A Jill and a Diamond

You pay a small fortune for diamonds. You pay a high price for gold. And you pay a pretty penny for cut glass. I have found that anything worthwhile costs.

And so I weigh the expense it cost to stay home to be a mom. I consider the long afternoon waiting for a Jill to wake. I count the many times my Goldilocks has come to dinner. I consider the time spent encouraging a left-handed but budding pianist. And I see a Jill proud of a homemade pleated skirt.

I think of the time spent braiding naturally curly hair. I consider the headache of noonhours drilling a math table to a dreamer. And I look into the eyes of my ten-year-old and see a kind of tenderness that comes from homemade clothes, piano lessons, and a mom at home.

The price is high—but it’s small when you compare a Jill to a diamond. Evelyn Jensen, Foremost, Alberta