Hero

Yesterday a friend of mine sent me a link to the video above. If you want, watch it before reading on. If not, this post is a bit of a spoiler. ;)

I'm normally skeptical about YouTube forwards, especially ones that say they will make you cry. However, the friend that sent it to me rarely forwards stuff so I decided it must be worth watching.

I totally cried. Ems was on my lap watching it with me and since she couldn't read the papers that the girls are holding up, she didn't understand what was going on.

Basically, three kids, grandparents and a mom and dad go on a vacation to rent a cabin in the mountains near a cliff. While the mom and dad are signing the rental agreement, the kids stay in the car and somehow the car gets knocked out of gear and starts rolling towards the cliff. The mother, in a desperate attempt to save her babies, stands in front of the car to block it and her kids remember the look on her face as the car ran her over. Thankfully, her body somewhat detained the car's rolling and the grandpa was able to get in the car and pull the parking brake. The mom miraculously survived but is paralyzed from the waist down and is still an incredible mother. Her kids sing her praises of how she is their best friend, how she has come to every piano recital, tennis tournament, etc.

I was so moved to tears because I know that I would do the same thing for my babies...risk my life or even give my life.

The daughters of this woman made her this beautiful tribute video and I began to wonder, what kind of video could my kids make about me someday?

See, I believe that truly amazing parenting happens when we go beyond what's required of us. No one thinks that their mom is a hero for simply providing food and shelter. I long with all my heart to be a hero to my kids, hopefully not in such a dramatic way as this YouTube video, but if so, let it be.

I think the hardest part of being a mom is how thankless it is at times. Obviously, Emersyn has no appreciation for me getting up early to make sure she is bathed, dressed cute for school, and a lunch packed. She could care less that I strive to get up early and spend quiet time with the Lord, in a quest to be a better woman which makes me a better mom. She doesn't bat an eye when we deliver a meal to someone sick or when I stress out over real estate deals so that I can help provide for our family. But someday, she's going to know the kind of mother that I was today. And if I wait until she's old enough to understand all that I do for her before I start to do these things for her, it will be too late. Does that make sense?

Good parenting isn't just hanging out with your kids, making sure they are {relatively} safe, fed and clothed. It's turning off the computer to play Memory for the 12th time that day. It's making my daughter a cup of tea and having a discussion about silly made up things, like how her daughter Hair Baby loves watching UmiZoomi but it apparently drives Emersyn crazy. It's letting her help bake and not caring when she spills the sugar. It's being loving to her daddy and modeling how to be a selfless wife. It's going out of my way to make sure that I get enough sleep so I'm not cranky in the mornings when it's time to get ready. My heart aches for my children to call me their hero someday....so what am I doing about that today?