Than I normally would

Last night, as I laid next to Sidge in his bed, he turned to me and said, "You are the greatest mom ever."

A few minutes later, while taking a shower (a place of great intellectual thought), I thus began thinking to myself. "Really? Right now? Right now, I am not on my game. The last few weeks/months have been some of my hardest as a mom. I feel like I am surviving each day. And tonight he tells me I'm the best?"

But then I thought about it. Yesterday (and during the last five weeks if I am being honest) I:

• sat on the floor in the midst of a sea of a Thomas trains while they played much longer than I normally would. I normally would have gotten up thinking of all the things that needed to be done.
• sat on the couch reading books for twice as long as I normally would.
• laid in bed with each boy as they went to bed, much longer than I ever normally do.
• spoke much softer than I normally do.
• moved much slower than I normally do.
• went to fewer places and did much less running around than I normally would.

And I thought to myself, as a good friend told me, despite the fact that I don't feel "up to myself", my kids are not suffering. Maybe, in fact, they are getting even more from their mom than they normally would.