My kids amuse me.
Gleek has been in the habit of coming and crawling into my bed in the early hours of the morning. This means she is usually there between 6:45 and 7:30 when I hit the snooze button 6-8 times. The other morning I came awake at 4 am because Gleek sat up in my bed and asked “Where is the wooot wooot?” In her head the noise and snooze button are part of the morning snuggles I guess. I need to train myself to get up the FIRST time the alarm goes off.
Every once in awhile I have to face the fact that none of my kids know as much about the world as I think they should. I also have to face the fact that they are motivated by completely different principles than I am. This week I was drawn upstairs by the heavy scent of Head & Shoulders. Kiki was taking a bath and wanted bubbles so she used half a bottle of Head & Shoulders to create a bubble bath. In the process she discovered that Head & Shoulders doesn’t just make bubbles, it makes foam. The entire tub area was coated with this foam. Kiki had to take a shower to get clean from her bath.
Howard and I are suckers for affection from our kids. We frequently coax and cajole to try to get them to give us hugs or kisses. Kiki and Link usually hand out affection upon polite request, but Gleek hoards her affection and makes us beg a little. Howard will ask Gleek for a hug and she’ll inform him that she ran out, but he can have one next time. He’ll then spend the rest of the day asking “Is it next time yet?” every time he sees her. And then she has the capability to wrap daddy around her finger simply by walking up to him and giving him a hug while announcing “It’s next time now!” Patches is pretty willing to supply hugs when asked. Lately a new game has developed. I’ll pick him up and say “Where are my hugs?” He’ll look at me, tip his head a little and say “Um… right there!” while pointing to my shoulder. Then he puts his head in the spot he pointed to and gives a hug. Just recently he added a little twist by pointing to my shoulder and informing me that that hug was Gleek’s hug. Then he gives a hug on the other shoulder.
Today while driving home from a garage sale Gleek and I had an amusing conversation:
Gleek: “Mom, I want to drive over that big bump again!”
Me: “We don’t have time for that. We need to go home.”
Gleek: “I will give you some time.” reaches into her pocket and pulls out something invisible.
Me: “But we need to go home and do laundry.”
Gleek: Hugging the invisible something close “This time is not for laundry.”
Me: amused “So you’ll give me time, but only to do fun things?”
Gleek: “I want you to swing me on the swings with this time.”
Whenever I stop to pay attention and appreciate I realize how much I love the way my kids think and how they view the world. The world they live in is a better place than the one I inhabit.