Moments with Ava

My morning was delightful. Why? I spent it with my favorite daughter(uh-hem, I only have one daughter). We dropped Lukas at the church and then headed for a coffee date, just the two of us. Ava loves coffee. I don't know this because I am crazy enough to prepare her a cup alongside my own. I know it because she sneaks little sips here and there or asks for sips when I'm indulging in a cup of joe. This little gal loves coffee!

I remember going to diners with my Grandma Ford when I was 6. She bought me coffee, and I loved it. She didn't worry about the caffeine content or the fact that I probably added 5 creamers and half a cup of sugar to each cup of coffee (I was 6, after all) or even that my parents would never offer me a cup at home. She was Grandma, and she let me drink all the coffee I wanted. I didn't die, and it brings good memories to mind of time well spent with my Grandma.

Today, I allowed Ava her first personal cup of coffee. Unlike Grandma, I ordered her decaf because I do think about such things (I'm the mom). If you know Ava at all, you understand that this child does not ever need to have a caffeine jolt. Of course, coffee isn't what it was when Grandma bought me a plain ole' cup of coffee. Ava wanted her coffee the way Daddy likes it. Cinnamon dolce latte. Yep. That's what she had, and she drank it up (as soon as I added ice to bring it down to a kid-drinkable temperature). 

I'm sure someone out there is shaking her head at me allowing my 6 year old to drink a cup of coffee. Go ahead. I don't mind. If the worst thing I ever do to my child is to give her a cup of decaf coffee, then she should turn out pretty well, don't you think?

None of these details matter very much, of course.What matters is that I had a special morning with my sweet daughter, and I made her feel special and grown-up because she got to have coffee just like Mom. It may seem subtle and unimportant to some, but not to me. Today my daughter was reminded that her mother thinks she is special, important and that everything about her, even her love of coffee that has brewed a little too soon, matters. 

Every now and then, moments like this are necessary. Moments like this are the moments that carry us through to the next moment, to the next day, the next month, year, and decade of life. Moments like this are the most important moments of life, the kind of moments we'll look back to and cherish more than any other.