A "Big Picture" Sort of Morning

I know, where is all this prolific blogging activity coming from, right?

1) No need to spend hours studying each morning anymore.
2) Still no energy to get up and do anything much different.
3) This seems more productive than honing my Mahjongg skills.

This is just a quick post to let you know that I will not be meeting any of my goals for the morning. These included, but were not limited to, getting over to Target for diapers, wipes, and toilet paper (nothing truly necessary, right?), and pushing through a whole heap of paperwork that would allow me to leave my client files in tip-top shape during my maternity leave. Oh and perhaps that load of socks and underwear that will become important tomorrow morning.

However. Achievement of said goals would have required me to do one of three things immediately following breakfast: 1) quick shower and get ready; 2) start on some of the paperwork; or 3) at least throw the laundry into the washer.

Go ahead, ask me how that went. Better yet, ask me how breakfast went. Because I was too lazy to even get myself something to eat while feeding Mikayla, so I was yet further behind than usual (and hungry to boot!).

Breakfast wasn't what derailed my morning, though. In fact, I am eating a bowl of cereal while I blog, so clearly I am capable of the multitask when it comes to food. No, the real "problem" was that my sweet, beautiful daughter wanted to read books with momma all morning until her nap. Have you seen my daughter? Have you ever witnessed her sheer exuberance when she wants to read "The Jolly Barnyard", or "Chicka Chicka Boom! Boom!"? This girl toddled around the living room picking up her favorite books and then bringing them back to me with giggles and squeals of glee, and politely asked, "Please?" by tapping her chest repeatedly with a huge grin on her face.

I am powerless in the face of such cuteness and good manners.

So we read books, and practiced the alphabet song and animal sounds, for about an hour and a half. We took short breaks so that she could switch books by tossing one on the floor, mourning its disappearance briefly by saying "Uh oh!", and then picking up a different book to read. She also gave frequent hugs and kisses, and adjusted her location atop her baby brother as he kicked her in the hiney. All in all, it was a lovely morning.

Not a morning that will help me to meet any of my productivity goals, but one that has a far greater purpose than that. It was a "big picture" sort of morning, wherein I let my daughter know how very precious she is to me; that she is more important than the laptop (and more important than toilet paper, this kid really rates!). I'm grateful to God for the grace to recognize this in the moment, that goals are sometimes meant to be forgotten or delayed. Or better yet, that sometimes goals fade in importance next to calling. Sure, it's my goal as a momma to keep my daughter in diapers and be stocked up on wipes. But it's my calling and purpose to respond to her need for love (and even some education...we are working on the horsey sound), and sometimes that might require some flexibility and rearranging on my part.

Or maybe this has been just a neurotic response to the guilt that has been building over the last few weeks as I've spent my mornings studying and basically ignoring her.

Either way, it was SO worth it.

SDG!