This morning, as we were heading out the door for our walk to kindergarten, I asked my daughter what she'd like to do after school. She looked at me happily and said, "Mama, can you make today the best day ever?" I blanched. On our first day back from a long weekend in Paris I thought I couldn't possibly compete, I worried that nothing I could do would compare with the three days we'd just spent exploring the City of Light. "How," I wondered, "could I make TODAY, of all days, the best day ever?" The answer, though I didn't see it at the time, was right in front of me. It was in them. Fast forward to lunch.
Two peanut butter and honey sandwiches later, Harry was completing his third task in the Goblet of Fire. Both kids were listening to the story with rapt attention and then it hit me, this was it. This was exactly the kind of afternoon she wanted, the kind of day my kids love. You see my kids (maybe yours are the same) don't actually need to be entertained by big, grand gestures. They don't need Eiffel Towers or aquariums, they don't need restaurants or adventures in faraway places. They want sword fights. They want to read Harry Potter on the sofa and then to spend an hour casting spells on one another while I cook dinner. They want to ride bikes and make forts and do crafts. They want to be with the people they love best in the world, and that's family.
By the end of the day (even though there were chores, even though I asked them both to please finish their salad, even though there were assured they still had to go to school the next day) they both fell into bed with contented sighs and giggles of happiness. And this, my mama friends, is what I know: we will still take our kids on amazing adventures, we will still show them the world, we will still have parties and playdates and surprise outings for ice cream. I will also still annoy them with admonitions about where to put the dirty clothes, that we don't hit our siblings, and reminders to clean up their toy-strewn floor (and they, me, by putting their dirty clothes on the living room floor, hitting one another when they think I'm not looking, and leaving toys seemingly EVERYWHERE). But this is our life, perfect in its imperfection. So there's really no reason that every day can't be the best day ever. They don't need Paris, they need you. Just ask your kids, they'll tell you.