Parenting is hard. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise–they are either not parents, lying, or drunk. I certainly didn’t go into this parenting thing with rose colored classes–I mean I taught high school for years. I know what I signed up for. So, the hard doesn’t surprise me. It’s the good that surprises me. It’s those amazing moments–some small and some big–that make my heart want to explode and wraps me in a blanket of warmth and happiness that is unmatched by anything else.

I took Noah on his first “date” yesterday Wednesday. Just writing that makes me smile and laugh a little as I know he would be so embarrassed to know I called it a “date.” It was just 2 friends hanging out. But the cuteness. Sorry Noah, somethings just aren’t going to be ‘private.’

Noah’s birthday is on Sunday (which happens to also be Easter–my minimalist parenting will really be stretched having to execute both Easter for the two kids and making the day Special for Noah) and instead of a huge class party he is having a sleepover. He is having 3 boys over and wanted to have Sophie over too. I was not opposed to a co-ed sleepover but I didn’t think one girl would work as the dynamics would be different. Noah understood that.

So, I suggested that maybe we set up a day for he and Sophie to do something together. Noah and Sophie have been super close friends since the first day of preschool. They remain close and really enjoy hanging out together. Noah was excited and he decided that a movie would be good and he wanted to do it after school. The stars all aligned and we were able to pick a day that worked and both kids were excited.

They were sitting next to each other on the steps at school as I drove up. I made eye-contact with Noah and he smile and told Sophie “My mom’s here!” They pile in and Sophie gives Noah his birthday card. They laugh and giggle and talk about Paul Frank (it was a Paul Frank card) and who likes Paul Frank and who has Paul Frank stuff (it was cute–on Thursday Noah had to wear his Paul Frank shirt to school to show Sophie).

As I drove to the movie theater, I tried to soak in the moment. Listening to Noah joke and be the kid he is with his friends is something that I only get a taste of. It reminds me that as his parent, I will only see a portion of who my child becomes. Who he is with his friends will be different than who he is at home. While the two are very much the same person, what I see will be limited. Being able to eavesdrop on him with his friend assures me that he is a good kid and quite a little jokester.

The movie theater has an arcade and we were a few minutes early–so Noah asked if they could bowl at the tiny pin bowling alleys in the arcade. So they bowled a couple games and then spied the photobooth and took pictures together (reminds me of jr. high–the cuteness level was off the charts).

After the movie we went to dinner and again with the adorableness. They sat next to each other and oh goodness.

The good moments happen more than I notice.  I need to notice more.