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Gosh, that's a long list. Once our second daughter surprised me with a homemade blueberry cheesecake. That was a great surprise since I normally do all the cooking. My youngest son used to fold our laundry once in a while when that's not one of his chores. Going for drives together is something we all love. IDK sometimes the silliest things make me happy and I doubt the kids are even aware of how happy they make me.
Like a hug from behind that's out of the blue (meaning they don't ask for something afterward), or my oldest daughter says "you always smell so good" every time she gives me a hug or is resting against my arm (she probably thinks it's redundant saying that every time but I love it). Or the girls like to tease me by saying some guy was staring at me instead of them (not true but it's cute). I mean, who cares what a stranger thinks, but when your daughters care enough to try and make sure you still think you're cute (when you're over 50 and overweight) it's adorable.
All my kids give me lots of hugs but when our second youngest son (he's 25) gives me a hug, he refuses to let go when I try to pull away and just holds me close until I relax and give him a "real" hug! I love it and always brag that he gives the best hugs in the whole world! When the kids laugh at my jokes or are polite when I'm repeating a story to friends, that they have heard at least 200 times before, that is awesome! Even better is our 25 year old son even pretends to be interested when he could tell the story by heart himself! The oldest (30yr old DD) this weekend said "Oh God if I have to hear this story one more time"! That one way to kill a conversation quickly.
And my favorite thing is how the kids go on and on about what a great cook I am! They should be taking it for granted by now but they don't. They always beg for me to bring a treat when I visit and rave about how good it is when I do bring it. They call for recipes and brag to their friends about my talents even doing the Homer Simpson face and pretending to drool. I'm sure a lot of this is because they know how much it tickles me but I appreciate it immensely.
Being a parent is a huge joy and can also be heartbreaking (you have no idea how important you are to us). But a few little things can make us soar like a cloud! We might not even say how happy you can make us but trust me, you can!!!
And the fact that you are asking, especially at your age (don't you know most 17 year olds are extremely self centered?) says a lot of great things about you as a daughter! I didn't figure out how easy it was to make my parents beam from ear to ear until I was much older!
