"Mommy, you're the best mom!"

Just five little words that strike such emotion in one's heart.

Here we were, having breakfast and I was just flying around the kitchen getting juice and bread and cheese and what not, when suddenly, Raeven looks at me, face smudged with peanut butter and she had on that very serious yet soft look that I now associate with whenever she feels glad to have me around.

"Mommy, you're the best mom!"

Being the wreck that I am, my eyes glistened and I stopped for a moment.

"Why, sweetie that's a really nice thing to say. You're the best little girl too, baby."

"You sing with me, and dance with me, and play with me. I love you mommy," she said, without skipping a beat on that peanut butter sandwich.

You can imagine how I felt just for that few seconds. That all the screaming and yelling and worrying has not gone to waste. I am indeed raising a loving, caring individual.

And then, from the far corner of the room, the smell of fresh, morning poop comes wafting. Skyler, mouth twisted in bowel moving concentration, tries to smile but it is lost in the forces of mother nature.

Welp, that was one meaningful moment. Thanks, my sweetpeas.