I'm thinkin'...

I'm thinkin'.


Be afraid,

Be VERY afraid.

I am thinking about the kiddos. I am thinking about them and this morning when one of them was curled at my feet with his blanket on top of the covers and the other was hugging my back like I just love, while we were under the covers at (Gasp*) 8:15 listening to the radio and staying warm.

And enjoying life.

And now I am feeling reflective and jotting down what I was contemplating at that moment when we were cozy and had synchronized sighs with intermittent smiles.

Perhaps it is because Joel and I are leaving for a whole day and night away without them. Perhaps it is because I am actually showered, dressed and in my right mind all before nine.
Perhaps it is because I am the only Sanguine Melancholy I have ever heard of who can laugh and cry at the same time.
Perhaps it is because I have a serious lack of caramel in my diet.

For whatever reason I am thinking that today they are growing, and fast at that. They are living, and growing, and understanding more and I am able to be a part of that.

My four-year old has outgrown his blanket, though he will not be the first to tell you that. Well he is actually four and a half. The funny thing is that he actually has three blankets which have descended from his older siblings who were foolish enough to leave theirs lying around while he was a toddler. So he can have one on the couch, one downstairs and one in the kitchen and feel "surround-security." Mainly though, he enjoys them all piled in is bed, in a dirty heap and will just lie there until the Lord's return.

The arrival of his eminent fifth birthday and hence the possibility of Kindergarten does little to dissuade him from his need of the "beenuh." I was becoming concerned until I found that Nathan comes by this trait honestly. It seems we have blanket issues dating way back into the 50's I dare say when another five year old decided that he too would have this same "No way are you takin' the blanket" standoff with his Mother. Of course I am not one to leak out the information which would lead you to find out on which side of the family this standoff occurred, but Joel's Dad might be privy to it.

Just sayin'.

So this morning Nathan again had the blanket, and today I will not fight the battle.

Today we will enjoy him being four.

And a half.

Today we will declare a cease fire, lay down our arms and enjoy him and his still hanging on to four year old ways, which presently has him holding the large lid to my stockpot as a shield and marching in step with his 2 year old sister Anna who is blowing reveille with an attachment from the vacuum.

Yeah, I was getting to her next.

The other day in the library a woman asked me if she was four. "Um no, " I replied. "She's two....and a half." She was apparently telling this lady her whole life story, which she does come by honestly from MY side of the family I dare to admit. If I talked this much at 2 and this often I need to find a better Mother's Day gift for my obliging Mother. Ok so she is two and a half, but really, she could talk the hind leg off a mule. While her playmates are being coaxed to sing the first line of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," she is spouting, "Can I fix your hair? It will be nice. I will do it nice, come here and let me do it. Do you obey? Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. I.am.hungry. Let's go over there and get a book. I can read it to you. Sit down here and I will read it." I have even caught some of them giving her the "And where on earth did YOU come from?" look. I have tried not to notice that as much anymore.

I have decided to take more notice of her stuffing her coat pockets with tracts to hand out, her one lop-sided pig tail, the way she eats an entire sandwich avoiding the crust, the way she turns her request for a drink into a song when no one answers her the millionth time she asks it, her sincere pleas to "Go out on a date" with Joel and I when we leave her with the babysitter, and her keen response when asked what one does on a date, "You talk and eat candy."

Today we will enjoy her being two.

And a half.

I will enjoy my little "halfs" and squeeze all the littleness out of them before their next whole number arrives and makes them a little more grown up.

Just a thought.....