May 09, 2008 10:02 am
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1. The first time your eyes meet, seconds after birth. Hers wide, angry, surprised; yours, filled with an awed love you’ve never known.
2. Watching children sleep.
3. Oh, that top of the head, under the neck newborn smell!
4. Toothless grins.
5. Tucking-in time, hearing bedtime prayers and the chatter of the day.
6. Understanding the symbolism of “Good Night Moon.”
7. That first time you hear “Mama!” followed by breathless squeals.
8. Gaining the courage to drink Coca-Cola with toddler floaties in it.
9. Little chubby arms reaching for you.
10. Enthusiastically slobbery open-mouth kisses.
11. Blanket forts.
12. School programs.
13. Chasing a squealing, naked toddler who’s trying to avoid bath time.
14. Dandelions gracing a table vase.
15. Abundant refrigerator art with enough left over for use as wrapping paper and including in care packages for 2 grandparents, 10 nursing home residents and 25 overseas soldiers!
16. First-day-of-school pictures.
17. Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs.
18. An excuse for watching the classic Disney flicks ...
19 And playing with American Girl dolls.
20. Overalls with fire trucks on them.
21. Ruffles, bows and matching socks.
22. Those first wobbling steps.
23. The swishy thud of a diapered bottom plopping down on the floor.
24. Pushing underdogs on the swing.
25. Grape jelly kisses ...
26. And handprints.
27. Snow days.
28. Footie pajamas.
29. Milk mustaches …
30. And red Kool-Aid ones.
31. Tearing up whenever you hear a lullaby, “Pomp and Circumstance” or the wedding processional.
32. A reason for chasing the ice-cream truck.
33. Baby belly laughs.
34. Doing the bounce-and-pat dance in the nursery, staring at the moon and begging for just a few more minutes of sleep; it goes so quickly.
35. Those impulsive, headlong, around-your-knees hugs.
36. That comical, stiff-limbed baby-in-a-snowsuit look.
37. Those Boppy pillows!
38. The first months of life with those baby turtlehead wobbles.
39. Peanut butter and jelly picnics.
40. Saturday morning cartoons.
41. Snuggling a sleepy head on your shoulder.
42. A chubby baby hand in yours or patting you on the shoulder.
43. Little helpers on housecleaning day.
44. Looking at fur-coated caterpillars and jumping in leaf piles.
45. Having someone to lick the beaters with.
46. The priceless, unmatchable innocence.
47. Playing Tooth Fairy — and Santa Claus — and the Easter Bunny.
48. Hearing a spontaneous, “Mommy, I love you!”
49. The grand realization that in your children, a small piece of you will live on.
50. The bittersweet knowledge that each stage of parenting lasts only the breath of a moment, and it can never come again.
Cindy Sigler Dagnan lives in Webb City. She is the author of “Chocolate Kisses for Couples.”
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