A Puddle of Love

That's what I ended up in today.  At least, that's what I'm calling it.

Zo and Chaw-ee had a rough morning together. Everything she did aggravated him, and she kept insisting that he go to "time out!  TIME OUT CHAW-EE!!!"  It's interesting to watch 2 year olds try and one up each other.

When Al arrived, things were mostly calm. Wy, We, Zo, Jackson, Chaw-ee and I were playing downstairs. Mister B was home for the morning, so I asked him to man the door so that he could send Al down to us when he got dropped off. Sweet, beautiful Al came running down the stairs with cheers of "good morning, friends!" his little blond head bobbing in to view with each step.

C immediately melted down. "I don't WANT Al here!  He takes my toys!" he screamed. "No honey, we have to share our toys." I said. He thought about it for a minute, acquiesced, and then crawled in to my lap, curling all 36 pounds of himself around my torso while firmly stating, "snuggle."  It wasn't a request, but a demand. You'll snuggle with me and LIKE IT, woman!

Zo followed suit, and crawled up to intertwine herself with C. Before I knew it, J was perched on the back of the futon by my right shoulder, Wy by my left, C wrapped around my middle, Zo tangled up with him, Al sat as close as he could get to me, and We was desperately trying to climb on to the futon to reach me. Unfortunately, at newly 1 year old, his climbing skills aren't that great, so he kept floundering.

"Want to play dress up?" I asked, hopefully (my legs were going numb).
"NO!!" they cried, in unison. They don't do anything in unison, except contradict me, apparently.
"What DO you want to do?"
"SNUGGLE!" they cheered, and they each burrowed closer to me than they'd been before.

I sat for a few moments, soaking it all in. Really, I'm blessed. Here in my immediate vicinity were a 5 year old, 4 year old, 3 year old, two 2 year olds, and a one year old, all vying for my attention, and I was meeting their needs.

We sat for a few more minutes in the quiet, and then J said, "mama?  Will you sing?"

And then my heart exploded and I melted in to that beautiful puddle of love, as they all looked up at me, nodding in agreement, and sighed contentedly as I started to sing.