Every night I put my daughter to bed with an elaborate ritual of stories and songs. I lay next to her as I recite a chapter of the continuing story of a three-year old hero named SuperLucy who rides around town on a tricycle and saves the day by finding missing zoo animals. This is followed by my singing and humming to her until she finally falls asleep 30 or 40 minutes later - if I'm lucky.
Somewhere between tonight's third and fourth song, my little girl reached out to me with her delicate hand and quietly announced, "I have a boogie". She then matter-of-factly transferred the aforementioned boogie (aka booger, snot, bat in the cave) onto my finger where I proceeded to hold it just far enough away that it couldn't actually touch any other part of me or the bed but not so far where I could lose it for all eternity. Because my daughter doesn't fall asleep easily or swiftly, I chose not to get up and walk to the bathroom to remove the offending boogie. No, instead I lay there next to her, softly humming in the dark, with something that felt like a sticky, mashed up inchworm on the tip of my outstretched finger. For 30 minutes I lay there balancing this boogie on my finger wondering, among other things, if there might be a world record for holding a boogie in the dark.
When she was finally sleeping deeply, I glanced over at her innocent face and noted how sweetly she clenched a stuffed bunny rabbit in either hand. I acknowledged this cuteness for the requisite amount of time, thought about how much I loved her, then high-tailed it out of there, ran to the bathroom and washed my hands. Twice.
It's true - your life really does change once you have kids.
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Ha yes it sure does! My daughter will display her's on a finger so everyone can take a look. Sometimes she will say, "Oh how lovely." Not sure where she got that from maybe me. :) I have been thinking lately that these moments are something to just be mindful of since they will pass so soon.
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