I'm a skydiver

Sometimes I forget that kids want to be, well, kids. I often rush to fill up "free" time with projects and playdates and schoolwork in an attempt to keep them out of the way while I squeeze in my own projects happy and entertained. That's what they expect, right? Total, regimented, planned out, playtime? Hmmm...this weekend I realized that maybe all they want is to be a skydiver.



Wondering why I have a picture of my little man in the tub? On Saturday night, after a rainy, cool, project-filled afternoon, my little guy whacked his head somewhere (never did find out where) and came to me in tears. But more important than the tears in his eyes was the fact that his eyes were barely open. He was EXHAUSTED. I bundled him up and we laid on his bed together and quickly quietly fell asleep. Hard part was it was 5:30 p.m. And I know he still rests/naps at school during the week, but if he does it at home, he's up til midnight.

Saturday, I didn't care. He was tired. I was sleepy. It was rainy. I never sleep with him so this was special.

My DH woke us up around 6:30 and I told him to take our daughter out to eat...Momma wasn't making dinner and wasn't waking little man. She squealed in glee because she's a restaurant addict and off they went. Five seconds after they pulled out of the driveway, our friendly canine was on a mission to see if anyone was left in the house.

After body (doggy?) slamming his way into the room, he managed to jump right up into the bed and wake our slumbering bliss. We laughed, woke up, and went down to the kitchen. I offered a special Mommy/Son night out but he didn't want to leave the house. He wanted cheese sticks wrapped in ham and for me to sit with him at the table. Done.

Then, I asked if he wanted to take a warm shower. In the hustle and bustle of the weekdays we've abandoned the bath for the faster and more efficient scrub-down in the shower.

Then, for some reason, I changed it to "take a bath". When he heard "bath" his smile was bigger than I'd seen in a while and up the stairs he flew screaming,

"Mommy! Help me figure out what toys I can bring in the tub! I know it can't be wooden."

We collected some plastic items from his toy box and found bubble bath hidden away. The whole 20 minutes in the tub he kept exclaiming, "I'm a skydiver!" and would hold his nose and go underwater. I kept repeating, "You mean scuba diver" but it never caught on, so he was a skydiver in a tub of bubbly water.

That night he was all fresh from his bath, in his pajamas, cuddled in my arms on the couch and it really hit me. He's only 4. And at 4 you don't always need much more than a warm bath and some Mommy-time!! Maybe it's time to slow down and smell the bubble bath. After all, kids just want to be kids...or skydivers.