A Worthwhile Endeavor

I love having Preschooler create artwork, as it keeps her attention longer than just about any other activity. Scribbled lines are her forte. Lots and lots of scribbled lines. I've mentioned before how much Preschooler loves princesses, and her drawings are no exception.

"It's a castle!" she tells me, for the 2,930th time.

Of course it's a castle!

But a few days ago, she waved this at me:

It's a castle - with cookies!

Circles.  Tiny, colored-in circles dancing around the scribbled lines. 

She figured out circles.  And I was there.

I was there the day she figured out circles. I didn't find out about it from a teacher, possibly days after the fact, when she came home waving a picture with her name at the bottom that she made at school.

I'm stupidly, inordinately proud of those circles.

When I was working, I never begrudged the fact that I wouldn't be there for some of my children's firsts.  There would be the first time they did something at school, and then the first time they did that same thing at home.

I was ok with this, because I had to be ok with it.  Staying at home wasn't an option when Husband was still a full-time student.

Now I'm at home, for a couple years, while Husband works.  His job is temporary, two years tops.  So even though it meant taking a noticeable hit to our take-home income, it just didn't seem worth it (much less possible) for me to find a temporary job that paid enough to keep two kids in all-day daycare and then some.

But it's worth it.  Those circles made it worth it.