Bobby Pins and Cinnamon

There’s a strange kind of joy that comes with bobby pins and cinnamon…the first things for which my children asked on this particular morning. One to pin their hair back so that despised stray curl would not obstruct their view of the cute boy two rows over in German class. And the other to savor and start their day with an unequivocal feeling of home.

A typical day in my full life bears many such requests. Too many to remember really. Safety pins for the broken backpack, butterscotch pudding in the brown bag lunch, help with a zipper on the new Spring dress from JC Penney. Driving lessons. $20 for a fundraising t-shirt for the Gay/Straight Alliance. A hug. Or three. 10 minutes of frisbee in the yard. A cuddle and a story about middle school politics. Tissues to support that cause. A flash drive for their latest creative writing. A trip to Target for bras that have eclipsed my own. An idea or two to keep busy toddlers occupied at a babysitting job. Painted toenails. A power drill tutorial. A tutorial on how to patch an unintended hole with spackle. Biotin. Back rubs. Chicken French with roasted potatoes and asparagus. My undivided attention. Advil. A walk up Summit and back holding hands. Advice. Ice cream. A signature on a grade sheet. Time. Love. And…and…and…

If this is not your life you cannot possibly imagine the exhaustion and the joy that it brings every day; not always in equal measure. But, at the end of each, I look in the mirror, like myself and know that I have given them each in the strangest and sometimes smallest of ways exactly what they needed that day to feel loved and whole.