Revising the List

I first met Erica Crotts and her husband five or six years ago, I think, back when they were still undergraduates who were attending International Arts Movement conferences in New York. So I was delighted by Erica’s lovely article about revising her to-do list after the birth of their first child:

I’m learning that life is not a matter of to-do’s to be mastered, and it’s a lesson I didn’t really have to learn until I became a mother. So much of my success was measured by how much of The List was completed.  

The giving of myself to another person can’t be quantified — it is a constant outpour of time, love, and grace. Sure, there are plenty of things I do to take care of my daughter, but she needs me. I’m reminded of this when she fusses after I’ve fed, changed, and burped her. I lay her on her back so she can see my face, and she stops crying, giving a smile that absolutely melts me. Sometimes I don’t have to do anything — she just needs to know I’m with her.