Saturday

It is Saturday. I am work today, not begrudgingly at all. It is one of those things that you just have to do in order to take care of your family. So they are all at home, snotty nosed, whining and playing their Leapsters. Or should I say trying to play their Leapsters. It isn’t easy when you have a little brother who is interested in everything that you are doing and loves buttons and noises. I feel bad for Baby he is often just left in the dust. My children are all close in age, 3 years, 1 month and 1 day from the oldest to the youngest, to be exact. So it is not as if they are doing things that are so out of appropriateness for the others. But Baby is still little and doesn’t have the verbal skills yet nor the cognitive skills to be able to play for instance, Leapster. So he is a pest, he is like a mosquito buzzing your ear at night and they shoe him away constantly. And although 20 months is really not a baby, he is my baby. He loves to snuggle and be held and of course, because there wasn’t a baby right behind him, he still has a bottle.

They are all going to Nonnie and Papa’s house for a sleep over. King Daddy and I are going on a date, out to dinner to one of my favorite places, with a gift certificate from my birthday. They packed their Leapster’s and all of their blankies and friends, which will come home much cleaner than when they left, and will have a glorious time tonight. We will fetch them tomorrow afternoon after we sleep until we wake up.

It is funny how I long for the quietness of pre-kids and then they spend the night at their grandparent’s house and our home feels too quiet. Their room is so empty. Their toys and clothes are all strewn about the house from top to bottom. A bottle, a cup, a toothbrush, one slipper, one toy hammer, a wheel that has come off a toy and a hair bow, just laying about. It gives me comfort to see all their stuff around and it makes me realize just how lucky I am to have been chosen to be their momma.

Middle and I did some serious snuggling last night. Baby was in bed and Oldest was in the tub. He was cozied into his dinosaur feety jammies and we watched a little Mary Poppins together. He lay in the crook of my arm with his head on my chest. Usually he is wild, squirming all around, talking, poking all the stuff that 3 year old boys do, but not this night. Our breathing was out of synch but hypnotizing, or so I thought. “Was that a leg twitch?” The sure sign of a sleeping child, but alas he was not. He burrowed in farther until King Daddy and Oldest came down from the tub. We read books together and I carried each one of them up to their beds. We said our prayers. And threatened them if they got out of bed.

So tonight they will be at Nonnie and Papa’s and I know they will sleep well and have fun and all of that, but I will miss their voices filling up the house. Sleep well my darlings see you tomorrow.