I love being The Mommy

The boys and I stayed in today. We needed a day of rest rather than recovery alone. It was wonderful.

We made pumpkin cookies and pizza. We told stories. We washed an obscene amount of laundry, and put it all away. We read a bit of The Borrowers and began a bit of Witches (James is a huge Roald Dahl fan. John tolerates it because he gets to snuggle.) Smidge has stopped screaming at me while I read aloud, so we're getting back into the swing of sharing books. Three down, one to go. Maybe Emily won't mind the spoken word so much? (A mom can hope, can't she?) Although, the boys still ask me not to do voices. Even if the book is written in dialect, they'd rather I correct the pronunciation to our own than to have to hear me do voices. And I always thought I had a decent speaking voice... ah, well... can't win 'em all.

Zorak came by for lunch on his way to the house. He took the time to play on the floor with the boys before he left. That had the same effect as slapping those little remote cars onto their chargers for 60 seconds - fully recharged and ready to go. I think Zorak enjoyed it, too.

We cleaned bathrooms, tidied living spaces, jumped on the bed. Patience was in huge supply and low demand today (funny, that correlation). We ate supper at six, and near the end of supper the boys *gasp* asked to go to bed!

Of course, it's nine now, and we've just finished with the whole bedtime routine. Fifty-six teeth to brush, floss and rinse (Smidge doesn't have all of his yet). Three faces to wipe, three heads to comb. Three sets of jammies to don, and three sets of clothes to maneuver to the hamper. Three short books to read, and three chapters from a longer book. Three stories to tell of how this critter, or that shirt, came to live in our home. Three sets of hugs and kisses, given three times over, for each boy and all his soft toys. More stories. Water to drink. Bathroom breaks. Kisses for Emily. Just one more chapter... Yes, bedtime is an event, not a specific time. But it's worth it to see those fully sated little eyes as they peer over the fuzzy blankets, and droop, bit by bit, to sleep. Content. Safe. Loved.

I don't know why I'm always tempted to gyp us all on this last leg of the evening. Sure, I'm exhausted and want nothing more than to curl up and read in the quiet lull of a long day. But this is the big daily payoff. This is the cumulative total of the day's tips, so to speak. It's worth heaving ourselves up one. last. time. To cuddle. To kiss. To serenade with a song or enthrall with a tale. That deep, rich sigh of sleep as it overtakes a child is the ultimate payoff for any day. Why on earth work hard all day and then pass up on that? No, it's worth the last push at the very end. For everybody. And I get to do it tonight. Every night. Thank you, Zorak, for making me The Mommy. I love it.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy