My Heart
April 19, 2010
When you are a child you have no idea how much of your adulthood is going to be spent doing errands. Or that you will utter the word “errands” so many times that it doesn’t even sound like a real word anymore. Several times a week I find myself having to go out and do one of the million thankless errands that I would gladly pay someone else to do should I ever win the lottery.
Miles hates errands. His knees buckle at the very mention of the word. Unless I say we are going someplace that sells donuts. Then he runs out the door as fast as possible.
The other day we were going on a donut errand (what he calls running errands that hold the promise of a donut at the conclusion) and Miles ran outside ahead of me. When I came out the front door, he held this little heart shaped leaf up to me.
Look! I found your heart!
Silly me, I didn’t even know it was missing. I thought he always had it in the palm of his hands.
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Excuse me a moment while I get this dust out of both my eyes.
April 19th, 2010 at 11:20 amtears of joy lots of them this is why we get up to carpool for 6am football and all the other errands.
April 19th, 2010 at 11:36 amWhat a lovely post.
April 19th, 2010 at 11:39 amAwww, that Miles, he’s such a sweetie!
April 19th, 2010 at 12:21 pmJust love those grubby little hands holding “your heart!” Now that’s worth going on the errand right there.
April 19th, 2010 at 12:24 pmThat was so sweet!!
April 19th, 2010 at 12:59 pmI found your heart!!!
I just teared up - granted, I’m pregnant, but still. What a sweet boy, truly. We all just “go, go, go” all the time, I love how our children make us pause and appreciate.
I hope the donuts were a fun part of today’s errands!
April 19th, 2010 at 1:16 pmThis just makes me smile. What a great picture too!
April 19th, 2010 at 1:17 pmI have a picture of my oldest son and my daughter from Easter 2004 or 5. They were in their best clothes, surrounded by easter eggs and grass, it was perfect. My son raised his hands and made a heart with both his hands over my daughters head. I think I told him to put his arms down and quit ruining the picture.
It was only last year when I came across the picture in his scrapbook that I realised what it was, having had it explained by my daughter when she had picked it up the year before that.
And as I looked at that picture and him with his heart, my own heart broke into a million pieces as I remembered how hassled I had been and how it must’ve felt for him when I told him to stop “ruining” the picture. You’ve probably had enough experience to know better than to just brush things aside, but I’m glad anyway you saw it for what it was and appreciated it.
I might’ve been to distracted by all the errands I had to do and just told him in an exasperated way to put the grass down and get in the damn care already, please. Despite having already learned that lesson.
April 19th, 2010 at 1:33 pmHow precious!
April 19th, 2010 at 2:11 pmI think that guaranteed a donut, right? *sniff sniff*
April 19th, 2010 at 3:27 pmLove it! Mine do the same thing - only with rocks. We now have an entire collection I cannot stand to throw aways living on the deck. I’m a sucker too!
April 19th, 2010 at 3:29 pmyou say so much for so many moms…..I admire you, the words God has stored in your heart are so wonderful….I so enjoy your post. I am in a psych unit as a RN and I mentally think of so many of your posts on the evenings that are challenging…….all moms are not wonderful, you are a bright spot in a very dark world……Bless You,
April 19th, 2010 at 4:33 pmsusan
Are his fingers still stained from having dyed Easter eggs? My kids’ fingers are.
April 19th, 2010 at 4:47 pmAnd suddenly the errands didn’t seem so bad. I hope you get to run some more heart-errands soon.
April 19th, 2010 at 4:48 pmMy oldest 4 are in school, and like you, I have a little one at home that I am clinging onto for dear life. She, too, dreads going on “errands” but is so good about it. Plus her chances of getting a treat are about 300% better than when I had to do errands with 3+ kids in tow.
What a beautiful, sweet thing for Miles to say and do. Give him a big squeeze and smooch for me! (which I’m sure you won’t have a hard time doing;)
April 19th, 2010 at 5:32 pmI love that he found your heart.
I also love that you found all there was to treasure in that moment.
Finally, I love that you wrote it down b/c we moms of multiple kids know that these sweet moments disappear from our memories all too soon.
April 19th, 2010 at 5:39 pmAwesome post and picture!! Thanks for telling us about the photo app - I can’t stop using it!
April 19th, 2010 at 5:48 pmOh my gosh! That was so cute.
April 19th, 2010 at 5:52 pmI swear, this blog could be All Miles, All The Time, and It would be the best blog in the land.
April 19th, 2010 at 6:36 pmOMG — nibble that boys neck. He is tooooo darn cute!!!!
April 19th, 2010 at 7:48 pmplease let Miles know that I’m missing my heart too… if he finds it, I’ll give him all the donuts he wants until he’s 40 years old.
April 19th, 2010 at 9:41 pmI think I’d buy him a dozen donuts after that!
April 19th, 2010 at 9:47 pmOh! That was great!
And “donut errand”? The best words ever!
Peace.
April 19th, 2010 at 10:50 pmAwww…….that is just awesome and I would assume he got an extra donut at then end of those errands!
April 20th, 2010 at 12:57 amIt’s boys like Miles that keep moms like you going long after you thought you’d drop. What a lovely treat for you — and thank you for your generosity in sharing it with us.
April 20th, 2010 at 4:32 amthat is so sweet…I am going to miss the days when my youngest decides running errands isn’t as exciting as it is for him now - after a trip to the post office, bank, or short grocery store he always wants to do another “errand”. He apparently does not get out enough!
April 20th, 2010 at 7:20 amThat is one sweet boy. Must be all the donuts he’s eating
April 20th, 2010 at 7:58 amSee, even after kid #4, you’re still doing it right.
April 20th, 2010 at 10:13 amWhat can I say- sweet boy, sweet story. I bet he got lots of donuts that trip!
April 20th, 2010 at 10:35 amawwww….sweetness. All of it.
April 20th, 2010 at 4:31 pmAwww!
April 21st, 2010 at 2:37 amThat is one sweet little guy. Lucky mom.
April 21st, 2010 at 9:55 amI learned to bribe my daughter with donuts from you, works great so far
April 23rd, 2010 at 2:36 pmOkay, I’m crying! So sweet, that Miles!
April 24th, 2010 at 10:57 amI’ve been a lurker for way longer than I care to admit, but that photo totally warmed my heart. Thanks for sharing so much of your beautiful family. I’ve also GOT to get that app for my iPhone — the effect is so cool!
April 24th, 2010 at 2:39 pmOne of my favorite photos is of my eldest son (now older than I want to admit) and the first bouquet he picked for me, clover & dandelions. I don’t think I’ve ever been given more beutiful flowers.
April 26th, 2010 at 5:33 pmI’m so sure that moments like those have preserved the majority of my sanity - not all of it mind - but most of it.
May 8th, 2010 at 4:03 am