Letters to Eli page 2

Dear Eli-

I spent last weekend in Indiana with your cousin Sarah and her two little ones, Caroline and Alex. Cousin Nick was out of town at a conference, so I went down to lend a hand. We had a blast! Your cousins are so beautiful and so smart—we played and played. It was awesome to see my younger cousin mother her children. She is a gorgeous example of motherhood.

I don’t get to spend too much time around children in my normal life so I thought this would be a good time to practice my parenting skills. All in all, I don’t think I did too badly. The car seats were a bit of a struggle and Caroline tipped over in her chair but there were no major incidents otherwise. I learned I have a lot to learn about parenting.

See, I have some pretty grand ideas of the type of parent I want to be. I want to be the type of mom that doesn’t sweat the small stuff. Years ago, I was out to breakfast with your Yaya and Papa, and a little boy- maybe four or five years old- came into the restaurant. He was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and red galoshes. He also had a blue bath towel tied around his neck cape-style. I thought “if my son wants to dress up like Superman and go to breakfast, then let’s go to breakfast.”

I’ll be that type of mom, because wearing a bath towel out to breakfast seems perfectly normal to me. But there will be bigger “small” things that are going to be tough not to sweat. Your mom is not perfect, in fact, she can be a real hot mess. And no matter how much she would like people to think she has it together, some days she is really…. not… together. You'll figure out what days those are.

So to that end, I’ve started working on some guidelines for us to follow. We’re a team now you and I. I can’t promise that I will always get it right, I can’t even promise I’ll get it right 75% of the time. But I’ll promise to try and not make a total mess of it. Here is what I’ve come up with:

Mom and Elijah’s List of Truths:

1)      I love you very, very much. Just as you are—a complete and incomplete little puzzle. A wondrous, unique snowflake created in God’s image.

2)      I will always let you be who you are. I’ll help shape you into the person you were meant to be, not bend you or break you into a mold you were never meant to fit.

3)  There is always grace.

4)      Music and dancing are always allowed and encouraged—at the dinner table and otherwise.

There will be more to come. But until then, little one, you are always in my heart and never far from my mind.

All My Love-

Mom