I Stopped To Smell The Roses...And It Was Totally Worth It!

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esterday, I was getting prepared to run my typical weekly errands--which is understandably boring--and my daughter, Isis, came up to me and begged me to take her with me. Usually, if one of the kids asked to tag along during this mundane chore, I refuse--not because I don't want the company, but because I get in and out of the car so frequently, that it soon becomes very tedious to get them in and out of their car seat. It takes more time to get out of the car than it does to actually run in into the building to get what I need to get done.

Today, I agreed to have Isis ride in the car with me. I figured that I had a relatively smooth week, and getting her in and out of the car would not be too much of a nuisance to me today--I was so glad that I made that decision.

After a few minutes of driving in silence, I glanced back to her in my rear view mirror and she had a look of complete satisfaction and contentment plastered upon her face. She was totally content with just riding in the car with mommy, with no DVDs, no toys, or toddler babble was needed today.

After our errands were completed, we made a detour to our local ice cream shop and sat down to a double scoop cone. I knew that the cone was bigger than she could finish, but I really wanted her to know that I meant business today and she could be impressed in knowing that the cone was just for HER. As we sat down at an empty booth, I glanced over at her, and her eyes were big and her face lit up like a Christmas tree. She took the task of eating the entire ice cream cone very seriously, and licked away and I knew that one day she would look back upon this day and remember how she was feeling at that very moment.

I couldn't stop staring at her. Where had my little baby girl gone? She has left her baby bottles and diapers behind, and has traded both of them in for a simple and quiet car ride with her mommy with little girl dreams of growing up and doing the same thing with her own children one day. I didn't plan on stopping for ice cream today, but I can remember being her age and LIVING and looking forward to life's little surprises, and I wanted her to make dear, sweet memories of her own.

A day of errands and mundane tasks had just turned into a day to remember, forever, locked safely away in my heart.