Say Yes to Pom Pom's

Sitting on the laundry room table is a pile of pom poms I just pulled out of the dryer. I know what you’re thinking. Pom poms? In the dryer? Why?

Let’s rewind.

There I was, scrolling through Instagram, when I saw a reel of someone letting their child play with pom poms in the bath. Bright colors floating everywhere, it looked like pure delight. “What a fun idea,” I thought. I’ve got to try this.

So the very next night, Emma and I stood in front of the tub with a giant bag of pom poms. She gleefully tossed them in, watching them scatter across the water like confetti. She couldn’t wait for the tub to fill so she could get in.

Dustin had no idea this was happening. He walked in, saw the neon chaos swirling in the tub, paused, and asked, “What is happening here?” I laughed. “Don’t worry about it.” He shook his head, turned around, and quickly closed the door.

Emma had a blast in the bath. Something so simple was magic for her. She could have spent all night in there catching the pom poms in the strainer, serving up “ice cream,” and having her Barbie dolls swim through all the colors.

Moments like this remind me of how I am trying to show up in motherhood. Choosing to say yes when my first instinct is to say no.

Sand in the living room? Sure, we can vacuum it up.
Running outside in the rain? Why not, clothes dry.
Glitter on everything? Deep breath …. Okay.

Motherhood has shown me that magic often hides inside the mess. The puddle of water on the floor after the joy of “washing the dishes.” The couch cushions flung everywhere because the floor is lava. The bathtub filled with stuffed animals because having a stuffie bath is just fun (no water, of course).

None of it is perfect. All of it takes extra time to clean up. But when we are in it, we are in it. Seeing the joy on Emma’s face, hearing that contagious giggle, and watching her take it all in makes it worth it. Plus, she remembers and talks about it for days.

Scooping the pom poms out of the bath took a while. Fishing them from the drain, squeezing out the water, stuffing them into the pillowcase to throw in the dryer. There was a brief moment when I thought, This was a terrible idea.

But then I looked at Emma. She was beaming from ear to ear. “Can we do this again tomorrow?” she asked. And I realized something. The mess is temporary. The memory isn’t. Now the pom poms sit in a colorful pile on the laundry room table, freshly dried, ready for their next adventure.

Motherhood has stretched me in many ways. One of the biggest things I am learning is that control is overrated. There are times we need to let go and be in the mess because what matters most is presence. Sometimes the best moments come from the ideas that make us pause and think, Is this ridiculous? Maybe it is. Maybe that’s the point.

Heart Notes Reflection:
Sometimes the mess becomes proof that joy was here.