Sweet Tea

June 10, 2015 Off By Lisa

A few weeks ago, I attended the most wonderful event.

My Daughter’s class invited their moms to a Mother’s Day Tea. The handmade invitations indicated a special event was at hand. I’ll admit I was skeptical. A tea for mothers? In the first-grade classroom? With all those tiny little chairs that no self-respecting adult should attempt to use? Hmm…

But of course there was no way I would miss it, despite any misgivings on my part about the size of the chairs versus the size of my tuchus. I accepted the RSVP, put the date on my calendar, and waited for the Friday before Mother’s Day.

There was much advance preparation for the event. Zilla shared the secret plans with her Dad, taking great pains to keep them from the sphere of my awareness. She was beyond excited and I wasn’t certain how she would manage to contain herself until the event. But she did.

Finally, the big day arrived.

The moms assembled in the front lobby of the school. An air of festivity and excitement brewed to a perfumed high. Finally, we proceeded to the classrooms to meet our children. Any misgivings I had about the combination of my ample tush and the tiny chairs? Vanished the moment I saw my little girl’s eyes eagerly searching for mine.

Her eyes shone with the light of a thousand fireworks. Sure, she had only seen me about two hours ago, but somehow it seemed she was looking at me for the first time. She ran to me, handed me a carnation, and slipped her still-small hand in mine to show me into the room. Together, we walked across the classroom to her table. With great ceremony, she offered me her chair and explained that the moms would sit and the children would stand and serve us our tea. Delightful.

She went about her hostess duties with skill and grace. The children gifted the moms a collection of sweet and wonderful mementos the class had spent time making for the moms. It was clear to me that each item received painstaking care in its creation. She brought me iced tea and cookies and made sure I was comfortable. We made a poster with our footprints listing the things we like to do, side-by-side and step-by-step together. The class recited a sweet poem to end the festivities.

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You would have thought the Queen herself visited the first grade classroom that morning. But no queen has ever felt the overwhelming love and admiration I did that morning. Zilla never took her eyes off of me – not for even a second. It was as though I were the only mother in the room, not one of twenty.

All too soon it was time to go. She said goodbye a thousand times before releasing my hand reluctantly at the classroom door. I don’t think her feet touched the ground for the entire time I was there – and maybe not for the rest of the day.

As for me I started crying just a bit when I saw her tiny, expectant face searching for me in the hallway and I think I cried for the rest of the day. Perhaps it was the realization that in her small world, I am her everything. Perhaps it was seeing how great her love is for me. It’s easy to forget those things in the thick of the homework, activities, discipline, and chores of every day.

I am certain there will be days in our future when these feelings are difficult to recall. I am certain there will be days when she looks at me much less admiringly when we disagree on topics like boys and skirt lengths and curfews. But even in those moments, our bond will remain.

And I don’t believe I will forget that morning anytime soon. It will always be there in my heart to remind me how special that time together was, and how special our relationship always will be. Never has any gesture so small as the Mother’s Day Tea felt so grand as ours did that day, and never will any tea taste so sweet.

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One Word Blog Linkup hosted each Wednesday by 

Lisa of The Golden Spoons

Janine of The Confessions of a Mommyaholic

and Marcia  of Blogitudes.

This week’s words: together and/or small

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