I gave my son and my daughter pennies to throw in the fountain.
What did you wish for?
I wished Mommy would stay with us Always.
What did you wish for?
I wished that my Mommy was always here.
I’m pretty sure that spot, in front of that fountain, is where my heart broke into a million pieces.
Shattered.
If you go visit, please sweep it up and return it to it’s owner.
Thanks.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
awwwwww
Remember this moment when you get your first “I hate you”
That broke my heart too….So incredibly sweet. At least now you have it written down so you’ll remember it forever.
Adrianne Machina
Wow. Hard to go on business trips after that, huh?
He’s messing with your head! It’s PsyOps! Don’t let his short stature fool you – he works for the government.
Ouch.
Yeah, right there with ya.
I used to be on the road 2-4 weeks a month when my daughter was two years old. The first time she put her words together into a sentence was when I got back from a business trip and she said “today…daddy…home.”
I cut way back on heavy travelling shortly thereafter, with occasional relapses since.
Someday they’ll appreciate everything you’ve done. I’m sure of it.
Ouch. I’m sorry! They will be grateful, eventually…
@suebob, my god woman, you KILL me! LOL
Oh, Erin. Did that just make you want to quit everything and never leave them again? How sweet, though!
That is heart wrenching. Remember that when they shout at the top of their lungs that they hate you and want you to never come home.
OTOH – when I asked that same question of my son, some 25 years ago…
“What did you wish for?….
………… “Because you told me to!”
(True story)
I have to admit, I’m tearing up a little right now.
You know, my son has also said things like that to me, and I am home with for hours almost every day. I take short (as in, three day) business trips without him approximately twice a year. When I was volunteering like a crazy woman during the election, I still saw him for hours each day and half the time I took him with me to work.
And he still says stuff like that to me when I need to go somewhere. And it still makes me feel like a horrible parent, even though I am WITH HIM ALL THE TIME, like, to the point that you’d think he’d actually be sick of me.
I think the truth is that kids always want more mommy. Their need for constant affection and closeness is infinite, but our ability to give it is finite, because we are only human.
I think you are a very good mother, Erin, and I also think that one day your children will understand that you were home when you could be, and when you were gone, you were working to make the world a better place for them. Not every child can say that about their parents. I think they’ll be proud.