Roasted Asparagus with Goat Cheese

I was thinking recently about how often I find myself saying something to my children that would sound so  ridiculous to anyone else but makes perfect sense to me.

Things like, “Hey guys, we’re not going to pretend to be cheetahs while we’re at church, OK?”

And then there are those times when you’re having a simple conversation with your child, innocently answering their questions, never realizing that those answers could come back up sometime later.

Usually this involves embarrassment, hilarity or both.

Case in point…while making this yummy dish of Balsamic Roasted Asparagus with Goat Cheese, Toasted Pine Nuts and Pancetta for Easter, my son wandered into the kitchen just as I was opening the packet of pancetta.

“What’s that mom?”, he asked.

“Well, it’s called pancetta”, I replied. “It’s kind of like bacon. Expensive bacon.”

The word ‘bacon’ in our house is sacred. Revered. We love bacon…in moderation of course! He reached his hand out to grab some, I swatted it away (it’s expensive!) and that was the end of that…or so I thought.

We loaded into the car and headed over to my in-laws home for Easter dinner.

And as my father-in-law went to reach for the dish of Balsamic Roasted Asparagus with Goat Cheese, Toasted Pine Nuts and Pancetta, my son said, “Oh, hey Papa, just so you know that bacon is REALLY expensive!”

My father-in-law just stared for a moment and then we all dissolved into laughter.

And pancetta will now forever be known in our house as the “expensive bacon”.

My life as a mom seems to be divided into two categories. There are those big, huge moments. The ones that are videotaped and preserved in photos and talked about over and over again.

But, then there is the other category.

It’s filled with small moments. Small moments of laughter over a funny comment from my kids. Small moments of praying with them at bedtime. Small moments of going on a ladybug “expedition”. Small moments of cooking together in the kitchen and having water balloon fights and going for walks in the woods and losing my patience and asking for forgiveness. Of holding a little hand in mine. Of holding another hand that used to be little but now is almost as big as mine. Of snuggling and wiping tears and kissing “owies” and answering tough questions.

And these moments, collected together end up being just as meaningful as those seemingly “bigger” moments. Perhaps even more meaningful. They are the stuff of my everyday life. The ins and outs of this roller coaster ride called motherhood. My journey to being called “mommy” was not easy. It was fought for. And it makes those moments (both big and small!) even more special.

As I was writing this post I began to notice something.

Every time I wrote out the word ‘moment’ I saw the word ‘mom’.

And I don’t think I will ever pronounce it the same again.

From now on, it will always be ‘mom’ent to me.