The things that my 2-year-old says are so dang cute, and also a real reflection of how I speak.

I’ve been very careful with the words I use when exclaiming, and when I’m frustrated, and in general I’ve been trying to keep my words and phrasing on the funny side. It’s objectively hilarious when a baby says, “how dare you!” when she’s upset, or “ooh la la” when she puts on sunglasses, or “hey cutie” when she wakes up in the morning, or when she sings partial lyrics to Since U Been Gone. We’re also a multilingual household, so the combination of languages amongst all of her funny phrases are, put simply, a hoot.

What has really warmed my heart though is when I hear her playing with her stuffed animals and pretending to be “their grown-up” in the room. As I was cleaning something up and exhausted from running around all day yesterday, I heard her playing mostly quietly, but then suddenly saying, “Good job bear, you did it! You’re so great, I’m so proud of you!”

Moments like that keep me going. I struggle a lot these days with feeling productive enough, strong enough, or just… good enough to be a mom. I’m grateful to have small bits and pieces like this to let me know that I’m doing at least one thing right.