As I Rock You To Sleep

Tonight you fell asleep in my arms as I rocked you and sang you a lullaby.  You don't often fall asleep in my arms, but every once in awhile, when you get really sleepy and the timing is just right, you drift off while I rock you.  I looked down at your face, your beautiful soft skin, your long eyelashes, your thin little lips completely relaxed into a little smile and I couldn't help but to cry. Your short past and your long future presented themselves to me, and the magnitude of my role in your life became apparent.  I have the great privilege and responsibility of being your mother.  I hold the power to shape your vision of yourself and I take that very seriously.  As I continued to rock you, the realization hit me that every single person on this earth has a mother; our relationship, while unique because of the people we are, is not some miraculous thing.  But it feels that way.  In the quiet moments. when you're sleeping in my arms, or gazing at me with your piercing blue eyes, and sometimes in the hectic moments, when you're smearing cereal in your hair, I get an overwhelming burst of emotion.   You are my daughter, my first born, and my love for you is bigger than any other love that has ever been experienced, it is as big as only a mother's love for her child can be. Just wait, one day you might rock your own baby in your arms, and you'll know that love.  Not until then will you understand what it means to be on the receiving end of that love.  It means that you are precious beyond words, that you are more important than any possession, that you are loved completely and without reservation,

Sleep tight, little miss!