Tinkerbell is their grandmother

We have always joked that Larson is Tinkerbell. She’s tiny, she is spunky and just a spice of life.

Today, I have decided MEESE, my mother, is the REAL Tinkerbell. She has done this my entire life. Making life magical. Every party, every atmosphere … just plain magical.

She’s amazingly thoughtful and a queen at building a home that makes you feel loved and noticed individually. She loves and she loves big.

I told her that Larson loves Tinkerbell and fairies above all else right now…and mentioned long ago that the lake house (now their full-time home) would be the perfect spot to build something so neat for her fairy land. I was thinking a small 2×2 area with some rocks.

Typical Meese/Tinkerbell style – Larson now has a HUGE world. A serious fairy world. Multiple stations.

She found this house at an OLD hardware store with mounds of dust – had Pop cut the door and added rocks, moss, etc.

There’s no telling how many months she’s been glueing and potting plants. Or  creating little hideaway areas for my kids to dream and imagine.

And painting tiny furniture and collecting. Not because she’s bored. Because she loves to delight our hearts.

Where the heck does she find this stuff? A swing! I squealed.

The first area was mind-blowing and then we rounded the corner for more goodness.

A bird house with some furniture in it – and a bell hanging over to call the fairies over to play.

A note to moms at home

This isn’t about stay-at-home vs working because I don’t what I am – we are all moms that equally matter. Just know that this woman never worked outside of the home a day in her life. She hasn’t started a blog or adopted anyone or owned a non-profit. However, she has spent her life devoted to me and my siblings (and my dad) and it astounds me. How she serves. How she affirms. How she lives out a walk with Christ. How she listens.

I watch her love big with my girls now and it brings me to my knees. Oh thank you Lord they get to see. They get to feel her love. They get to walk in and play in the wonderland of Meese. Where there is peace like a river, patience like none other, tenderness, grace and unconditional love at every turn.

It never surprised me that we had a cereal box for every kid in the neighborood at the top of our pantry. She thinks that is what kept them coming. I know it wasn’t. It was her fairy dust. Her ways. Her love of Jesus oozing out.

So, for the mom that feels CALLED to be at home – but feel this tension to pile on and look at their peers. Listen to what God put on your heart. You can only decide for you and I can only decide for me.

Just know as a daughter of a mom that could be home with us all of the time. I am forever grateful. I hope she knows her life, her effort was worth it. Her long days are now familiar to me and I respect her even more. Every little rock glued to a little table and not written in each lunchbox matters. It’s a high calling. A job worthy of praise. And I’m so honored to be a mom with all of you – those that work in the home and out of the home. Hang in there. You matter.

I will be her for the next week and my girls even longer. Soaking up every split second. She has worked for almost 40 years of parenting and created a magical home that we never want to leave. My siblings arrive this week and there is nowhere we’d rather be – on the porch laughing together. Sure, boats and material things are appealing – but I’m pretty sure the draw is in her dust. And my dad’s too. It’s their love. Their acceptance. Their support. Unending.

That’s my goal. Watching like a hawk.