Then there are the redeeming qualities...

It’s exasperating, being a mom. The pace alone that must be kept in order to stay one step ahead of a very busy and smart little preschooler is just exhausting. The emotional highs and lows, the constant self-doubt... well, sometimes I wonder if I’m doing the right thing by trying to work while I have such young kids.

But bedtime is (on 99% of days, anyway) that one time of day when I leave my crankiness behind, my selfishness over not having any time for myself or my own interests...and I just snuggle in with my little boy and lavish him with love, tickling, snuggles, and praise. It’s a time that I love, even when I’m so tired myself that I can hardly see straight (and can’t imagine how I’ll be able to keep myself awake through the standard two stories and prayers).

The last couple of days, A has decided that he no longer needs a nap during the day. He hasn’t said so, but he’s made it quite clear that the fight to get him to take a nap is not worth it. So now when he goes to bed at night, he is plain wiped out. Tonight, he had his eyes nearly closed as I finished his last story. So I turned out the light and told him it was time for prayers. He said he was just too tired, that he needed help saying his prayers, but that he would finish them when it came to the end. So I recited his bedtime prayer. Then he got to his list of “God bless”es at the end and he went through the standards. J, Mommy, Daddy, Mimi, Papaw...on and on. Then he got to the end and was slurring his words as he said “God bless all my friends. And God bless the cars they ride in.”