The other night my kids asked to watch “the movie with the girl in the red shoes” with me. It was close to bedtime so I told them we could stay up and watch it for a little while, so we put on Wizard of Oz, we grabbed blankets and we each found a spot on the couch.
After a little while my son had moved in and snuggled up next to me, a short while later my daughter came over and asked to sit in my lap.
It was at this moment I was no longer watching the movie or aware of anything else happening. I looked at the top of their heads, remembering a time when I could hold both of them in my lap together and have plenty of room to spare. I could tuck their little feet in between my legs and hold them tight.
Now they are too big to fit together on my lap, their legs are long and lean and daggle over the edge of the couch.
I realized that these snuggle sessions are becoming rare, and the time in between grows each time. I become so aware that this was one of those moments where it was important to STOP and just BE for as long as the moment lasted.
I made a mental note to make sure that I was NOT the first to break up this moment.
We laughed, and they asked questions about the movie like, “Mom if he has no brain how is he walking?” I kissed the tops of their heads and told them I loved them. Occasionally they pushed each other, each trying for the “Main Spot” in mom’s lap.
With each passing minute, I thanked God for making me their mom, and for letting me be so aware in this moment. There was no “To Do” list looming in the back of my mind, no zoom meeting threatening to take my attention.
Bedtime came and went and I didn’t make a move to end this moment…… after a while I could hear the soft snores of my son and I could feel my daughter’s breathing getting heavier with each breath. I knew it would soon be time to take them to their beds, and I didn’t know when I would get a moment like this again.
At some point I struggled to get my phone out to snap a picture to make sure that I could remember them at this age, at this size, still sitting in mom’s lap. We are never promised tomorrow, and if there is anything I have learned in 2020 is that it is ok to slow down and take in these moments of life.
