I never thought I’d see the day my kids no longer needed a booster.

I never thought I’d miss the banging and clanging of the drums.

I never thought I’d long to hold the back of a bike, hunched over, running at top speed, keeping up and holding on so my little boy would not fall over.

There are many things I never thought…

Today, I think of the past wistfully, and look to present and enjoy the moments, for I now know I will see the day when it is gone as well….

This morning over coffee (okay, I don’t drink coffee, it was passion fruit iced tea for me), I was talking to Julie and our friend Gale about a common trait, persistence.  Oddly, or by divine design, she had just posted the following quote on her Facebook page.  Thanks Julie, I love the way your mind works.

“Persistence. It’s that certain little spirit that compels you to stick it out just when you’re at your most tired. It’s that quality that forces you to persevere, find the route around the stone wall. It’s the immovable stubbornness that will not allow you to cave in when everyone says give up.”

- Estee Lauder

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The other evening I was relaxing, reading a book.  I could not see my son, Kamden, in the other room, but I could hear him banging and jumping about.  “Huuuummmmmph!” I heard him say over and over again each time followed by a very loud THUD!

I shook my head and rolled my eyes.  I did not want to even imagine what he might be up to.  And at this point, I thought to myself, he is old enough to know better.  If he gets hurt, that will be the last time he does whatever he is doing.  Cynical parenting at it’s finest.

“HHHHUuuuuuuuummmmmppppphhhhhhh!”  THUD!

‘Huuuuuummmmmmppphphpphphphhphphphp!” THUD!

“HHHHuuuuuuummmmmmpphphphphp!! THUD!

Over and over.  Just at the moment when I did not think I could possibly ignore it for one more nano second, the THUD! was followed with a very triumphant, “Conquered!”

“What?” I called, still not wanting to move from my cynical relaxed spot.

“I conquered it!” Kamden called out victoriously.

Laughing to myself, I had to get up and see what it was he had conquered.

I entered the kitchen and there was no mess.  Nothing out of order.  I looked at him quizzically.  He stood smiling, so very proud of himself.  “Let me see what you conquered,” I asked.

With that he backed up, took in a deep breath, launched into two big steps and lept up toward the ceiling.  Which he touched.  “There.  I did it again.  I conquered it.”

Taking his head in my hands, I looked deep into his chocolatey brown eyes.  “Yes, you did.”   Trying over and over.  Setting a goal and not giving up until he achieved it.  Whether it be snapping, jumping to touch a ceiling, multiplication facts, or a 6 minute mile, kids just keep pressing on, jumping up, over and over and over again until it is conquered.  Then they move on to the next.  Now that is inspirational.

Do you ever wonder how you are recognized? By your clothes? Your smile? Your shoes? Your car? I was picking up my friend’s kids the other day and I parked my car by their school and walked onto the playground to find them. Somehow we must have crossed paths because I only found one, Paris. She and I waited around for her sister, Sophie, outside the classroom area. And we waited. And we talked to people who passed by. And we waited. Finally, I asked Paris to run into the classroom to let her sister know we were waiting. Paris came back to report Sophie wasn’t’ there. Hm. We headed back to the playground. My phone rang. It was Sophie. I saw her across the blacktop and she saw me and yet we continued to talk on the phone. Taking great pleasure in how silly this was, we hung up only when we were about two feet from each other.

“I knew you were here,” she said.

“You did? How so?” I asked.

“I saw a car that looked like yours.” Sophie began to explain but I interrupted with, “Oh, and you recognized my license plate.” I did not even ask it as a question, I just stated it matter-of-factlly.

“Your license plate? No,” she said. “I don’t know what your license plate says. It’s the words around it that I recognized.”

This struck me as unusual. I have a personalized plate that is pretty easy to read. But what was around my plate? What did my license plate holder say? It took me a minute, and right as it came to me, Sophie said, “MAMA LOVE. I recognized your car because I know your car says MAMA LOVE on the back.” With that she took my hand and I took her sister’s. She knew I was there for her and her sister because she looked for and recognized the MAMA LOVE.

Is it really the best policy?