We just played

The other day at lunchtime, I shared a smoothie with Katie and she (of course) made a huge mess of herself. After we finished eating, we headed to her room to get her some new clothes. After I got her dressed, we stayed in her room for a while and we played.

We tried on clothes and shoes. Katie ended up in a silly outfit complete with a summer hat and snow boots. I, too, ended up wearing a (much-too-small) toddler hat and a little pink hair bow, both of which Katie picked out just for me. There were lots of tickles, giggles and sweet baby hugs. And for this mama? A few tears too (pregnancy hormone-induced, I do believe).

That hour spent on the floor in Katie's room was such a sweet reminder of the precious blessing the Lord has given me in having this season of life at home with my daughter. Sure, I spend most of my time every day with her; we read books, we clean together, we 'talk'. Too often, though, when she goes in her room to play, she plays all by herself. While I definitely see the importance of regular independent play, I will not soon forget how happy it made her just to have her mama in there playing with her.

One of these days, my sweet, chubby, blue-eyed baby girl will be too big to play with her mama. I know when that time comes, I won't look back and regret leaving the lunch dishes for a little later; however, I may very well regret not taking more time to just play when I could have. So for now? I think we'll just play together a little more often. And folks, that's definitely one of life's finer things.