Mom and Daughter Days

Allison and I were sitting on the front porch today - trying to give Nathan some quiet sleep time, and I started to think of all the things I'm looking forward to doing with Allison. When I started to think of things I wanted to do with her, I started to think of all the things my mom did with me growing up.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much of what I do each day is a reflection of the gifts my mom gave me growing up. When I was braiding my hair this morning (as I do most days- I've always loved braiding it new ways), I started to think back to the earliest memory I had of braiding my hair. My mom didn't ever braid or style my hair - although she did spend hours one morning crimping my entire head before school, so I started to think harder. And then it hit me.

I was lucky growing up that my mom and I did a lot together and one of the things we've always enjoyed doing is going to the theater. Even if I was a little too young to fully appreciate it, my mom invited me to come along. One Christmas, my parents took my brother and I to the Grande Theater in London, Ontario to see A Christmas Carol. A few hours before the performance my mom took me to the hair salon she always went to, where I had an appointment with a woman who braided my hair. When I think back, I remember how fast she could braid, how many styles she could do, and I remember her slipping the tail of the braid back into the body and pinning it there and feeling so grown up and glamorous with my hair pulled back.

I remember feeling so special and looking back at it now, I want to be that kind of mom for Allison. The kind of mom who picks up her daughter from school on her sweet sixteen in a white convertible (with the top down) and takes her for a spa treatment (my mom did that too).

Sometimes I stress about being a good mom, but I just have to follow the examples that I've had growing up and know that in 30 years or so, when she's looking at her own baby, she might think of she had a mom who has always loved her.