LOVE is in the Details

"Every mother loves to button up her child's clothing and kiss his face," I assured my son after he had once again buttoned his shirt askew and come to me in despair.

Beatrix Potter / Peter Rabbit & Mum

So, several years later, he still comes to me for buttoning, though sometimes he cries, “Stop kissing me!” with a big smile on his little face.  He comes, not because he cannot button, but because he likes the care and attention I bestow on him at that moment.

We each choose what is important, and we each choose different things.

• I decorate differently every month!  Flags, designs in the front windows for the month’s holiday theme, towels with cute pictures, tablecloths, placemats, pot holders, and even one wall where we put up the month’s name and past and present drawings, cards, cute calendar pictures, etc.  Our wall of the month.

• I give snacks in little, but heavy, crystal bowls – even to 5 year olds!

• I cut fruit and mini pizzas into bite-sized treats.

• I make the beds daily.

• I mend stuffed animals, and clothing.  (My husband once said there is nothing homier and sweeter than seeing a mama mending a beloved stuffed animal.)

• I make sure rainbows appear in our dining room through prisms.

• I tend one flower bed and three rose bushes.

• I put out my son’s pajamas and put toothpaste on his toothbrush most evenings, because he once told me it made him feel loved.

Does he care?  Will he remember?  Does anyone notice anything I do?  Do the extra touches matter?

 

Then I think back on my parents’ home and their extras:

v    Decorating for monthly holidays

v    Chocolate chip cookies baking on rainy days

v    Using china on the holidays

v    Holiday napkins

v    Pink candies on car trips (only!)

v    Vacation traditions

v    A mini-beach in the backyard one summer!  My mom bought sand and poured it on the cement, my dad brought home a little pool, we hung up the sprinkler over the clothesline for splashing waves, and we had our lunch at a little table.  We were the hit of the neighborhood!

Yes, the extras will be remembered…even cherished.

What cherished memories do you want to share?

Mama’s order was heavenly.  It had to do with thoroughness…and taking plenty of time.  It had to do with taking plenty of time with ME. ~ Susannah Lessard