On Growing Up

Remember this?  A few weeks ago I was in a hurry to get the kids off to bed and I forgot to do the official tucking in routine with Miriam.  I tucked her in but didn't do the multiple kisses or ask her what she wanted to dream about.  The next night she told me that I had forgotten the night before.  I apologized and did it twice that night to make it up to her.  It warmed my heart that that still means so much to her and I've made certain not to forget it again, no matter how harried bedtime might be.

Also recently, Solomon came into my room around 4:00 am to tell me he had been awake for a while and couldn't get back to sleep. I suggested trying a relaxation technique where he imagines he's on a warm beach with the sound of waves on the sand and birds singing and the smell of fruit and tropical flowers in the air.  He said he'd tried that.  So I invited him to come lie down with me.  He gave me an odd look and seemed hesitant but he laid down -- on the very edge of the bed, with barely a scrap of blanket and a corner of a pillow.  I giggled inwardly and lay back down myself.  In less than 15 minutes he was completely out and had repositioned himself comfortably with a hand in my face and a knee in my belly.  When the alarm went off 2 hours later he succumbed to a few minutes of snuggling and didn't flinch at all.

Samuel, on the other hand, isn't shy at all about snuggling, even in public.  That kid will happily plop himself onto my lap in the doctor's office waiting room, in a restaurant and even at school!  He always wants to hold my hand and he's constantly trying to sniff me or twiddle his fingers in my hair.  He would sleep in my bed every single night if he thought I'd let him get away with it.  It would be annoying if I thought he was going to continue this for the next 12 years.  But I know he won't so I bask in it and love him right back.