Unexpected Gift-Or So I Thought

Why do kiddos love to unwrap gifts? Probably because it is so darn exciting!!! We love it when someone has a special day and gets to receive gifts. I was recently able to experience the part of receiver, Mother's Day... "crazy laugh."
So Bayli, being a 4 yr old, made lots of beautiful art projects during the week building up to the day. In preschool she made a beautiful picture of she and I walking on rocks to school-so cute. She gave me this picture and I put it on the fridge. I love the faces. It is still on my fridge.

At her next preschool class she made me a card with her hand print on it. Also very cute. She did not give me this picture though. Instead, she kept re-wrapping her card in dolly blankets and buckets. Then, she would knock on the door to whatever room I was in and run and hide. To my surprise after surprise, I would find this beautifully packaged gift and unwrap. This occurred at least 10 times. Then I realized that she was mixing up Valentine's Day with Mother's Day. I think that it was because she had a heart on this drawing-who knows the mind of a 4 yr old? I never did get to keep this gift.

On the Friday before Mother's Day, Bayli went to church to make another gift. I did not get to know the details, "it's a secret mom, you will get it on Mother's Day." When the big day finally arrived, I was so eager to see what she had made me. When I opened it up, this is what I found...


I was expecting another darling picture of maybe her and I or our family-it being this big day and all. I knew that she could draw people, she had just given me a beautiful picture a few days prior. So, I lovingly asked her what it was a picture of. And this was the response:

Bayli-"it's a snaggle waggle trap"
Me-what is a snaggle waggle trap?
Bayli-it catches rats from the future
Me-ohhh, a snaggle waggle trap (duh-I should have known)
Bayli-yeah, but this one has a dead rat in it
I then very slowly responded...oh.

No smiling faces, no rainbow hair, no holding hands, no pictures of mommies, no pictures of anything that I had expected! It then hit me, my daughter is trully one of a kind. If I always received everything that I had expected, where would the fun be? I need these moments to ground me and open my eyes like my darling daughter.
I got the privilege of having the snaggle waggle trap hang on my fridge for almost one afternoon. Then, the original artist reclaimed ownership and I haven't seen it since.