What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

When I was around 3 or 4 my preschool teacher sent home a questionnaire for our parents to help us fill out. It had such questions as:

• How many stars are in the sky? 100
• What is your favorite color? Green (I have no idea why)
• If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Smith's (the local "dime" store, but it's really just another word for toy/fun store)
• Name two chores you have at home: taking the laundry out of the dryer and putting it on the bed (my mom made this one up as I really didn't do chores at 3 even though I probably should have)

The best question, in my opinion, was "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Most of the kids said things like fireman, policeman, lion tamer, astronaut, Superman, etc. Just your average, run-of-the-mill 3-year-old answers. My answer? Mom. I wanted to be a mom. That's it. Not housewife, not doctor, nurse or anything else. Just mom.

That's now come true for me. The one thing I wanted to be was a mom. And most days I love it. Some days are better than others. Some days I think I can't make it to 7:30 (bedtime!). And there are some days I can't believe it's already 7:30 and I need to put the kids to bed.

Saturday is a great example of why being a mom is what I love. After the birthday party for K's friend, the girls wanted to play in the sprinklers. So when S went out to light the grill for dinner, he turned on the sprinklers and let the girls have fun. They squealed and smiled and ran around with such delight. H had fun, too, discovering the sprinkler heads from the back porch. I stayed in to get the rest of dinner ready, including homemade mac & cheese and steamed summer squash. It was all so tasty. That's my idea of a good Saturday night.

My life is nowhere near perfect. There are many times when the kids demand things of me that I just can't provide. But I'm so thankful for them, that they fulfilled a lifelong desire for me. That's one of the best blessings a person could ask for.

Edited to Add: After conferring with my mom, I was the one who made up the two chores, not her. My teacher asked us the questions and we gave our answers. And my favorite color was green because my eyes, at the time, were green.