I had a great Mommy day today.  I cooked the kids breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, did some laundry, made lunch for the park and had us all out the door in time for H's Playball class at 10am.  We then spent the rest of the day at the park with many wonderful friends where the kids played for almost five hours and I enjoyed lots of adult conversation.  When arriving home I unloaded the days supplies from the car, got both kids in the bath, cooked homemade minestrone, got the kids ready for bed and cleaned the kitchen all before my husband got home at 6:30.   My husband and I got to sit and chat for twenty minutes while the kids played dinosaurs in L's bedroom.  Twenty minutes!!!   After that everyone participated in the new tradition of ten minutes of cleaning up together at the end of the day, the kids brushed teeth and I read them books.   Both kids were asleep by 8:30.  Whew!
My day today went so well mainly for one reason, my attitude.  And the reason for my attitude is a visit to me by a dear friend this weekend.  It was a visit just to simply spend time with me and my family.  There was no rushing around or sightseeing or showing her things as she used to live here.  The weather was cold and windy so we spent a lot of time inside or close to home.  The kids love her and rightly so.  They enjoyed multiple individual sessions of book reading, play time and cuddles.

Having a friend visit who is also a Mom and loves your kids almost as much as you do is a true blessing.  She gave me a very special gift this weekend and she doesn't even know it.  This weekend I got to see my kids through fresh eyes.  I saw a different approach from someone who isn't burned out on reading Curious George and the Chocolate Factory and doesn't mind spending an hour with L preparing a dance performance to the song 'Chocolate Moose' complete with a tutu on her head.  She inspires me to do better.
Sometimes we Moms just get burned out with our kids.  When they do something that pushes our buttons our first response is usually one of anger and frustration.  But when faced with the same situation with someone else's children we often have more patience and creativity.  With our own children we can't seem to access those qualities in ourselves as easily.   Our children are like an enormous mirror that walks around all day in front of us except in this mirror we only see our worst parts. It is hard to be our best when faced with our worst!  With others children it just isn't personal and it can be so much easier.  This is no excuse to not try and do the same with our own kids. 

I can't lie and say today was perfect.  My buttons were still pushed when it took L a ridiculous amount of time to get out of the car and I didn't listen as well as I would have liked  but I was more aware of my behavior.  I often thought of my friend and her gifts as a Mother.  She has a wonderful way with children and is so great at talking to them, playing with them and making them feel important.  Come to think of it she makes everyone feel special.  I want my kids to feel like that all the time so I'm really trying emulate those qualities of hers that I love.  

Although I wasn't perfect, and I will never be nor do I want to be,  today I listened better, I played more and I had more fun.  I tried to be present with my kids, not take things personally and just have fun with them.  It went so well and more importantly felt so good.  Isn't it supposed to?  I think I'm going to do it again tomorrow!