A Special Mother-Moment

After a hard week, it takes just one special moment to reinforce what a privilege it is to be a mother. You know those moment that take your breath away?

Let me back track a little. My two older girls started training in Rhee Tae Kwon Do before I did. After watching for a few lessons, I wondered why I wasn’t doing it with them. Rhee Tae Kwon Do is a wonderful family sport so I thought it might be a fun thing for us to do together. I asked the trainer if I was way too old to start. HA! He said no, so the next lesson, I was right beside my girls learning along with them. It’s become special thing for us to do every week (plus it’s a great way to fit a bit of exercise into my week).

This particular lesson, the adults were lined up along one side of the hall and the children were standing opposite. My eldest daughter was my sparring (fighting) partner. We faced each other and she looked up to me and smiled. I mouthed the words, “I love you,” and smiled back. We are totally supposed to be serious but she had such a sparkle in her eye this night. After a few minutes of sparring, the instructor asked the children if they were a little scared of the adults. I figured the instructor’s motive for this question was to ensure the kids have the ability to protect themselves from adults if they needed to. This is really important, and it’s great the instructor trains the kids how to react in to many situations. All the kids answered “Yes” to the question. Until it came to my daughter.

“No,” she said.

The instructor asked why (because adults can kick pretty hard you know).

“Because she’s my mum and I trust her. I know she would never hurt me.”

It wasn’t so much what she said but the way she said it. It was like she couldn’t possibly fathom the concept of being afraid of me, and I almost cried at the trust in her eyes. Her big blue eyes, the colour of sapphires, sparkled with honour. That trust makes me feel fearful and incredibly privileged at the same time.

I will always strive and be worthy of the trust I saw in her eyes in that moment.