I Have Him at Hello

So when I was putting Caleb to bed tonight he was talking about tomorrow and how the day would work...a kind of "mini-rundown" if you will. It was something like this..."so tomorrow we'll wake up and daddy will be at work already...and you will make me breakfast and then drop me off at school...then you will come home to wait for me. I will play at school all day, then daddy will come to pick me up and you will be here waiting with the pretty hi. You will say the pretty hi, won't you mama?" I asked him to describe the pretty hi for me.

Apparently when I see Caleb after being away from him all day I do the pretty hi. I open the door and say "Caleb...Hi!!! Welcome Home!" My voice raises a bit I open my arms and give him a big hug and kiss. To Caleb that is the pretty hi. Nice, huh? Words that make his mama smile...I do realize that there will come a day that my son doesn't always thrill at seeing me at the end of the day!

It stops to make me think of how my greeting effects him, how it sticks in his memory, how he considers it a wonderful part of his day. In the business that will be tomorrow (even though Caleb is convinced that my entire day is spent waiting for him to come home) I hope that I remember that my "pretty hi" can not only effect Caleb but others, as well. It's so wonderful to be loved and to be greeted in a way that says we are significant, that we are thankful to be together again. I also hope that tomorrow others will greet me with a pretty hi, that I will feel connected to others in my relationships, nurtured by my friends and family.

I am thankful for the reminder that Caleb offered to me today of the value of love and relationships and that our expression of that makes a difference to those around us.