids sometimes get to pick from when they've been especially good. Because kindergarten is cute like that.) But instead of picking out a toy for himself, my amazing five-year-old picked out a toy for his little sister. His explanation: "I saw this and I thought she would like it, so I got it for her."

It's little moments like these that remind me why being a mom the best job in the world. I may not get paid for all of the overtime I work, and I may not get sick days or vacation time, but you just can't beat the benefits package.