Enjoy Them

I had only been up an hour, but the thought was a recurring one.

When my 9 year old daughter popped her head in my room and whispered to the stirring toddlers snuggled next to me - "Rosie and Pete! Come on, let's go get breakfast! Do you want cereal or toast?"

When my three year old requested to be wrapped in a blanket while eating his breakfast, and heaved a sigh of "ahh!" when I tucked it around his shoulders.

When my 21 month old said "Thank you, Mama. You welcome," when I handed her a drink.

When my 11 year old cracked a joke while we worked a math problem together and we both laughed.

When my 5 year old excitedly told me a story, his eyes all lit up.

When my 7 year old lay on the couch, her unbrushed hair splayed in all directions, reading, unprovoked.

"I really, really, really like these kids. I just do."

It's not all about noticing what they do right. Sometimes it's just enjoying where they are right now in their lives. The 3-year-old-isms. The tip of her tongue sneaking out the side of her mouth while she concentrates hard on a word. His sense of humor. It's just so good. It's just so human. It's just so precious and fleeting and all of those things that we always tell ourselves.

Being home with them day in and day out gives me a unique opportunity to view bits of them I might not get to if we were separated, but it also leads to potentially missing it in the ordinariness of it all. They are regular kids and we'll get in regular scuffles and there will be sibling fights and pouting and consequences doled out today. That's life. But it would be a mistake to notice only that, skimming over the great bulk of who they are, which is just wonderful people. People I'd be happy to know, even if they weren't mine. People I'm proud of.

Our new baby taps me from inside all day long and I can't feel anything but so thankful for each of them - from 1 to 7. After a couple of rough days, and even waking with a headache today, I'm feeling intensely grateful for the kids in my life, and thrilled that today I get to enjoy them all over and over again.


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