a moment

Being a parent is hard work. Anyone with kids can tell you that. And although I had always wanted nothing more than to be a stay-at-home mother, nobody told me it was going to be like this. It is 24/7 with very little downtime...especially the older your children become. Love Bug is easy, it is The Mayor who keeps me on my toes. And I'm not going to lie, of course I love my children, but there are some days I long to be alone on a beach somewhere with no responsibilities...or to be completely honest, just laying on a couch with mindless TV on and no interruptions. But this morning something happened that reminded me why I should be on my knees thanking the good Lord that we are afforded the opportunity for me to stay at home.

Around 4AM I heard The Mayor crying. I knew something was wrong when the crying continued for 15 minutes. When I went in there, he was sitting up and told me his "beebo" hurt*. He lifted up his shirt and was pointing to his bellybutton. I cuddled with him for awhile and put him back to bed. 20 minutes later, he was crying again complaining his "beebo" hurt. Fearful he was going to vomit due to some viruses going around, I decided to stay in his room. I climbed into bed with him and he snuggled right in.

Anyone who knows me knows I do not like to snuggle when I sleep. I can not sleep if someone is touching me, but I guess that doesn't apply when it is your child because I went immediately to sleep and so did The Mayor. I woke up about an hour later wanting to make sure he was ok and he was thisclose to me. So close that while sucking his left thumb, the pinky on that hand was resting on my upper lip. And I melted. I just stared at his sweet face with his eyes closed and his long eyelashes resting on his cheeks, and I listened to the soft sound of him sucking his thumb and breathing peacefully while he slept.

This was the moment. The moment, that if I didn't have my son lying in my arms, I would have dropped to the floor and thanked God for this opportunity. It is this moment and the hundreds of others I have experienced with Love Bug and The Mayor and the million more I pray I am around to have with them that makes the tough days that much easier to get through.

*Beebo is what he calls his bellybutton. He learned this from "The Belly Button Book" by Sandra Boynton. If you don't own this book, get it...it is ridiculously precious.