“Mom, can you make me a cup of tea?” echoes down the staircase and I stop what I’m doing to fill up the tea kettle. 

You see, making tea is a simple thing which connects us together. 

I know it sounds funny but it’s true. 

Maybe it’s tea for one daughter or an egg sandwich for another but to me it’s love. 

It’s the love in my heart encompassing them before they begin their day.

Their world is hectic.

The ever demanding schedule of school and the agonizing wait for college acceptance emails is brutal.

Plus let’s add on the unnerving pulse of school safety lurking around each corner.

Did I mention after school activities?

Community service?

Finding time to be with friends?

Devoting time to be alone?

Relishing in time with family?

Our teen’s world often feels as if it’s spiraling out of control rather than circling on a stable axis slow and steady. 

So if I can lessen the load a bit, by simply making a cup of tea, I will do this for as long as she needs me to. 

It’s the little moments. 

When she is living on her own and thinking back to her childhood, she’s not necessarily going to recall the new hoodie I picked up for her, or buying endless amounts of hair bands and perfume.

But she will remember me making her tea.

Maybe, as she sits at her own kitchen table, the sun peeking in while dew still gently grazes the grass, she will wrap her delicate hands around the warm mug and think of me. 

Or maybe she will recall what it felt to be loved within a time of chaos.

And maybe she will recall what it felt to be taken care of when she barely had time to brush her teeth.

She will simply recall her mom loved her more than any word can express. 

It’s the simple moments. 

So for as long as she needs a cup of tea to warm her sweet soul, I will continue to happily put on the kettle.

I will wait patiently listening for the kettle to whistle and fill up her cup with as much love and good wishes as possible to begin her day.