A Reflection

Little One is into cars and trucks right now. They roll across the floor, the furniture, and Her tummy. They go, "voooom!"
She is into books, even more than ever, especially ones with noises or hand motions to memorize.
She is into the dogs, playing fetch with them (She fetches the dog toy and hands it to them), and dragging their leashes over to me when She thinks it's time we all had a walk.
She's into the piano and the pegs that stack into a tall, tall tower.
But above all else, at the moment, Little One is into babies. Doll babies. Little One is a wonderful pretend-mama. She likes to hold them tight and rock them, saying "aaawwwwww! Awwwww!" Or to put them up on Her shoulder and pat their backs the way She likes Hers patted when She's sad or tired, saying "ah da da. Ah dada!" She pushes them in their strollers, talks to them, and feeds them with the pretend bottle or spoon. Sometimes the spoon is a toothbrush. Good job, Little One, lookin out for baby's dental hygiene! She tucks them into the pretend crib, and climbs in too (so they don't get lonely). Until the point that She gets bored and casts them head-first onto the floor, She is a strikingly tender, sweet little nurturer.
This makes me happy, because it is cute. Aaawwwwww!
It also makes me happy, because children are like the discount-store dressing room mirrors; they are brutally, un-editedly honest. Unlike those, though, they don't reflect thighs and arm flab, but Who We Are. I'll never forget telling a mother that her son had been caught hitting another child, and watching in horrified irony as she smacked him repeatedly in the face, screaming "where'd you learn to hit other kids?!"
As She grows, Little One will make me acutely aware of my flaws and shortcomings, because She will see them all, soak them up, and play them out on the stage of our Life, for all to see. Probably, for example, Her first full sentence will be "I need more coffee!" Probably, She will drop Her doll's pacifier on the floor, and give it back without washing it off.
But if there is something good to be seen, a mirror reflects that back too. It delights me to see Little One hugging and loving Her baby, because what does She know about how to take care of babies? Only what She has seen us do.
And if Her view on how we treat babies is to give them careful attention and affection, then whatever details I'm messing up, at least maybe I'm getting the general idea across ok. It's kind of like trying on a new dress in the fluorescent light of that dressing room, and having it look almost decent! I guess this mommy thing kinda fits me. It sure feels comfy. I think I'll take it.