Perhaps

Dear Immediate Family Members of Mine,

Perhaps I’ve forgotten to tell you lately that I adore you.  I dote on you, to use a word learned from our spelling test practice last night.  I cherish you.

Perhaps the mother that I am between the hours of 4 pm and 6 pm gives you ample fodder for your imaginations of the following Halloween characters: witch, ogre, ghoul, monster, vampire.

Perhaps you’ve disturbed my quiet time before the hour of 7 am or my first cup of coffee, whichever comes first, and you’ve had a less than loving reception from my arms.

Perhaps the frustrations I feel that are so totally normal and explainable and unavoidable as part of my daily tasks as Mom have overwhelmed, outshouted, and misrepresented my true feelings.

So just in case, let me take three minutes to set the record straight.

You add sparkle to my life.

Even when you interrupt my writing time to shove a bendable toy man into a plastic toy car, you spark, I ignite, and I adore you.

When you chatter away about your lunchroom dramas as we drive home from school, I listen for the soft timbre of your voice.  The way your s’s still slide into sibilant sh’s because of the gap in your grin.  I adore you.

When you journey into the depths of the raspberry patch followed by two little blond heads that duck under the branches you hold out of the way for them, I adore you.

I can only make it through the witching hours of 4-6 pm because in the other hours of my day, you have overfilled me with sparkle, doting urges, irrepressible joy, intrigue, surprise, and mischief.

Will I still don my Halloween costume of maternal menace between 4 and 6?  Perhaps.  But underneath the costume,  please know that I’m a melting chocolate candy bar of love for you.

Love,

Mama

Day 27 of 31 days.  For the month of October, I’m joining in on 31 Days of 5 Minute Free Writes.  Following the rules to write an unedited response to a prompt in 5 minutes, I’m grateful for the challenge of Write 31 Days.