Almost Every Day
I get all teary-eyed on my way to work. It’s decidedly NOT good for the makeup and puffy eye situation I have most days. But, our XM radio (Channel 10, The Pulse) insists on using the same playlist for weeks on end. And, so, I hear the song “Perfect” by P!nk at about 0730 every morning.
For my fellow parents, have you ever really listened to the chorus of that song?? Here’s the video (probably not for kiddos, and it’s not the “clean” version. Hadn’t seen the video before…oh my). But, anyway, the lyrics to the chorus are:
Pretty, pretty please, don’t you ever ever feel
Like you’re less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever ever feel like you’re nothing
You are perfect to me
You know those days…and especially those mornings? The ones when you didn’t use all of your nice words and all of your patience? The ones where you know your kid is amazing, but can’t seem to focus on that through all the whining and arguing? Those are the days when this song gets me to tears. For all the sweetness Ava usually is, she can get under my skin like none other. But, I’m the mom and I’m supposed to be the grown-up, right? Lately, I’ve been clinging to a mantra I discovered on my mommy-blog wanderings.
If you can’t have grace in the moment,
Have grace in the turnaround.
I don’t ever want to be the voice in her world that makes her think she’s less than perfect. Even with all of her flaws and foibles, she is perfect, to me.
