A Moment

There are moments in time that become etched in a mother's memory. Some are monumental, life-defining moments and some are just simple, ordinary-life moments but something about them has the power to make a mother smile or laugh or cry (or all three) at the memory for the rest of her life. I had one of those "ordinary-life" moments today.

Lilly woke up from her nap early and obviously distressed. I still have no idea what the problem was but I ran to her room and scooped up my wailing little Pickle. She didn't have a fever, wouldn't nurse, and refused Tylenol. I shushed her and cuddled her and swayed with her but nothing helped. We couldn't leave her room because I was certain her cries would wake Janelle so I did the only other thing I could think of: I sang to her. I didn't sing lullabies. I sang her favorite song which is (believe it or not) Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys. I started to sing "Ba Ba Ba, Ba Barbara Ann" and my usually squirmy, wriggly little girl snuggled into my neck and stopped crying. For a half an hour I paced and re-paced the same five steps in her tiny closet/bedroom and sang Barbara Ann over and over again.

I don't know what the future holds for my Lilly Pickle but I do know there will be some heartbreak and pain and I will not be able to simply sing it away. So today I cherish the fact that all she needed to feel better was a song from her Mama.