Do you have little things you did one day way long ago that have creeped into your daily life and suddenly become part of your permanent structure? Little rituals. You know, like
- Wishing on the first star you see
- Making your morning coffee the same way
- Wearing the same scarf when the weather turns chilly
- Using the same greeting/farewell with those you love the most
I find the littlest rituals of our days are the ones that mean the most to me. A few years ago, exactly when I'm not certain, our boy was much smaller and wasn't feeling quite well when it was time for bed. I was trying to figure out how to get him comfortable enough to make it through the night. I took his little paw and kissed it, palmside up, then wrapped his fingers around the kiss. Doing the same to the other hand I told him "Now you have two kisses to keep from momma." I Eskimo kissed his nose and he rolled over to sound sleep. Fast forward from toddlerhood to kindergarten and hardly a night passes without me walking away from his bedside holding a kiss to keep in the palm of each of my own hands. It is our thing. Our little ritual. Palm to palm, nose to nose. And he can keep those kisses on his hands as he sleeps, through the next morning and out into the big bad world. Until we meet again.
Sometimes I feel that I'm not so good at this mom thing. But then I remember that I arm my little man each day with the armor of my love and two kisses from me he can hold onto forever. To keep as he sees fit. What more does a little man need?
