What I Had In Mind

The other day, after telling someone the latest saga in the ongoing battle of the car seat (the one my daughter refuses to get in with exasperating frequency), I heard myself saying, "This is not what I had in mind when I dreamed of having kids."

But happily, the other night, I had a reminder of what I did have in mind.

I was giving the kids a bath and they started objecting to the recently installed shower head with the hose attachment -- the one that makes rinsing the shampoo out of their hair and the soap off their skin pain free for the bath-giver. "I don't like the shower," "It's scary," etc. they proclaimed.

Inspiration struck.

I put the shower head under the water and made a fountain.

The first giggles began.

Soon I'd turned the shower head and hose over to one kid, then the other in turn.

The joy and laughter that came from the simple fun of hosing each other off, giving each other water massages on their feet, spraying water all over the bath (thank goodness for the shower doors) was infectious.

We late blooming moms may be cynical and jaded about life from having lived it a little longer than other moms ... but that just means the power of the giggle to bring us joy is even greater. Seeing Thing 1 and Thing 2 take such unabashed, spontaneous pleasure in something so simple as a shower hose made me feel young indeed, and very very happy to be in their company.

The sound of my children giggling ... now THAT is what I had in mind.