priorities in motherhood

Often I hear myself answering, YES, to a lot of little questions by my little boy. He's at the age that he's just talking a mile a minute and asking millions of questions. As I'm doing yard work or housework, and I hear 'isn't that right mommy?' - I just mmhmm while working.

I remember my mom telling me a story from my childhood. She recalled it a few years ago, but it's becoming quite the center of my thoughts lately. She told me that she was in the kitchen, and I came bounding in at the bold age of 3, talking and talking. She absent-mindedly answered yes, to what she thought was a harmless question. The next thing she heard was me yelling out the front door, "THANKS MOM!", and she had to run to catch up with me. She didn't know that her 'yes' was permission to go across the neighborhood to a friend's house.

I think all of us moms get caught up in our daily activities and automatically respond to our little one's questions, knowing that our answers will pacify those little churning minds. BUT...the older they get the more inquisitive they will be.

I have been reminding myself every day to really listen with both ears and my mind on full alert to my son and his adorable babblings. I want to know what I'm answering before he tries to bolt for the door.