Monday Nights

Joe plays  hockey Monday nights so it's just me who does the bedtime routine with the children on those nights. The older they get the easier it is. But still, it's semi-comical. Silas is used to Joe putting him to bed so when I attempt to do it he knows my weak spots and tells me he misses me and wraps his arms around my neck begging for me to stay "right there" next to him for just a little bit longer. He holds my head so close to his that it's like I'm breathing his breath. I can feel his eyelashes on my face when he blinks! I move and he whimpers.

Once I get the baby down I usually let Silas lay with me in bed. And most of the time he thinks it's so amazing that he tosses and turns and has a hard time settling down.

When Joe is on his way home he calls and  I have him tell Silas that he needs to go to bed. Silas listens and responds to Joe's commands with an understanding, "Okay."  After I hang up the phone Silas lays still in bed with me hoping that I won't follow through and  make him go to his bed. I rub his back for a bit stalling and hoping that when I put him in his room his pitiful cries won't wake up the baby.

We both hear the front door unlock and then open. Silas immediately grabs his blankets, asks me to hold him and carry him to his room. He knows!

I lay him down, tuck him in and give him a kiss.  He whimpers a bit and asks me to lay "right there" as he points to the few inches to his left.  I tell him I'm going to go get dad and he will give him a kiss goodnight.

Joe walks in his room, kisses him goodnight, tells him he loves him and that it is nigh nigh time. He walks out of the room and shuts the door. And that's it. Silas is on his way to dreamland.

Joe asks how the evening went. I said "Good! Besides when I gave them a bath. One kid pooped in the tub and the other threw up."

I cleaned everything up and managed to see the humor in it and told myself that these are the glory days. I rocked my baby to sleep and got to snuggle Silas so close that we shared breaths. And I realized that none of us will ever be this young again.