Once again, I found myself thinking of the future instead of being in the present. I got wrapped up in the giant checklist in my head. Jojo and I had just finished lunch and we were getting close to nap time. She had eaten yogurt which meant an extra messy clean up for me. Since I had a lot I needed to get done during her nap, I wanted to clean everything up right away. She asked me to read her a book and I told her I could in five minutes after I cleaned up a bit. She accepted that and began to play on her own.

I put some music on in the background and started on the dishes. I was no more than two dishes in when I looked down and saw Jojo playing with her bowls right by my feet. Suddenly, she got up and started dancing around the kitchen. Her little body was twirling around with the sweetest look on her face. I felt overwhelmed with love, pride, happiness. All the warm fuzzies. It was as if someone threw water on my face and said what are you doing? The dishes can wait. I dropped the dish I was cleaning into the sink and swooped her into my arms. We danced and twirled around together from the kitchen to the living room with “She’s Not Just a Pretty Face” by Shania Twain playing on full volume. Jojo was giggling and smiling so big the whole time. And so was I. 

After I put her down, the extra five minutes I spent finishing the dishes had zero negative effect on me or the to-do list I had while she slept. I actually smiled to myself while washing them, thinking about her beautiful self twirling around just a few feet away. A moment I almost let slip by because I wanted to get the dishes done that second.