“Pat, pitter, pat, pat”, I hear little feet pajamas padding down the wood floor hallway toward my bedroom door, I groggily open one eye and peek at my alarm clock, and it reads “6:03 a.m.”. My first thought is, “I got home from work at 1 a.m…..I’m exhausted! Go back to bed, kid!” The little feet shuffle up to my door, and a sweet little hand gently pushes the door open…pretty brown curly hair and angelic face peer in at me, “Mama, can I get in your bed?” I sigh. My body wants to yell “No- it’s not 7:30 yet- you’re not allowed to get up ’til 7:30- go to your bed”, but my heart takes one look at this little girl, who just wants to cuddle with her Mama, and I say, “Alright, Baby- come on up…but you have to go to sleep!”

My Girl

She smiles so big, her face lights up, and she jumps in my bed, curls up perfectly in front of me, is perfectly quiet, and in minutes is asleep. Usually, I would just crash back out, being tired from working late the night before. But not this morning. I took a second to smell her beautiful hair- still smelling of hairspray that I sprayed all over her curls so that she would have perfect “First day of Kindergarten” pictures. And I held her hand- dirty little fingernails, because she wears her Cinderella princess ballgown, then plays in the dirt with her brother. And I cuddled her in her “Baby jaguar” leopard print foot pajamas that I bought for her last year, then they dragged on the floor they were so big, and now they’re so small on her, she can barely zip them! And instead of falling back to sleep, I think to myself how blessed I am to have a healthy, beautiful little girl who loves her Mama, her Dad, her Brother, and her whole family. A girl who loves to be a pretty princess, but a tomboy at the same time.

Pretty Princess

There will come a day, when little feet no longer pad down the hallway to come snuggle with Mama, or when they stop asking to ride the Merry-go-round and run for the thrill rides instead. Or when they stop believing in magic, in princesses, tooth fairies and Santa. Someday, not too far off in the future, I will no longer be the center of her world,  just a small part of it- friends, school, sports and the beginnings of her own social circle will become her world. So today, I’m going to forget about falling back to sleep, and take this extra hour to be thankful for my daughter, for her wanting to cuddle with me, for her independence, and for her adorable baby jaguar pajamas with the feet.