Thank God

 
This week is the last week of school.  Norah and Avery have no motivation to get ready to get out the door in the morning anymore.  I don’t want to nag or yell, but I’m losing my ever-loving mind with their piddling.   So, I did what all good mothers do: I bribed them. Oh, and I threw in a little competition for good measure saying, "whoever gets ready first gets something special." Whatever works. Don’t judge. Home stretch. A few minutes later, I heard them scheming. They ended up working TOGETHER to get done faster, so they could both get the prize.

This afternoon, when we got back from running errands, Harper asked for “runch” and I started to make grilled cheese and soup.  She was so hungry she just stood next to me at the stove, watching me cook.  Pointing at the griddle, she chanted over and over again, “This is my runch! This is my runch!” She danced her little toddler-stepped happy dance, her butt waddled out like a little duck’s, and she sang “yum, yum, yum.”  How can you even imagine how cute it was?  You can’t.  But, I’ll tell you, it was the cutest thing in the whole world. 

Last night, in the middle of a long night, awake off and on with Grant, I pulled him out of the crib to rock him.  He held his head back in the dark, squinted up at me, and smiled.  He placed his pudgy little hands on each cheek and pulled my face in for a big, slobbery, kiss on the mouth.  And just like that, I felt needed and thanked and thankful.

“This is life,” I say to myself when I’m feeling frustrated, or stressed, or constrained by the demands of four littles.  But these moments, where my kids make me smile, make me proud, make me feel more alive, THIS is life, too.  And thank God.

Norah is about to lose her two front teeth.  Avery is graduating from pre-school.  Harper is potty training.  And Grant is pushing up to crawl.  Life moves so incredibly fast. Summer is almost here.  I love it because we can sleep in and lounge around in our pajamas, and chart out our own adventures with no schedule to adhere to.  I love it because for a few short months, I don’t have to worry about homework, or bullies, or suicidal shooters in the halls of a school where my children have no mama to protect them. 

But, I dread it too, because I’m in charge.  Whatever IT is, it’s up to me to make IT happen.  Everyday.  Entertaining the masses can get difficult, especially when what entertains the masses is  "99 Ways to Make Your Sister Cry" for the entire 90 days of summer.  Yet, it is, it is, IT IS worth it.  And I do, I do, I DO love it so much.  Because I get so many amazing moments through out my day (and night, too! haha! I am a blessed girl...be jealous!) Moments that make me feel deeply in love, and extraordinarily grateful for my life. And thank God, no really, THANK GOD (every. single. chance. you. get.) for that.