Dear Homegrown Yogis,
Every year my daughter Freida’s school has a Mother’s Day Tea. We dress in our fanciest dresses, highest heels and biggest hats. We spend an hour sitting at tiny tables in even tiner chairs drinking tea out of old-fashioned tea cups and eating heart-shaped strawberry and cucumber sandwiches. The children practice their table manners all year and work hard to steadily deliver tea cups to their moms.
After the tea party, the children recite poems and songs all about how much they love their moms. They present us with handmade gifts and artwork. It is without a doubt my favorite day of the entire year.
When putting Freida to bed the night after the tea party, I thanked her for the day and told her that I had never felt so special in my life. My 4 year old little girl looked at me and said, “I wouldn’t know what love is without you. I am totally in love with you.” I obviously lost it, and in the process totally confused Freida about why I was crying.
I told her that I was crying because I was so happy, but here is the truth. I am so completely imperfect and no one probably sees that more often than Freida. I lose my patience with her; I tell her I am too tired to play; and I tune her out because I am trying to send out an email. And yet, she is still totally in love with me.
I didn’t realize how badly I needed to be reminded that I am loved and that I am doing my job pretty well after all. I have made many many mistakes, and I am sure there are many many more I will make tomorrow. But hearing Freida that night, I realized that I definitely must be doing something right.
So I wanted to share that message with you too in case you need to hear it. You’re doing a really great job as a friend, a parent, a spouse, a child, an employee, a yogi and as a human being. You’re doing a really really amazing job. And always know that someone wouldn’t know what love is without you and that you are so so incredibly loved.
With all my love,
Rachel