Mommy hearts Madee and Eden

Madee and I totally had the greatest day today. Lisa threw a shower for Eden and a playdate for Madee all in one good show! Not only were there some great new mommy friends for me to meet but there was all sorts of kids ranging in age from 6 months to 4 years, and some really good food.
I love watching Madee interact with her peers. I have a new appreciation for kids of different ages - it is so cool to watch the older ones show the little ones how to do stuff. And it is cool to see what development lies ahead.

I think once your kid is a toddler it is best for us Moms to stick together. Toddlerhood is just not something any Mommy should have to face alone. We need Mommies who have been there or who are there so we know that it isn't something we are doing wrong and it isn't anything personal and, in fact, it isn't usually even about us at all but we have to carry the weight of it anyway becasue that is what Mommies do.



It is hard being a baby. And as hard/emotional/exhausting as it is to be a Mommy, at least I have the cognition of knowing that this will soon pass, perhaps even at bedtime, and I can prepare myself for the challenges of the next day.

Madee just doesn't even have that consolation, she only knows those overwhelming feelings as she is feeling them, and she doesn't even know that they will stop and there will be giggles and fun in her future. I am now a firm believer that her job is harder than mine.

I am so excited for the things she has to learn and the things she has to teach her sister and who knows who else. She is such an amazing kid and she teaches me new stuff all the time - about the world, about her, about myself. (that statement makes me flash to her standing on Jaime's coffee table today, pulling up her skirt and showing some diaper as she danced to Prince - hysterical - and I don't know where she gets that. We don't even have a coffee table!)

Opening presents for Eden today, I realized how unprepared I am in comparison to when Madee was coming. Her room isn't started, her clothes aren't ready, my bag isn't packed - I just don't have anything ready for her. (Mostly because I am so busy with Madee!) And yet, I really am more ready for her because of Madee - because I am already a Mom.

I am so excited for her to be here to take her wild little place in the whirling dervish of our family. It is going to be a sweet exhausting challenge to watch another little Van derven girl sprout wings and fly...