This One is for the Birds

Yesterday the kids and I headed out to Target for a few items - it was after naps and approaching dinnertime and I did something I have never done before – purchased popcorn for all of us to munch on throughout the store.

The three of us happily munched our way through the store, but when we got back to the car, I somehow managed to dump the rest of the bag on the floor of the car while trying to wrangle the kids back into their seats. So I began to brush the popcorn into the parking lot (and just in case you are wondering, I do not litter. I feed animals).

I was also doing a balancing act with Ella and Aidan as they both love to help clean up messes these days. Trying to convince them that this was a mess that was OK to leave was clearly a bit too much for their little brains to compute. Now that I am thinking back, I can only imagine what people must have thought about this clearly unorganized Mom, doing double duty, who thought it necessary to brush popcorn out into the parking lot of Target.

Anyway, suddenly this little bird darted out from under the car. Have any guesses what he was carrying in his mouth?

POPCORN!

I started thinking that if one bird flew over for a couple pieces of popcorn, how many birds would come over for the whole bag. The answer: a lot.

So in the interest of taking little moments to soak in life with my babies, I took them out of their seats and opened the back of the minivan. There we were, in the Target parking lot, throwing popcorn on the pavement in the empty parking space next to us, giving the evil eye to the few cars that dared to park there and ruin our fun (apparently I have one mean evil eye because no one bothered us!), feeding the birds.

I wanted to share this story because it was a moment in my life as a Mother where I managed to take a deep breath and feel confident in my decisions: my (actually, our!) decision to stay at home with my kids, my decision to do whatever it takes, no matter how hard on me, to give my twins all the experiences that just one baby would get to enjoy, my decision to put my children first: first before the demands of the clock or anyone else.

On the surface, we just fed the birds. But deep down, we fed the birds, saw birds up close for the first time, and learned about feeding animals and flying. Ella and Aidan were given a chance to explore and observe something they'd never experienced. But above everything, we stopped, played, and enjoyed this experience together.

This much I know, babies don't keep and children grow too quickly. These moments, the little moments, that are easily overlooked and taken for granted are what I'm striving to enjoy, remember, and to hold onto like crazy. As they grow older and begin to grow their separate ways, they will no longer spontaneously hold hands and give sweet baby cuddles - they will only be content to “hang out” with their Mommy for so long, so I, for one, am drinking it up and soaking it in for as long as I possibly can.