Motherhood is Permanent...and great

Ryan and I are very blessed to have two sets of parents who absolutely adore Simeon and are always willing to help out in any way they can. They love to spend time with him and jump at the chance to babysit. My parents made the four-hour drive from KY to Indy two weeks ago just so they could babysit for one night while Ryan and I went to Chicago for a concert. We allowed them to extend their time with Simeon last week when they kept him for nearly a week. It took some convincing (ha, ha), but Ryan and I decided a week of dates wasn't such a bad idea. Plus, Ryan would be tearing down walls in our home to make way for a remodeling project...and we know all too well how much Simeon loves to indulge in dangerous activities that involve power tools. I enjoyed the week of relaxed and quiet dinners, later mornings and seeing movies in the theater...although I missed Simeon terribly. Good thing for me there were several things that reminded me I was a mother even after I had left Simeon with doting grandparents in a state four hours away. Here they are, in no particular order:

1.) I was still listening to Simeon's music CD's in the car without even realizing he wasn't there to hear them.
2.) I tiptoed around the house but there was no sleeping baby to wake.
3.) I realized that I don't really even need to wear a bra since I've lost at least one cup size in the last year.
4.) Stretch marks were there to greet me every morning after I stepped out of the shower.
5.) When the Gap associate asked me if I was having a fun day I excitedly replied, "Yes, it's so nice to shop without my 17-month old!" - oddly enough he said I was the second Mom to tell him that in the past hour.
6.) I decided to open up a good bottle of wine for an ordinary dinner that consisted of a Marsh rotisserie chicken because Ryan and I had a night at home alone.
7.) I helped out a Mom in IKEA who was struggling to get her one-year old in a shopping cart because I know exactly what it's like.
8.) I spent thirty minutes before bed reading past journal entries about fun times with Simeon over the past year.
9.) I almost had to leave a disturbing movie that depicts a father's struggle to keep he and his son alive.
10.) I thought several times each day Simeon was gone about how blessed I was to have him in my life and how, even though a break is nice, it's so great to be his Mom.