1 Mother 2 Another

Remember how I griped yesterday about not
being appreciated, and resentful that what I do never seems good
enough for the kids? Listen to this:


Maddie and I were running errands, and she saw some fallen crape
myrtle flowers on the ground. “I want to pick up some of
these flowers for Daddy!” she said, and scooped up the fallen
little buds. I acquiesced, and she gathered several more and put
them in her cupholder.

Later on, Maddie spied a fallen orchid
from some long-gone arrangement and said, “Look! Another
flower to add to my bouquet for Daddy!” And the half-dead bud
got added to the collection.


Finally, after lunch we wandered into a flower shop, and the ladies
who worked there were so charmed by the girls’ manners that
they gave each girl a beautiful fuchsia Gerbera daisy to take home.
I fully expected Maddie, who loves fresh flowers in her room, to
take this home and put it in a bud vase for herself. Instead, she
announced her intention to add this to her Daddy collection.


Intrigued, I said, “Maddie, why do you want to give so many
flowers to Daddy?”


And Maddie looked up at me and said, “I want to give Daddy
flowers because I love him. And when I give them to him, I want to
say to him, ‘Daddy, thank you for going to work every day to
make money to buy us groceries and take care of us.’”


And my friends, when he got home that night, that is exactly what
she did.


These are the moments that make it all worthwhile.