Sweet Spot

Last night at moms' night out, My friend T. was mentioning an article about the sweet spot of parenting, and we talked about how the majority of us (except poor A, who still has a 3 year old) are there. I realized I've been there for a year or so, and we also reminded ourselves that with eight-year-olds, we probably have another year or two of the sweet spot. If we're lucky.

I thought of that again today as I was standing in this field of flowers. It was a truly perfect summer day, with a high of 81 degrees, dry air, a slight breeze, bright skies, and the promise of a cool, dry evening. The flowers in this community garden were at their peak – colorful and bountiful – and a couple of women were out there gathering armfuls of them. And I thought to myself, “If summer has a sweet spot, I think this is it.”

I know the sweet spot of summer is far more fleeting than the sweet spot of parenting. But the sweet spot of parenting only comes once, and I'm glad to have had a reminder of that this week.