Today I woke up cranky. Do you ever do that? Maybe for no reason what so ever you wake up just plain irritated at the world. Annoyed that you have to wake up at all.

I was cranky. I tried very hard not to act cranky and any poor children who happened to cross my path before my morning cup of decaf, but that wasn't easy since the day started with my 5 year old slamming open my bedroom door and waking both me, an the baby.

But, I digress.

So I was trying not to act cranky, drinking my decaf coffee and doing my best to pretend it was my favorite regular coffee when I realized that I had some things to finish up in the kitchen that got put on hold yesterday when my sink, literally, exploded. Yep. I was minding my own business, doing some dishes when something popped and water started pouring out from the cabinet beneath the sink...so my chicken separating and marinating never happened.

Remembering this I put the baby in her swing and tasked her sister to hang out with her while I finished up.

Then i heard the most beautiful sound...deep, true, loud belly laughs from the baby. If you are not a parent I don't know if I can properly explain how magical that sound is. It is the sound of joy that has never known heartbreak or disappointment. It is glee that has never been embarrassed or shamed. It is pure and lovely.

And it is magical.

It has the power to take a cranky, busy mom and make her stop in her tracks and forget that she still hasn't had breakfast, that her coffee is decaf, that there is something sticky on the floor, that the laundry is piling up in the bathroom, that she's behind in all she had planned for the week and it's only Tuesday, and that she hasn't properly slept in months.

Because her baby is laughing.

That cranky and frazzled mom will abandon the chicken and the marinade and for a few moments she'll be just as carefree as her precious baby...because mom is laughing too. With the same abandon and joy, mom is laughing too. And so are the big brothers and big sister. We are all sharing in this moment together and it's like a giant reset on the day.

We went on to deal with everyday stuff. The children bickered and pouted over chores, but my whole day felt lighter because i got to stop and relish in that laughter.