"He smells like you," I texted my husband.  I had just put W down for a nap and could smell the lingering scent of Ryan's cologne on his little head.

"I smell like oatmeal and bubbles," Ryan responded.

Amen to that.

Ryan had been knee deep in the breakfast trenches and then did bubbles with the kids before he left for work.  He is the BEST dad by the way.

I felt like he summarized parenthood so well in that sentence.  "Oatmeal" means you are IN it.  It's the feeding, the changing, the cooking, the cleaning, the carpooling, the loading, the unloading, the redirecting, the activity planning, the reminding, the hugging, the kissing, the boo-boo curing, and the heart mending. "Oatmeal" is the most exhausting, most humbling, most service-driven work that you have ever done.

"Bubbles" is the joy that comes from those moments.  It's the moment your children play peacefully together (for 6 seconds).  It's the time your child does exactly what you asked.  It's when you hear "of course" rather than "NO!" It's marveling in the wonder of a garbage truck.  It's a little body snuggled up against you while you read a bedtime story.  It's one more kiss.  It's one more hug.  It's the moments where you see the kindness and compassion you work so diligently to instill in your children peek through their interactions with a friend or concern for a stranger.

This is what parenting is all about.  And so often times we are literally wearing (or walking through) these oatmeal and bubbles moments. They define us. They define how our children see us.

Let's do this together.  I'm so looking forward to sharing the many facets of parenting with you through this blog.  Take pride in these special moments, especially the ones you end up wearing! Those are the most noble anyway.

May the oatmeal be easy to clean and may the bubbles be infinite.

Find the joy-

Jessica