The Sticker Book

Certain toys phase in and out of "favoriteville".  E has always been a lover of all things arts and crafts.  For her 2nd Christmas Santa brought an art desk and for her 3rd he brought a digital art desk, if that gives you an hints.  Another Christmas present that was especially beloved today was a large "Sticker Book Workbook".  It includes near 1000 stickers with activities to do them with, but Eden sort of ignores the activities and likes to flip through the stickers, admiring them and then selecting just the right one for her project or perhaps her new favorite friend.  Tonight she spotted the book as she was returning a book to the shelf just before bed.  She picked it up and brought it to me saying "You can have a sticker out of my sticker book because you did such a nice job with that story, Mommy".  I was pleasantly surprised.  She's been known to correct my inflection and encourage or critique my character voice choices and is quick to let me know "That's not the way Daddy does it".  lol  


She began to flip through the book saying "I'll let you pick a sticker out. Annnnnnnny sticker you want.  OK, Mama?"  Looking down at the hundreds of colorful little blobs of sticky paper, I admit I was trying to sound excited when I said "Oh sweetie, why don't you pick one you want me to have?"  He response made me tear up.  "No, that's OK."  She clasped her hands very matter of factly and looked at me saying "Cause you're my most very special Mommy and I want you to have one."  I now realized that she was showing me her love, giving me a prized possession.  She leaned in for a hug and threw her arms around my neck and then came out of the hug with a pursed lips and raised eyebrows.  She was giving me that "I'm pretty special, huh?" look.  :0)  Clearly, she was proud of herself.  


I gave in and began to select a sticker.  "Hmm...let me see.  Well, how about that one?"  I pointed to a yellow button star with a pink background.  "Ummm.  Nah.  That's not a good one" she said.  She flipped through the pages and I pointed to a penguin.  "Um, well you can have that one, but it's kind of, um...gross."  I was starting to see that perhaps I had been hoodwinked.  This was all a ploy to buy time before going to bed and not just an expression of her undying love for her Mama.  I flipped through the pages now on my own and said "Oooh, how about this pink flamingo?"  


"Well...*giggle*...pink is actually my favorite color, too" she said, shrugging her shoulders as if to say "too bad".  Now I was becoming annoyed, but was clinging to her powerful speech about...what was it again?  Oh yes, the 'most specialist mommy in the world'?  So I selected another only to get the response, "Actually, I was going to give that one to my pink lovie".   I gave in and said "Well, sounds like you need to pick one for me."  


There was a long silence and then she came across a ladybug. "How about this one?"  She began to peel it off the page and stuck it on my hand.  "You can have it and you can wear it for my BIRTHDAY PARTY!"  Her voice now louder and excited, she looked at me with her big bright eyes.  "Well sweetie, I love it, but I doubt it will last until your birthday.  We'll see if we can find some more ladybug stickers for your party, OK?"  She seemed content with that and I began tucking her into bed.  


Once kisses and hugs were given and prayers were said she inquired of tomorrow's events, as she always does.  I stood at her door and blew her one last kiss for the night and said goodnight again as I switched off the light.  I closed the door as her name sign rattled against the door I heard "Goodnight Mama, I love you".  


What sweet music to my ears.  As I type with the large ladybug sticker pulling small hairs off my hands, I am thankful for what is.  I try to soak up every single moment, every smile, every giggle, every snuggle.  For even as I type she lies in bed growing and changing and becoming even more wonderful than she was today, but allowing a little tiny piece of that precious innate innocence slip away.  My precious little bundle of life, almost 4 years old.  Where does time go?