Attention

The other night, I lay in bed wide awake.  For some reason, I was smiling.  It was late and I just lay there with a goofy smile on my face.  The days events slid through my memory and seeing them in my minds eye brought on the smile ...

That morning, the children and I went to see a man yo-yo.  No big deal, right?  Perhaps.  Consider the fact that this man is one of the best yo-yo-ers in the world and the show becomes much more interesting than reading it as an event on paper (or, in this case, blog).  After the show, we wandered over to the library.  We picked up a few books and reserved a copy of the X-Men cartoon.  (The old school one.  A favorite of mine which B-Man hasn't seen.  The excitement of introducing him to one of my favorites makes me a bit giddy.  Not very, just a bit.)

While at the library, I received a text message from the Mr.  He was home, wondering if we were going to be home to have lunch together ... We couldn't miss that.  He's so busy right now that lunch sounded like a perfect opportunity to see him.  Again, I was giddy.  Only this time, my giddiness was much more pronounced.   He made sandwiches and they were ready to eat when we walked through the front door.  I love that man of mine.

As soon as lunch was over, the children and I headed over to the pool.  The Mr. wished he could join us, but the BAR exam is a pressing matter, one that can't be ignored, so we parted ways ... The night before, the children and I were invited to meet up with a few friends.  The pool was fun.  Little Miss kept asking me to play with her and I happily obliged.  I have four new favorite words:  "Come with me, Mamma!"  She said it often and hearing those words made my heart melt.  We spent most of our time in the kiddie pool area and B-Man spent most of the time with his friends in the larger pool or going down the big slides.  At one point, Little Miss and I headed into the larger pool.  I held her hand while she walked.  Eventually, I held her as we stepped into deeper water.  It isn't UN-common for swimmers to bump into walkers, so I didn't really pay much attention as a swimmer swam right into my stomach.  It was with astonishment that I realized it was B.  He could swim!  He'd taken lessons, but I still hadn't seen him really SWIM.  For me, that was welcome relief.  He could swim!  A first!  I'm still astonished.

We spent 3 hours at the pool.  It was with reluctance that we left the pool and our friends, but we had to because our day wasn't over.

We went home for a quick dinner.  B-Man donned his baseball uniform and the three of us (Little Miss, B and I) said goodnight to the Mr.  We parted ways because it was Wednesday and on Wednesday's, my Mr. has scouts.

B's baseball game was fun.  We won, but that doesn't matter.  What mattered was that B hit a double.  That didn't really matter as much as this:  B hit the ball!  At practice, B has hit the ball, but never in a game.  There was energy in the air as the parents, siblings, friends, coaches and teammates cheered for B.  It felt good.  On the way home, I asked B what his first thought was after hitting the ball.  His answer:  "That you owed me a dollar."  (Yeah, we're THOSE parents.  There are times when we resort to bribery.  The bribe was created months before this night.  I had nearly forgotten.  Apparently, B had not.  Never underestimate a child's memory.)

That night, after reading scriptures, family prayer and hugs, I asked B what the difference was.  Why was he able to hit the ball that night and not the other nights?  His answer was simple:  "I was paying attention."

Hours later, as I lay in bed, occasionally glancing at the sleeping man beside me, then finally rolling over to snuggle close to him, I asked myself a similar question.  Why was I in bed smiling? ...

My answer was simple:  I was paying attention.

It's amazing what I remember when I'm paying attention.  Happy moments don't go unnoticed ...