Parental Epiphany

Sure I've had many of these along my almost 1 year (yikes!) crash course in parenting, but today surpassed them all. I'm not sure what was different or why it finally clicked, but there it was... click click click... right there, right then.

I was changing babygirl on her table after the morning nap and I was doing my usual rambling/singing/finding any object that will serve as entertainment long enough for me to get the clothes off and diaper changed when I see she is pointing up towards the wall... after asking a couple times "what? what are you pointing at? what do you need?" you know, basically the questions I repeatedly ask her, I say, "the lion? do you want the lion?" Immediately, her face lights up, a huge smile comes across and she starts flipping her hands feverishly back and forth as if to say, "duh, mom, of course that's what I want... you know the lion that you always talk about when you change me..."

Click - insert light bulb here.

Almost every time I change her, I talk about this little lion my mom painted on the wall near the changing table. We talk about the color and how grandma painted it and how there is a palm tree and then how much mommy likes palm trees and beaches and Jimmy Buffett... and, well, you can see where this is going, but basically we talk about the lion. Well, today I wasn't talking about the lion or showing her the lion and she knew it. She was telling me to talk about the lion. SHE was telling ME what to do. She is a person with her own thoughts and desires and feelings and it was just so shocking. Obviously I knew this on many levels prior to this occurance, but to have her point it out to me in such an obvious you-shoulda-had-a V8 sorta way, was just eye opening. I'm not sure why, in the past, it hasn't been as eye opening when she hits me and screeches at me because she wants me to stop changing her, but that doesn't make for nearly as cute of a story and I just never made the connection I made today with that behavior, so I'm sticking with the little lion. It was so innocent and so cute and so perfect.

Thanks babygirl - you made my day.