Today we played.

There is so much to catch up on. There is so much to write about. I want to keep it all in the right order and not go forward till I am caught up. But I can't catch up tonight and today was so special not to write about. Today we played.

There were no pictures, no evidence that it ever happened except some cookie crumbs under the table. No way of knowing it ever occured unless you were there. But if you were there, you'd never forget it.

There is a smile about a girl when you teach her that her "babies" can be her friends that will warm your heart. When she learns how to really, actually play WITH her toys. I wondered when my dear daughter would begin to actually "play" with her toys and interact with them, or help them interact with eachother, as I remember doing for hours on end as a child. Then it dawned on me today, as I watched her awkardly toddle around the tea party we had set up, that it had just never occurred to her that this was an option. And so, Mommy to the rescue. I sat down at the table, after we had set it up. I went and got and extra chair and asked her if she wanted "friends' to come to the tea party.

Big smiles. This is exciting. She is thinking real people here though.

So I go and get Elmo and Kitty. They share the lawn chair. Tula is just staring. Then I roll up Sally, she's chilling in the doll stroller. And then I proceed. "I am eating my salad"...and I pretend to take bites off the plate and then slurp soup from a bowl and spoon. Then I ofer some to Sally. It's too hot. I blow on it. Sally like the soup. Elmo wants his own coffee, please, Tula. Tula is intrigued, to put it mildly. As I go deeper into conversation and lunch with Elmo, Kitty and Sally, the smile on her face widens and brightens perhaps to places I know it has never been. She is beyond happy, and her obvious joy in the moment is encouraging me to just be more ridiculously animated with the dolls, which just is making it all the more fun for her. And it only had to be like that for a few minutes before she just totally got it.

She got off her chair and went over to talk to Elmo. She put her hands on her knees and bent over right down to his eye level to talk to him, nodding her head all the while. "More coffee Elmo?...Soup hot?...Sugar?"

It was a delight for me to watch. It was a pleasure to just sit on the floor and let it just happen around me and be able to take it all in. I love what I do. God, some days it is so, so hard. And busy, and stressful. But it's what you make it, I guess, and if I just took the time every day for tea with my kids I have a feeling I wouldn't regret it. It really just takes one of those big little moments to realize that these are the precious, simple times I don't want to miss. The reason I am home with my babies. All day, every day. The other day I read a quote, "Success is the feeling I get when I live out my values" and it put into words something that I had felt for a long time that was so true. In that moment of play, and laughter and happiness and absolutely nothing else, I felt success.

Tula, Maverick, you are my "values". You are what is important to me, and your happiness is my happiness. When I see you learning or growing or smiling. When I get to be a part of helping the wheels in your head turn. Being a part of your playtime, I feel like my day, or that moment, has been the most success I have ever, ever known. Tula, thank you for allowing me to sit at your tea table today and take it all in. It was truly, my pleasure. I hope I never forget that smile.

Today we were home all day. No big plans. But today we played tea party, and drank success from tiny plastic tea cups. Oh, to be a kid again. What a joy.

Thank you, God, for the reminder of why I do what I do. Every day you give me something. But today's was extra special and fun for me. Thank you.