Listening

Tuesday evening was cold and rainy here. It had been cold and rainy for I don't know how many days - bad weather days just seem to blend together into a cranky blur of playing in the garage, going to the library and taking unnecessary trips to Target.
So, around 4:30 my pent-up two year old and I suited up with jackets, hats, and rubber boots and headed for the yard - despite the dark, dreariness, and rain.



My view from just inside the garage, trying (and failing) to stay dry.

I'm not gonna lie. I was cranky. I did NOT want to go out into the rain. I wanted to be curled up on the couch with a book and some tea, but my beloved toddler is a bit like a golden retriever (a BIT I said! Yeesh! Don't look at me like that. It's not like I make him sleep in a crate or anything.) He just really needs a lot of run-around time, that's all. So, out we went. One of us delightedly skipping, the other grumbling and muttering.
 

Not even the rain can get him down.


At one point while I am jumping up and down flapping my arms to entice the motion sensor light to turn back on, I notice he is literally running circles around me, playing "hockey" with a golf club and a whiffle ball, laughing maniacally and having the time of his life.



The kid has some serious stick-handling skills.

And suddenly, I catch myself (mid-jumping-jack) laughing, too.  I want to be miserable. I have every reason to be miserable, but instead I'm laughing. This kid, this funny, happy boy - he breaks through to me sometimes. This is fun Mom, if you'd stop your complaining long enough, you'd see it, too.



Proof - me, smiling in the rain.

I see it, Bud. It may take me a minute, but if you show it to me - I can see it, too.