Holding on to that 5%

I think my three-year old toddler, Reagan, is a pain in the ass 95% of the time. The majority of our limited time together is spent in a battle of wills, over absolutely ridiculous things. For example, at any given point in time, she will lose it if you flush the toilet for her because she forgot to, or if you don't flush the toilet for her, or because she wants to wear her black shoes without socks, not her purple shoes without socks, or because the dog accidentally wagged her tail too close to her, or because her BABY sister touched her backpack. Keep in mind, this alllll happened in the span of 30 minutes while we were trying to get out the door this morning for work and school.

 But then there is that 5% of time where she's an adorable, loving, compassionate angel. Every Friday, if she's been "good" (quotation marks are necessary because for her, being "good" is very much on a sliding scale, and it's usually sliding more towards "not so good, but semi-acceptable"), we go to Donut Friday. It is our treat for getting through the week in one piece. So today, we were in the parking lot and I was bending down to unfasten her car seat buckles, and I banged my head on the roof of the car. In my mind, I was screaming profanities, but I kept them all in my head (which is a big deal for me!). Instead - I put my head down in Reagan's lap and tried to forget about how much my forehead hurt. And what did she do? She put her little arms around my head and told me that I was OK. I mean... it was just so utterly sweet and unexpected, and reminded me how much I love that little girl.

So, is the 5% worth all the other crap? Many days it doesn't seem like it. There are some very difficult times where I'm frustrated beyond believe. But yes, absolutely. I'll take a handful of those sweet times over none at all any damn day of the week.