When Kate first asked “mom, do you like me?” I saw a little smile ,but it honestly surprised me. Instead of choosing to feel hurt by the question or brush it aside, I decided to say “oh yes I like you! a whole lot!” Than I pulled out her  hand and held her close while I told her on each finger the reasons I liked her…she is kind, she is smart, she is brave ,she loves heavenly Father and Jesus, she is a good friend. But she asked again the next night and, after repeating the ritual from the night before with new things I like about her, I pondered as to what I could be doing wrong to have her feel that way or at least need to ask. One night as I was tucking her in she explained that first grade is hard because she’s gone from me all day and she really misses me. She misses the time we spent together when the older kids were gone at school and it was just her and I. She said how much she loved it when we would color together, and all the other things we used to do. It hit me how grateful I was that I had decided and made an effort to spend those precious few hours after kindergarten with her. I made sure I had my errands and most housework done so we could play together. This is a transition time for her too.  I am also grateful she felt comfortable enough to even ask the question so we could have an open conversation with each other. She is growing up so fast and I don’t want to miss any of it. I especially don’t want to miss out on the relationship we will have if I put in the time now. She loves to hear about her birth and how badly I wanted to have her as my daughter. she says she cant go to sleep without a song from me and a kiss goodnight. When she was little, she would wake up and while still rubbing her eyes she would find me and say “I missed you! “every morning I looked forward to that. So I went to the dollar tree and grabbed a couple coloring books and I made an appointment with Kate to color in her room together each day. she just loved it! she soaked it in and said how happy it made her. And you know, she hasn’t asked if I like her since.

We all have a love language, Kate’s is spelled t.i.m.e.