Slowing down for the Simple Moments

The night time routine is sometimes the hardest part of the day, we are all tired and the kids procrastinate on going to bed.  Last night was normal chaos, with our kids, but finally our kids were in bed. I went into my son’s room to put away some laundry and he said, “Mommy will you cuddle me.” 

  My mommy heart smiled, he is not my kid that likes to snuggle at all.  I stopped and hesitated, I had laundry to do, kitchen to clean up and a list to finish, but my sweet three year old wants me to cuddle him.  

  Spoiler, I caved.  I stopped and layed down to cuddle him, with a list of things to do.  

It is these simple moments that make all the crazy times worth it for me.  My three year old son for some reason needed me to lay down and rub his back for a few minutes.  As I layed in his bed, I told him how very special it made me feel that he wanted me to cuddle him. 

My husband and I have different expectations for the night time routine with our kids, he is much more strict with the routine, and I get called back in their rooms for various reasons each night but this stems from my childhood.  I can vividly remember laying in my bed as a child and yelling for my parents to come and rub my back until I fell asleep. I know now how little time parents have at night, so the thought of spending 10 minutes rubbing my kids backs while I could be checking something off my list is not my top priority.  But I know how I felt as a little girl, just wanting that extra time with my parents, so I paused my household chores last night to cuddle with my son. I know this is rare in our routine, but for some reason he needed an extra few minutes. It didn’t take long, but he looked at me and said, “Ok mommy you can leave now.”  I giggled a little because that is him to a tee, he is very independent and straight forward, no more time for cuddles. But for the slightest moment, he did want the cuddles and that is what I cherish.

I walked into my kitchen to my husband cleaning up and he looked at me and asked what have you been doing?  I told him and he laughed, saying something to the effect of, those kids have your number, they play you very well.  Yes, my kids to play me very well, but I realize they do. But my husband agreed that our son rarely asks for cuddles, so my mommy heart was validated.  

We all have a to do list a mile long, but knowing the moments to pause and take a break is such an amazing gift.  I don’t think I am great at this, but I try very hard, my kids are not going to be this young, they will not always need us in the ways they need us right now.  I am very intentional with making sure my kids are heard, making sure we respond to even the smallest questions, we are trying to raise kind, compassionate kids.  

I didn’t take a picture of this sweet moment, but this sweet moment and now memory blessed my day.  I could have rushed through my chores, told my son no and emptied the dishwasher, but instead I stopped, cuddled him for a few mins and slowed down.  These simple special moments are what we are working on as a family! Guys it is not easy, but these moments fill my bucket up!  

Babies don’t keep, enjoy the moments as much as you can.

The days are long but the years are short!  

Happy Wednesday!

-Amy