Saturday, October 18, 2008

The quiet hours of the night

It's nearly 2 am and I've just finished a wedding cake. This is pretty standard for me as it's so hard to work and be creative when you've got 3 kids and the craziness of life that takes up the rest of the day.
As I was cleaning up, I hear little Brighton talking in his room. I go in to see him on his tummy, rocking back and forth practicing his "crawl" that he hasn't quite figured out yet. As he saw me, a big smile shines across his face as he rolls over and starts moving his wrists back and forth as a sign for me to pick him up. As I do so, he immediately goes into cuddle position.. thumb in his mouth, the other fingers grabbed onto my nose and his other hand holding the back of my hair. I love this simple bit of affection I get from my little 9 month old on a daily basis.
I walk into the family room with the little guy in my arms, sit on the couch and there we sit. My cheek resting on the top of his head, his little fingers squeezing my nose as he slowly drifts to sleep. As I sat there, I realized the power of a mothers touch. That simple cradle in my arms calmed him gently to sleep. The need he had of me was a simple one... he needed the comfort of someone who loved him.
As I thought about this special little moment, I began to think of my other two kids and the power of a mothers touch in their lives. Kaden, at 5 years old still comes in my bed every morning to cuddle before I get up. With sleepy eyes I often blink to find him staring at me with a big smile on his face. I want to hold him closer as I realize the love I have for him.
Then I thought about Avery. My independent, strong willed beautiful daughter who sometimes shows me she needs her mothers touch. These moments are often found when I return home and I'm welcomed by opened arms running to me, or when she wakes up from her nap and she wants to sit and cuddle while watching Curious George. These moment are priceless to me. They are moments that I know they need me just because I'm their mom. What a better tribute could you get for the endless hours of housework, screaming, struggling with getting them to eat, etc, etc, etc... that comes with the daily job requirements of being a mom.
You know.. these tender moments will be over before I can even blink and I will only have my memories of the sweet "cuddle" moments I get from my children. I thought about it a lot as I was holding little Bright tonight. Will they still need me as much as they do now in a few years? Will the power of a mothers touch still be a magical tool of my love to them? Will I be able to have my love for them evolve in a way that is keeping up with their changing personalities and needs? I sure hope so..... I believe so.
My kids will always be my kids. I'm sure I'll look at Brighton someday as he's riding his skateboard down the street and think back on when he used to pull at my nose as he sucked his thumb. Maybe I'll think of Kaden cuddling up to me in the mornings as I watch him leave on his mission. I might even feel Avery's arms wrapped around me as we cuddle in her "sleep bag" the day she tells me she's getting married. Who knows? I hope moments like these will be imprinted in my memory to always treasure.
Wow... with all that said and done... I think I'm going to go to bed! That was a lot of thought for a simple cuddle with my baby. :)

6 comments:

Steph said...

Oh, my... That is beautiful. You could be a writer the way you put your feelings on paper... I'm impressed!

Post your e-mail address on my blog and I'll e-mail the pictures to you from the party the other night..
xoxo
Steph

A. L. Martin said...

I love it! You are such an awesome Mom Turia! I hope your kids realize how lucky they are!!!

And to answer your questions:
I was caught in the homework blender, but i've updated! And I Am SO ready to see you and not eat the college student staple:Cardboard.

Are Any specific Days better for you than others?

Anonymous said...

It is sad that children get too big to cuddle but sometimes you wish you still could. I guess that is why God made grandmas so we can still have cuddle time and lots of memories of our children at that age. You are a great mom Tree and an even greater daughter. Love you!

Jana Sohm said...

I had the same thought the other morning when I got up early with Jacob, and I was rocking him back to sleep in his rocking chair. I love those tender moments, and hopefully we will have many more, even then they get older.

Noriane said...

Your post made me cry. With twins, I didn't have much time to quietly cuddle with either of them when they were little because there was always one screaming if I tried to hold the other, and now that they're getting older, they let me cuddle with them less and less. How I wish I could have another baby. Life is sometimes so unfair...

Joe and Marci said...

I love your post! I hope we can remember how we feel when we cuddle our little ones, maybe that's what grandkids are for. If I could freeze time, it would be right now. Little kids are the best. Who knows? Maybe I'll say that teenagers are the best someday?