"Mom Can I Take All the Tissues Out of The Box?"
We weren’t doing anything extravagant—just a simple art project at the table. Paper, markers, a few random supplies… and, for reasons I still can’t fully explain, a box of tissues sitting nearby.
Braiden noticed it immediately.
“Mom… can I take all the tissues out of the box?”
Now, there are moments in motherhood where you weigh the options. You consider the mess, the cleanup, the potential regret. And then there are the other moments—the ones where you just know the answer is yes.
This was one of those moments.
“Sure,” I said.
And just like that, the art project shifted…
One by one (and then very quickly not one by one), every single tissue came out of that box. They floated, piled, crumpled, and multiplied until the couch looked like it had been hit by a soft, white blizzard. Braiden was fully committed—laughing, diving in, completely thrilled with his masterpiece of absolute chaos.
At some point, he abandoned the idea of “helping” with the original craft and instead became part of the installation—curling up in the middle of the tissues like it was the most natural thing in the world.
And honestly? It kind of was.
Because sometimes the best part of motherhood isn’t the planned activity—it’s the unexpected joy that takes over when you say yes instead of no. It’s the laughter, the mess, the “why not?” moments that turn into memories you’ll never forget.
Was it messy? Of course.
Did I find tissues in places I didn’t know tissues could go? Absolutely.
But was it worth it?
Every single piece of it.
