Mama WIN!

Today I was the mom I always wished I could be. It was only for a little while but it was pretty fantastic. Even better was the fact that I didn't actually do  anything. I just let it happen. 
Fiona is beginning to be quite the little explorer. She's an amazing free spirit with a beautiful imagination.  I am always surprised by her. Her laugh and her smile is enough to change my whole day around.  Don't get me wrong. There are days when I'm wondering if  I have enough duct tape to attach her to the wall and exactly how much coordination it would take. She's two. Better yet, she's almost 3 - which is two with better verbal skills! She has my temper.
There was little surprise this morning when I went looking for her... again.  I've had to start locking the doors so she doesn't wander out.  Her Papa was out mowing the lawn and I figured she probably went to go "help".    This is what I found.

It's a Waterfall! It's DIRT!

Awesome.  In very un-Brandy fashion I just laughed. And then went and got Doug to see what his daughter was up to.

This is how Fiona spent most of her day. Digging in the "Garden". Which is actually a small, unused flowerbed just outside the kitchen.  She was having so much fun I even sacrificed one of my kitchen spoons as a shovel.  Doug eventually took her in and showered her off so she could have lunch and a nap. 
Later in the afternoon she headed right back out.  She spent the rest of the afternoon and early into the evening playing in this four feet of space.  When it was still pretty hot out I thought it might be fun to turn on the sprinklers. 

 What we ended up with was a muddy mess.  And that's OK. This literally kept Fiona busy for HOURS! Every time I went out to check on her she had a different something to tell me about what she was doing - digging for treasure and dinosaurs or making a garden.  I realized as I'm tracking dirt and mud back through my kitchen - again - that I am having a pretty awesome Mama Win right now. She's dirty and happy and having a blast.  There was nowhere to go, nowhere to be and she was able to be out and just be a little kid. She's filthy and I'm OK with it. Letting my child just be happy doesn't seem like something that should be a big deal, but in my controlled chaos, sometimes it is.  I was not able to be happy or relaxed enough when the big girls were little. I wasn't happy or relaxed. They seem to be functioning well enough so I have to let it go and do what I can with the future.
I haven't been the best wife today. I don't think that all the kids would agree  that I'm pretty awesome (although I think I may have skipped Totally Sucks completely today) but that's just how some days go.  I know that tomorrow or the day after may be something I'd sooner forget - but for at least one of my babies today was fun. 

Dirty Toes

Happy Girl