I wake up to hear his cries.
I slip into the bed with him to calm him down. He’s kicked the duvet off again and his feet are cold, bearing into my legs for warmth.
I wonder again how it is possible that I have a living, breathing boy lying next to me. His little body is so small and yet so full of life and opinionated.
Right now he is adamant that it is time to get up and not have a Sunday lie in.
I manage to postpone getting up by inviting him into the big bed. Here he can build tunnels out of duvets and climb all over dad as well. His laughs and songs are a beautiful background, reminding us that we are a family now.
It’s Mother’s Day today. Today we celebrate a special day that at times I never thought would come about. Sometimes I still pinch myself. He’s really here.
The way we celebrate is with breakfast at the Wimpy.
Before we go he puts a few cars in a bag (which are promptly forgotten about when we get there). Nicky also likes to personally spread his own jam on his toast and make sure that he gets his strawberry milkshake. He also likes to eat a few of dad’s chips.
After that it is time to play and dance to the background music. I sing “elephants balancing” as he moves back and forth.
I’ve received such a nice scarf from Pylones this week and Nicky sees it as a great opportunity to make a tent for both of us. We are inside the colours and he is laughing. He uses it as a rope and shakes it up and down.
We have to bribe him to behave with a trip to the toy store.
We build a lego house at Toy Kingdom and look at toys there. We also get a few things sorted and fixed (watch and remote batteries). I find shoes for myself and cute Batman pajamas for Nicky.
When we get home it is meltdown time but Nicky does not want to have a nap. These are the hard times of parenting – tired kids are not fun. But we work through it. Nicky is distracted by toys eventually and I sort a few things out in the kitchen. We make popcorn for his class tomorrow; it is his turn for “Baker’s Day”.
I backwash the pool and Nicky has fun again jumping in the resulting puddles. He then starts driving his cars through the water with lots of splashes.
By this time I am sorting out supper and changing a wet Nicky too.
We eat and for once I don’t have to battle to get him into the bath. And he is so excited about those pajamas that is fortunately not a battle either.
I think I will take those two Mother’s Day gifts to me today!
Nicky loves playing with his bath toys and builds elaborate bridges for his cars.
We read, have our last minute snacks, brush teeth and go to bed.
The day for Nicky starts as it ends: in peaceful slumber.
I appreciate my evening to get things done.
But more than anything else: I appreciate having a child to share my day with.
Today, and every day, bear in mind that there are so many people who desperately want to be a mother but for whatever reason, it hasn’t happened. It makes those who have gone through the difficulty so much more appreciative of what they have.
This is a powerful video that sums it all up: you may see a mom, but you don’t know what has come before to get there.
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