It is all too fleeting

It is all very fleeting  isn’t it? I was having one of those perfect mother moments. Not one where the kids make you proud or your house is clean and orderly. My moment was much better than any of that. Amelia, on her own, used the potty yesterday. It was a big to do, and we were all so proud of her. In attempts to inspire her, and her twin brother to continue to try to use the potty, we were watching a collection of potty songs from Youtube. All the children had gathered on my bed, crowding around the laptop, to be entertained by silly adults and cartoon characters singing and dancing about . . . well . . . potty stuff. Once the videos came to an end Turner, Max, and Amelia all decided that there were other adventures to be had in the house. Cooper, and I were alone on the unmade bed. Cooper has somewhat of a TV addiction. He didn’t want the videos to end. He kept insisting that we watch a Mity Ouse (Mickey Mouse) clip. For an instant I was tempted to take him down to the TV room and flip on the Disney channel, and let him be absorbed into the land of children’s programing for hours. Instead I decided to distract him with the tickle bug.

There Cooper and I laid on the bed, me cradling him with one arm, and attacking his tickle spots with the other. Cooper squealed in delight and shouted AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN! Then he said, “We sleepin’.” So we pretended to sleep until I woke him up with the tickle monster. He laughed and laughed. Amelia heard us laughing and decided to join the party. I laid on my side, with my two two-year-olds cradled in one arm, laughing and pretending as the sun shone through the sheer curtains and also tickled their face. It was a moment where I wished there was a way to capture it. I wanted so bad to be able to clone myself so that the clone could go get the camera and record our priceless moment. Instead I tried to just absorb the love and laughter into my soul. For a moment, our world stood still.

    In a matter of minutes, one of the older boys came in, beckoning them to come and play with him. It was over. Can my soul hold onto this memory forever? Will I remember the weight of them in my arms? The way they looked at me, at each other in sheer enjoyment? The squirming bodies? The tiny toes? The ticklish armpits? It is just all too fleeting. Yet, thank You Lord for this moment. Thank You for these children. Thank You for Love and Laughter that fill my home often. Thank You Lord for these wonderful moments, that help us make it through this life