98 cent bliss

Remember those booths at carnivals where you could purchase a rip roarin' kiss for just five dollars? I have never purchased a kiss before. But today I did!

I was in Wal Mart and in a spontaneous moment decided to look at the aisle of trading cards. (No, I did not kiss a stranger in the trading card aisle!! Good grief, keep reading!) I have never before collected cards, nor do I desire to spend any time in that "waste of money" aisle! However, today I stopped by in a moment of temporary insanity. My two older boys collect trading cards. They don't take great care of them, but rather spend hours reading the cards, memorizing the names and facts and spouting them off to each other. In fact, they can spend half a day just rearranging the cards in their folders! The fun in this escapes me, but apparently they find these cards quite fascinating.

Despite the fact that they have many football, hockey and basketball cards (we don't really follow baseball in our house)there is one sport that we've been missing. We can't find soccer cards anywhere! And trust me, we've looked everywhere! The cards online are ridiculously expensive and I'm not willing to shell out my or my children's money for a few cards that will soon be bent and without value.

Since the world cup is this summer, we've been keeping our eye out for all things soccer - especially trading cards. And today, when I stopped in that aisle, I found them! The very first soccer cards offered at WalMart! Score one for Mom!! I bought a pack for each of my two older boys and came home to surprise them.

What I hadn't counted on was how very, very ecstatic they would be! My oldest especially has been desiring these cards for many months and I became the sudden hero of the day! So, in a moment of pure genius I said, "You know what I think this deserves?" To which my son replied, "Yeah. I guess so." And then I received the most feathery light kiss on the cheek from my affection-shy child. Ahhhh. A moment of pure bliss for a mother starved for the touch of this particular child.

Don't get me wrong, he shows his love in other ways. But my other three kiddos are all cuddly. He's not. Occasionally I can wrestle a hug out of him (literally), but giving and getting kisses are completely taboo. So today, I proudly purchased a kiss on the cheek from my firstborn for the low price of 98 cents. If I could do it every day, I'd gladly pay each time. But I think I'd better relish this particular moment and commit it to memory. It's a rare thing - which makes me treasure it all the more!