A Day in the Life: Saturday

Our family got hit with a bug this week.
It started with our little guy and a fever over 100 degrees on Wednesday, turning into a sore throat.  The next little guy got it on Friday.  I came down with it last night.  The kids woke up extra early today (6:30 this week is just doing me in) and they were NOT ready to be awake.   Fights, whining, crying ensued, until finally I put on a show and gave them some Cheerios so I could crawl back in bed.  My wonderful husband got up soon after and made them breakfast so I could sleep longer.  When I awoke, we played and got ready for the day and attempted to make it to the park.  As I got into the car though, I was not feeling well at all, and only a few blocks from the house I broke into tears of exhaustion as I just was feeling terrible.  Hubby turned around and brought me home so I could rest some more while he took the kids to the park and the beach and a few errands.  It was just what I needed.  They came home for lunch had lots to say about their adventures with dad.  They had carried on their adventure to the beach where the clams were shooting up water from holes in the sand.  RJ decided it was just like they were water guns, and apparently it was super entertaining.  They also came across a couple very large crabs, and re-enacted the screams of terror as they ran away from the pinching crawlers.  Lol, their stories are always lively!

After lunch I sent them to their rooms for quiet time and (amazingly) they played well for close to an hour.  I only heard snippets of their play, but it was something to do with superheroes rescuing people, which is their favorite idea at the moment.  I was able to get the dishes cleaned up and even whip up a batch of cookies for church tomorrow.  I wasn't feeling 100% but was a bit antsy from being in bed all morning so I puttered around for the afternoon.  When the boys came out we distracted them with some activities (thank you Pinterest printables), snacks, and playing out in the yard, while I did a bit of weeding and harvesting.  Then it was inside to prepare for dinner.  I don't know about you, but when I am sick and the kids have been home sick, the house just seems to fall apart and feels SO grimy, so  I set to work doing some cleaning.  I also knew that hubs was out for the evening and I love to sit down in an quiet, clean house at the end of a busy day.  The kids went into the bath.  It was a little too quiet for a little too long, and when I went in, they had colored the bath "pink" with their entire bottle of Minions shampoo.  Oops.  They came out of the bath (extra soapy clean) and we snuggled with stories before I lay down and rubbed their backs and sang them lullabies to sleep.  At the end of a long day, I sometimes get impatient "helping" them fall to sleep, but other times it is such a special treat.  To see their little bodies slow down, their arms wrap around you in an embrace, their breathing become deep and relaxed, and their eyes slowly nod off to dreamland is an amazing experience.  It is one of the moments of parenting "littles" that I won't ever forget.

The kids were down early enough (thanks to no nap) that I had the rest of the evening to myself.  For me, there is nothing more peaceful than that moment where the kids are asleep and the chores are done, and the house is clean, and I can sit and enjoy a cup of tea.  I did just that!  I may have also thrown in some magazine reading AND a bubble bath before bed.  Now that's what I call a nice night!

Life with these little ones is busy, and full, and exuberant, and precious.  People always tell you to savour the moment because they "grow too fast."  I know at first I was worried and it actually made me anxious, wondering if I really was appreciating every moment enough (especially when the moments were tough-pull-your-hair-out kind of moments).  But I now recognize that this stage IS all about living in the moment.  Each of the moments in my kids' day is really big business.  So we make the most of it.  I know they won't have memories of all the specific things we do in a day or a week, but I do believe these moments shape some of who they will become, and somehow do get embedded into their personhood.  I also know that the connection and attachment we share during this time will impact them as they grow into the young men that they were created to be.  So through being sick, and running from crabs, and digging in the dirt, and snuggling up to lullabies, and enjoying a hot bubble bath, this is my life.  And boy do I love it.