it pays off

i had a small moment of anxiety today in the carpool line. yes, i'm a carpool mom. avery was walking with her teacher and she was holding...a my little pony. her obsession borders on crazy and i was staring at her waving the pony at me as if to say 'i snuck it in my backpack and look, i still have it." i also saw her being lead to the car by her teacher and i was trying to think of what to say when asked why the pony was in her backpack.

"it wasn't in there yesterday when i packed her folder and her snack"

"addison must have done it"

"she has security issues, surely one time won't hurt"

"her daddy lets her do those things. we're working on it privately."

"honest...i told her to take it out"

all these things were running through my mind in the 10 steps it took them to get to my car and she opened the door and this is what i heard:

"mommy i got to go to the treasure chest and this is what i got!"

relief, gratitude, pride, guilt...all the emotions were there. and then i heard an even better piece of news:

"avery is the most respectful and has the best manners of any child in my class - you've done a great job."

4 semesters of growing kids - 4 years of raising avery - many pull-out-your-hair moments. but this was one of those 'pat-yourself-on-the-back-feel-better-about-your-parenting' days. some days seem really long and harder to get through, and some days God sends little reminders that all the hard work and effort you are pouring into your children pays off.