photo credit: jelleke vanooteghem (unsplash.com)

We toiled over the decision for a week or more,

Then one afternoon your dad and I decided I would go alone.

There was family business to attend to,

So I cleared my schedule and headed out of town.

Except how do I clear my schedule of you?

My mama anxiety climbed to new heights.

I'd likely miss Halloween, which is no big deal to me,

But what would it mean for you?

I checked the funds in your school account,

So no lunches would need to be packed.

Our phone calls each day were sweet,

Until the night you cried about your costume.

Grandma to the rescue with a sewing needle and thread,

And a neighborhood friend agreed to take you trick-or-treating.

But in the morning, who would do your ponytail?

The question haunted me.

If Mom was gone, who would put your hair in a ponytail?

Through tears, you told me your ponytails were awful. No good.

In that moment, I felt as if I'd abandoned my duty,

My only job and such.

With tears in my own eyes, I sent off one final message, to your teacher:

"I'm not in town and my girl needs a ponytail with her costume.

Can you please put her hair in a ponytail?"

She said it would be her honor and privilege to do so.

It did my mama heart such good 

To realize this simple truth;

When moms are gone, and dads don't have a clue about putting hair into a ponytail,

God will send just the right people for the job.