Mother's love

He is in the bath late tonight, because we spent the late afternoon eating ice cream and looking at pictures of dogs at the bookstore, then ate the standard quick dinner (nuggets and broccoli) before getting ready for bed. Normally I would skip the bath, but lordy, the boy is smelly and must be cleaned before school tomorrow. The bath water is scarily brown when he steps out and into his shark towel. Because it is late, he is grouchy and distracted and just won't listen. I find myself getting angry and tell him so, very calmly, you're not listening to me and it's making me feel very angry. He begins to cry and says now I hate him. Oh, it sounds like drama but he later tells me he thought that meant I didn't love him anymore. And I tell him, no matter what you do, no matter how angry I am, I will never never hate you and will always always love you, love you the best, the most. I hope he can feel that to his core, because it is etched into my bones and muscles, stains my skin and whispers inside my blood.