V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

Motherhood is most definitely a delayed gratification job. Most other occupations you find some sort of instant gratification. All of your students getting A's on a quiz, showing they do in fact get what you are teaching about; a coach watching his/her athlete perform beyond their expectations; a business showing a profit. Motherhood does not produce such instant shows of success. You go day to day, praying that you are doing the right thing, reading the right advice columns, taking notes from role models, and some more praying at the end of the day. Sometimes though, you get little glimpses that maybe you are on the right track, and that you are somehow training competent, loving to-be adults who will survive and thrive in the world beyond their playrooms. One of these moments happened on our latest vacation to Orlando.
On our first day of visiting the pool Maddi instantly took to a couple of children (visiting from Germany). It was the first time on vacation that I wasn't entirely in charge of playing with her. By the second day she had met an nine year-old boy whom she became fast friends with. During one pool session I had sent my husband to the pool with M while I stayed in the hotel room while our little one napped. The baby and I came to the pool after her nap and my husband said that Mads hadn't needed him! She was off running a pool game with her new found friends. On our last day there, her nine year-old friend gave her his parent's email as their way to stay in touch. Honestly, at this moment I couldn't have felt any better had I gotten all 10's on an evaluation.
M was actually VERY shy really up until this year. We encouraged her to open up to others the way she did when she was in the safety of our home. You never really know if you are teaching them the way you should and just hope for the best. Watching her make some new friends and be social in a completely new setting was such a little thing, but such a big victory in my parenting.