I’m learning to “let-go” more and more. Attempting to stick to a schedule with a child who can’t yet comprehend a “Deadline” or “being late” for something seems more and more like a naïve exercise in futility. Allowing myself to live in the moment and embrace the chaos (or mess) created by a two year old little girl who just wants to have fun and explore her world is not only proving to be therapeutic but also allowing me to bond more closely with her.
Today I allowed the inevitable unraveling of the toilet paper from the roll (a previously very annoying and stress-inducing occurrence) to evolve into a game in which we saw just how far we could drag that sucker through the house before it broke. Instead of taking the time to roll the unraveled paper back onto the roll and create something that closely resembles an abstract on cotton candy, I decided to see it as spending 99cents on what could be 15 minutes more of fun. We played with the broken strands of toilet paper, ran around with them like streamers and then finally manufactured the longest pieces into several dresses and accessories. The way she smiled at me when we were finished playing “Toilet Paper Dress-Up” was soothing. It was more than a smile accompanying the fun and excitement we shared. It was more than her looking at me with love in her eyes…. it was different somehow…like complete and total acceptance. Like she thought I was really cool.