Laughing away the Chaos

There are several things I love about my day with my children. Then there are some things that I dislike about my day. I could probably go on a good rant right here but will just focus on one of them for now. Let's talk about a dislike. It's called: Bedtime.

Many of you know that putting a toddler to sleep isn't as easy as tucking them in, kissing them, and walking out the door. Nope, they decide that they will try to take us down even in those last moments they are awake. Suddenly the child who just had snack is hungry again. God forbid you don't feed your child something else before they close their eyes! Then of coarse they are thirsty. Have to wash down that snack you know. Bed time story? Of coarse! My pleasure. I love books and really do enjoy reading to my children. But 3 books! What's worse is when he picks them out. By this point it has been a half hour. At least. Possibly more.

Time for lights out! You start to get excited. It's almost time to have some "me" time! You have been waiting for this all day! Not that you don't love your children, you just also want to remain sane. I shut the light off and sit next to him because it is ritual to rub his back at bedtime. This is something we have done since he was just months old.

Wait one second, I need to back up. Did you know that bedtime means only mommy can put you asleep? Really, apparently the memo reads something like: I don't care if my baby brother needs to be nursed, it is mommy's job to put me to bed. Yeah, I know, just let dad do it. But have you heard my toddler scream and cry for me when I don't put him to bed?!

Back to the back rub. I snug him in and rub his back. His eyes are closed, breathing is heavier. I quietly lift myself off his bed and sneak out. I go and take my vitamins, wash my face, and get in bed to finally nurse his brother who by this point is in tears because he just wants to eat! Then suddenly I hear scampering and a high pitched laugh as the toddler comes running into my room. Funny thing though, I am NOT laughing. Neither is dad. Things get ugly right about here. Dad tries to put him to sleep while I nurse and hear the cries from him in the back ground. The sobbing: "I want mommy". I finish nursing, sneak out of bed trying not to wake the babe, then have to go tuck him in one more time. If I am lucky we don't have to do this again. Like I said: If I am lucky.

Not "every" night is like this. Some nights bedtime miraculously happens without an issue.

This past Friday night bedtime was perfect. It was happy. I was given a "moment".

I tucked Chase into bed. Turned off the light then resumed my position next to him on the bed. He looked at me and said: "Snuggle Me". I squeezed myself in between him and the wall (he always makes me take the inside if we snuggle) and wrapped my arms around him. Mind you he still is in a toddler bed, there is not a lot of room.We kissed good night and said our nightly "I love you". We have this special thing we say to one another. It goes like this:

I love you to the moon and back. 
Around the Sun.
Up the River.
Down the stream
To your heart.

After that I said okay, time to close your eyes. Chase tells me I have to close my eyes too. So I did. And he did. I decide to peak to see if he really had them closed. He was peaking to see if I had mine closed. We both catch one another in the act and erupt into laughter. Belly laughs. His giggle was healing, happy, and erased all the chaos from my day.

Imagine that, it even happened at bedtime!

These are the moments that bring me back to why I wanted to be a mom. The moments that sometime get washed away by the tears, screams and whining of the day. They are always there. We are given them, sometimes we just need to let go and allow them to happen. Laughter, it truly is a blessed thing.


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