Last week was a very crazy week for us. Aaron was working late several nights and it kind of threw things off around the house. One night sticks out in particular.
Mom and I had made it home and started dinner. We were both tired and hot. Kiera, on the other hand, was bouncing around the house. She was actually tired but had no problem fighting it.
“Mommy?” she said as she bounded in the kitchen.
“Yes?” I asked as I stirred tortellini into a boiling pot of water.
“What are we having?” she asked as she flitted around the room.
“Chicken and tortellini,” I responded, turning to face her. But as I turned I realized I was talking to thin air. Kiera had already bounced out of the room and off to some other area of the house.
I rolled my eyes and turned back to the stove to continue dinner. A few seconds later, I heard “Mommy!” coming from Kiera’s bedroom.
“Hold on, baby!’ I yelled back as I checked the bread in the oven. Once I made sure the bread would not burn in the next few minutes, I hurried to her room.“Yes, baby?” I asked as I stepped in her bedroom.
“Could you turn a movie on for me?” she asked as she climbed on her bed.
“Sure,” I replied as I opened her movie drawer. “What would you like to watch?”
Pondering my question, she placed her chin in her hand. “Could you tell me what movies I have?”
Taking a deep breath and praying that the tortellini was not boiling over, I rapidly ran through her list of movies.
Thankfully, she quickly settled on a movie and I popped it in her DVD player. Hustling back to the kitchen, I checked on the progress of dinner. The bread was still safe and the tortellini was not boiling over so I counted that as a win.
As I stood over the stove, I wiped sweat off my forehead and decided it was a perfect time to start putting the ice in the glasses. As I opened the freezer and grabbed the ice bucket, Kiera yelled for “Mommy” again.
Glancing quickly around the kitchen, I rushed back to Kiera’s room. “Yes, honey?” I asked, trying not to sound impatient.
She glanced away from her movie and said… “I love this movie! Watch this part!”
“Oh…yes… this is a funny part,” I responded. “But, baby, I have to finish cooking dinner.”
I wanted to add that if she didn’t stop calling me to come in her room, we might be having the fire department over for burnt garlic bread. I curbed my sarcasm, hurried from her room and yanked the oven door open to check on the bread once again.
I pulled the tortellini off the stove and began to drain the water off in the sink. Steam rose off the boiling water, causing me to sweat even more. I mixed the sauce in and put the pot back on the stove. I decided to try and fill the glasses with ice again. As I reached for the ice bucket, I heard her again, “Mommy!”
Staring longingly at the cool ice, I shoved the bucket back in the freezer. Trying to be patient, I stalked into her room. “Yes, my sweet, little angel,” I acknowledged, again managing to hide my sarcasm.
“Can I eat in my room?” she asked, glancing away from the movie and focusing on my face for a brief moment.
I took in her sweet, tired eyes, as she lay propped up on a small pillow. “Yes, baby.” I walked over to her, leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. As I looked at my little girl laying at the foot of her bed, curled up with her Quack-Quack and covered under her blanket, I decided burned bread would be worth the extra few minutes it took to smooth her blanket around her.
Amazingly enough, I made it back to the kitchen and pulled the bread out of the oven before it burned or we had to call the fire department. In fact, it looked perfect. Now, this is where I could end the story and you can have that warm, cozy feeling as you imagine my heart being full from my interaction with Kiera and my perfect, golden bread. Or… I could tell you the rest of the story.
I managed to grab the ice bucket out of the freezer, turn the tortellini off and get plates out of the cabinet before I heard the famous bellow again. “Mommy!”
Thinking back to how precious my little girl was a moment ago, I didn’t hesitate to stop what I was doing and go back to her bedroom.
“Yes?” I asked.
Without taking her eyes off her movie, my sweet child pointed to the other end of the bed and said, “Can you hand me another pillow?”
I stared at the back of her head. Another pillow? I had sweat pouring off me from being in the kitchen, I was tired from a long day of work and my angel had just called me in from the kitchen to hand her a pillow that was literally an arm’s length away.
I picked up the pillow and handed it to her. She never took her eyes off the movie as she whispered, “Thank you. Love you.”
I’m such a sucker for whispered “I love you’s.” I brushed her hair off her face and whispered back, “I love you too.”
Rowonna McNeely is a graphic artist for Willie’s T’s Screenprint & Embroidery. She is a mother of a five-year-old girl and step mother of two adult girls. Her crazy life includes a dog, Sloane and psychotic cat, Gracie. Both females. She is married to her prince, who is outnumbered by the opposite gender.
