Beautiful Mommy

Yesterday, I needed to calm my two year old down before supper, so we went to his room and sat on his bed. 

"Tell me a story," I said.

"O.K.!" he agreed, and launched into a tale.  I only remember the first three sentences, which went as follows:

"Once upon a time there was a girl.  And the girl's name was . . . p- p- p- MOMMY.  And Mommy was a beautiful girl . . ."

Doesn't your heart just melt?  I know mine did.  I mean, in the 34 months that this kid has been alive, I have:

• gone up and down 56 pounds - TWICE;
• felt the need to create a 48 hour rule --- as in, it's been 48 hours, you must now take a shower;
• have publicly "cracked a smile" multiple times because my ill fitting jeans can't stay up over my too tiny hiney and too big waist; and
• have gone WEEKS without makeup.

This may be acceptable in other parts of the world, but I live in the South.  Down here, we equate beautiful with made up and put together.  Woe to the new mother who confronts this standard . . . or at least this new mother.  I'm a hopeless, lost cause.

So, imagine my surprise when my two year old, with no coaching, called me beautiful.  He may not know the meaning of the word yet, but I don't really care that he doesn't know.  If he thinks me beautiful, then I am.  After all, don't I think MY mommy is beautiful?  Really - I do.  And not just when she is fixed up and on display at church or (because this is the South) the grocery store . . . but when she is tired at night after helping me for three weeks with my new baby, or when she is sipping her Gatorade while she cooks dinner for our family, or when she is watching Entertainment Tonight for her latest celeb gossip.

Do you know what makes my mom beautiful?  The fact that she is always actively loving me, even when I don't know it, even when she can't say it.  I know this now in a way that I didn't know it before I had two children of my own.  As I make my own mistakes along the way, she becomes more beautiful because I see just how hard it can be, and just how tenacious she is to love me 33 years long --- more than she loves herself.

So mommy, this one is for you.  Because once upon a time, there was a girl.  And her name was mommy.  And Mommy was a beautiful girl.

I love you!