Take a Break

"Quiet time" is my favorite time of day. Around 1pm every afternoon all three of my kids go to their beds and either nap or do a silent activity. Gabriel finishes his bottle and knocks out soon after the older two are upstairs. King loves his sleep. He is always the last to wake up in the morning, and the first down at nap and bed time. Rarely is there ever a fight over it. He takes his blankey and his bear, says "ni-ni mo-mmy," and he is out. It's a bit more trying to get Bella to her room, but she eventually saunters up the stairs with a reluctant sigh and stays in her room for just under an hour before hurrying back down asking: "is quiet time over mommy?!" And at that point it is.

Usually I send Bella up for quiet time on her own, hoping that I can squeeze in just a few extra moments of solitude on my end. However, today she asked me if I wanted to go to her room for a bit to rub her back and talk to God with her. How could I excuse myself from that? Up the stairs I went following close behind my 4 year old who all at once seemed so young, yet suddenly grown up. Time is fleeting indeed.

I rubbed her back and listened to her as she spoke with God: "Hey, God. Where did you come from? Oh yea, the sky? Hey, God did you move the water so people could get through? Oh, you did? Did you make the ants? Yea, you did!" On and on she went asking God such precious questions, and then: "Thank you for making mommy and daddy's wedding, and thank you for my brothers." How sweet she can be! I told her how blessed I was that God gave her to me. I asked her what her favorite part of having me as a mommy was, hoping to get some insight on how I could be sure I was a blessing to her as well. She answered, "uh...cleaning!" Really, kid? She hasn't been offered much else from me I suppose. It seems as if all I'm doing is cleaning.

I've been feeling pretty inadequate in the mommy department lately. It's a difficult balance here. As I mentioned before, I am a perfectionist to the nth degree. A few months back I suppressed the clean freak in me long enough to have a food fight with the kids. I took all the leftovers from the fridge, put them in a big bowl, and mixed in some canned vegetables that I knew no one in the house would eat anyway. We put on old t-shirts and aprons and took the bowl outside. We set it in the middle of our yard, grabbed handfuls of food, and just started throwing.

It was disgusting and messy and tremendously FUN! Just as childhood should be. I had never heard Bella laugh so hard in her life.

I thoroughly enjoy my quiet time, but what a waste of all the rest of my time if at the end of the day all I have to show for it is a tidy home. I want my kids to giggle so much it wears them out, and I want to be the cause of it every day! So here is to more food fights, less not right now's, and a whole lot of laughter. Every. Single. Day.