Unplanned Morning Bonding

She was STARVING! She NEEDED a SNACK! I am SO UPSET right now!

My spirited daughter was testing my parenting at bedtime last night. I knew she was tired and engaged her as little as possible knowing that that only adds fuel to her tired flames.

I turned out the light. The darkness drained her of her fierceness, and within minutes she was asleep. I was relieved that I'd kept my cool and kept the drama to a minimum, but those flare ups wear me out. I finished what I was writing and put myself to bed soon after.

This morning my alarm sounded. I hit the snooze for more than an hour. I'm learning the rhythms of our new schedule and morning writing is harder to achieve on the days that she is with me. I decided to leave the writing for the evening and finally dragged myself out of bed. I took a shower, and while I was putting my hair in a towel, Cadence called out to me. I wanted to repair the testy moments we'd exchanged right before she fell asleep. She was waiting for me in my bed, so I snuggled next to her. I showered her with hugs and kisses and mama coos.

The minutes passed as we hugged and giggled and just enjoyed each other's presence. We picked up a conversation we'd had in the car the night before about choosing a word for the year for 2016. I asked her to guess which word I'd chosen. Love, peace, helpful, hope.

“Those are great words and good guesses. Keep those in mind, but nope not my word of the year. Two more guesses.”

I told her my word was trust. “Would you be interested in choosing a word for the year?” I asked not sure what she'd think of the idea or of what word she might choose.

“Yes.”

“What word do you think might be a good choice to help guide you and encourage you?”

Without missing a beat, she declared her answer: “Faith.”

Not only did  she “get” the assignment, she picked a really great word. She is currently taking preparatory classes for baptism. Her word choice highlighted for me just how important her classes and her decision to officially join our faith community are to her.

This morning we began to plan the painting project we're embarking on: to paint our words on the wall leading up the staircase to our bedrooms. I've had a word-a-year for the past two years. In addition to painting Faith and Trust, I'll add “Let go of Outcome” and this year's Gentle.

This morning Cadence added, “I want to paint last year's word. Brave.”

“Honey, you didn't have a word last year.”

“Yes I did. It was brave. I've been working on being more brave.”

Who am I to argue? Why not add Brave to our wall? It's a great word. I've definitely been working on being braver too.

“These hugs and conversation this morning are really filling my bucket today. Is it filling your bucket, Cadence?”

She giggled a little and said, “Oh I forgot about filling our buckets. Yeah, this is filling mine too.”

Never underestimate what a few minutes that “should” be spent picking out clothes and brushing teeth and blow drying hair but instead are spent loving your people can do to reduce stress and prepare you for a really great day.

Full Disclosure: We didn't take these this morning, but it shows the fun we have together.

To be continued...