It is interesting to me that my favorite novel experiences have been the ones that I could never plan for or predict. Some days I wake up with a clear image in my head of how I will seek out my novelty for the day. Other days, I wake up foggy headed and clueless. Today was definitely the latter!
Simply put, today I felt exhausted. Perhaps the effort to implement the Great Moose Hunt the day before had worn me out... Or maybe I had fulfilled my "seeking quota" the day before... Or perhaps it was the unexpected aftereffect of having my son chant "chocolate moose" repeatedly and without pause from that time forward... And, probably, the intense sleep deprivation I was experiencing courtesy of my children's completely unsynchronized sleeping patterns from the previous night was no small part of the equation. Regardless of the reason, yesterday I was a seeker. Today, I am a slacker! As a result, I was REALLY hoping that novelty would find me instead of the other way around.
As it turns out, I was in luck! Not only did novelty find me, but I can honestly say that it was the BEST NOVEL EXPERIENCE EVER! Today, I had the good fortune of being able to lie down and nap with my son! (In case you were wondering, NO, that is NOT the novel experience of the day. But it was pretty darn unusual and awesome, all the same!) As my toddler drifted off to sleep in my arms, he gently stroked my cheek and, completely out of the blue said, "I Love you Mum-Mum." It took a moment to register and then I was completely overwhelmed by the incredible loveliness of the moment. This was the first time my child spontaneously told me that he loved me and it was one of the sweetest moments of my life. My son stroked my hair gently, as I lay there overflowing with love for my sweet baby boy.
It was at that moment that he grabbed a clump of my hair and pulled.... hard! While I recovered from the shock, he pulled himself up so that he could look me straight in the eyes and said, "Eat Mum-Mum's nose?" As I roused myself from my sleepy, love-drunk state and considered how to respond to this unusual request, my son opened his mouth as wide as he could and lowered his face to within a millimeter of my own. I had to wrestle him off of me while he laughed at my efforts to protect myself. Yup... He's going to be two!
Regardless of how things ended, I don't know if words can adequately express what it's like to have a child of your own state their love for you for the first time. Sure, I had told him that I loved him countless times before this and had prompted and coached him to say it in return, but this was fully and completely initiated by him.
So while some of the novel experiences I have might be more unique, or more exciting, I can't imagine that any of the experiences I have, past or in the future, could ever be as meaningful as the one that I had today. I am reminded once again that the most important thing we have in this life, and our most important source of happiness is love and our relationships to one another. Add a dose of novelty, a dash of mindfulness and a whole lot of cuteness and you have the equation for one of the best moments of your life!
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