Puddles in January & Letting Go

I am the kind of Mom that easily gets caught up in the 'daily grind and schedule' of caring for our little girl.

I have to admit that in general, I feel that less mess equals less stress for me as a self-admitted type-A-always cleaning-germaphobe-sometimes over anxious about all the what-ifs in life-Mama.

But...the one lesson that I believe ONLY my daughter could have taught me how to allow myself to let go.
How to let go of thinking about how big of a mess something is going to make.

How to let go of watching the clock to make sure we 'stay on schedule.'

How to let go of worrying about how much of my to-do list I complete during her nap.

How to let go of always wondering, "Am I a good wife?  A good mother? Am I doing enough for my family?"

How to let go and just be.

Yesterday was an unseasonably 'warm' day. All the snow was melting, and our driveway was full of puddles. As we arrived home from our morning of exercise class, lunch date with our friends, and a quick lunch with Josh, I knew M's nap was right around the corner. I had a list of about a hundred or so things that needed to be done during her nap. Oh, and M was in one of her 'cute outfits' that included white leggings.  And....and...and then I looked in my rear view mirror and saw my daughter's smiling face and heard her so politely request, "May I have pink boots on? Please?"

And (surprisingly) I decided I was going to just let go. 

"Madison. Are you ready to jump in all those puddles?" I asked her.

"Oh yes, Mama! Puddles!" Madison squealed with delight.

And I'm so happy I did because M had SO. MUCH. FUN. It was maybe for only 25 minutes, but during that 25 minutes she smiled the whole time. She laughed. She jumped. She ran. And the JOY radiated off her.

It really was the perfect way to end our afternoon before her nap. 

And so what if I had to strip soaked socks and leggings off of her. So what if she stayed up past her usual nap time. So what if some parent driving by thought I was crazy since it wasn't exactly warm out and here I was letting my child get wet and play outside. So what if the possibility of a shorter nap meant I wouldn't get EVERYTHING done I wanted to. So what.

Letting go. So hard to do sometimes. Yet SO good to do it. 

(Every once in a while anyways. Come on...you know I can't be a totally care-free, super-go-with-the flow Mom. It's just not in me!)

Thank you, Madison, for reminding me everyday about the simple joys in life and encouraging me to just let go and enjoy the moment.