A few days ago, J.T. announced that he would like to have a friendship bracelet to wear on his wrist. I promptly contracted out the job to a kind and creative student in the upper school and on Tuesday K brought a bracelet for J.T.
He was thrilled with the stylish beads. We tied it on his wrist on Wednesday.
And then he lost it.
On the way home from the bookstore last night (more on that later), he discovered that the bracelet was missing. I pulled the car over and we looked everywhere. It wasn't in the car. He could remember that he had the bracelet on at supper but he hadn't seen it since. I could see that he was trying not to cry. I had no idea where the bracelet had been lost and it was already past bedtime. But I didn't hesitate. I turned the car around to go back and retrace our steps. We were going to find his bracelet.
I am not the perfect mama, not by a long shot. I have moments when I'm irritable and moments when I lose my cool. Sometimes the burden of single mamahood is overwhelming and I have a good cry. And there is no question that J.T. knows my shortcomings. But I hope that he also knows that the things that matter to him matter to me. I hope that he knows that for the good and the bad and the hundreds of points in between, I will be by his side. And last night he certainly knew that I was doing my best to recover his lost treasure.
Luckily, we found it. It was under the table at the restaurant. He tucked it safely into his pocket to bring it home. He held my hand as we walked back to the car. And my heart was happy because on this night I was able to fix the problem; to get it right.
We got home and tied it on again, this time with some extra knots. And now it's not just a friendship bracelet, it's also a lucky bracelet.
Perhaps not a perfect mama, but certainly a damned good one!
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