I Didn't Believe It

Today I made hot buttered popcorn with extra salt. I stirred homemade lemonade.

Then, with lemonade and popcorn in hand, I watched an entire movie with my daughters in the basement. It was Smurfs 2 from Redbox. I laughed! It was cute!

I remember being a new mom 11 years ago. I met an older mother who told me that one day, it wouldn't be this hard. This task of mothering--the exhausting labor of it--would change. One day, she promised, I'd sit with these babies and we'd enjoy a movie together. Nobody would need a diaper change, a sippy cup, or a nap. Nobody would need me for any physical thing for a whole afternoon.

I didn't believe it. I couldn't imagine it! A whole movie? No! Something I'd enjoy too? Really?

And now I'm here.

I'm here, and I sat alone in my kitchen a minute ago. I called out to my perfectly contented children, "Does anyone need mommy for anything?"

"We're fine!"

Part of my heart wished that someone would need something.

(That thought only lasted a minute, but it was a nice, nostalgic thought!)