If you haven't seen Kung Fu Panda 2, spoiler alert, there is a part where Po's mama has to leave him because she is getting chased by bad guys so she hides him in a radish crate where he is found by the goose who takes care of him. When we watched the movie in the theater Emersyn was really affected by this scene, probably because she is such a sensitive soul. She cried, no not cried, sobbed during that part of the movie. She was so emotional she came to sit on my lap and watching her cry made me start crying and it was a whole crying thing. At the end of the scene she looked up at me, put her hands on my cheeks and said "don't leave me Mama". Well jeez, you would have to be totally dead inside not to cry if your kid says that to you. It was a very sweet moment.
Fast forward a few months later, Emersyn has a panda stuffed animal that she likes to play with, she calls him Po. We were outside one day and she was taking Po on a walk in a stroller. I was pulling weeds so I had my weed bucket next to me and told her that she could put Po in the bucket and I would find him and be his goose Daddy. She looked at me for a minute and said "Well, this is Po but I am not going to be that kind of Mommy. I am going to be like you, the Mommy that stays". At that point she turned and continued playing, unaware of how profound that statement was.
If I ever had one minute of doubt that quitting my job and staying home with my kids was the right choice at that moment it completely washed away. I feel so grateful for this experience and really the person to thank for that is Kory. He never complains when he gets home from work at 11 at night and then gets up at 5:30 in the morning to go back, or when Marti tells him that she hopes he gets fired so that he can stay home with them. He just does it and for that I am eternally grateful.
