It's Not Just About Loving Our Kids...

....it's about liking them too. 

Many days the last few months have felt like a whirlwind. A flurry of sleepiness, an active 2 year old, outings, long days, friends, and get-togethers. I am a perfectionist....a recovering perfectionist. I like my life and my house in order and I have a hard time functioning without it that way. I mean, it really stresses me out and I can't sleep at night when I know I am going to wake up to a disaster.

I will say however, that one thing I do well is not let cleaning get in the way of stories and playtime and visits to the park and a chocolate milk break with my 2 year old. This is why I like my house in order when I begin the day. Because the hours (although some days feel very long, are actually quite short, and I want to maximize the time I have teaching, training, playing with, and just being there, liking my kids in their messy 2 year old and 11 week old worlds). I want to start with order because by the end, there is no order. Which is okay. It just can't start out that way!

So, where this gets me is naptime, and late at night. (fyi- Both babes are sleeping, at the same time, and here I write, instead of sleeping!) So I scurry around naptime as fast as possible trying to put everything in order so that I can have enough time to relax before bitty one and bitty two awake from their slumber. (Because after all, how can a perfectionist relax surrounded by a mess?) This leaves me wiped by the end of the day with little time to relax or sleep. I know, I know, and I'm workin' on it! (For example, there are dishes IN the sink and laundry that needs to be done and it's naptime. But instead, here I sit, on the couch writing. That's an improvement for me!)

So, back to the whirlwind days. I have a new summer goal for my time with my ever growing two year old- more ACTIVE playtime with Mommy. I have slacked on this since Evie has arrived. Yeah, it's one thing to take Mekonen TO the park to run around. It's another thing to play WITH Mekonen at the park. To run up and down the slides, to play chase, to pretend to drive a bus, to hear him giggle and belly laugh as the swing goes higher and higher. Because it's all about remembering to like our kids and not just love them... to like getting down and playing with them.

To welcome his squirmy little self onto the couch with a stack of the SAME books he wants to read everyday as I feed his sister (when really I just want to sit there and relax, or read my own book, or check my facebook). Since Evie's been born and we are all a little more tired than usual adjusting to this new normal, we find ourselves saying how loud, fast, rough, hyper, and non-stop talkative Mekonen is. But really, he's always been that way. Babies can be hard on those moments when he is just being 2. When he just wants to chat, just wants to read some stories, just wants to play cars with me, just wants to say ALL the words he knows within a 2 minute time period, and when he wants me to play WITH him instead of watching him play. 

And then I think on how I love this little boy more than my life itself, and how I like him to the moon and back, and the little everyday moments is where the liking really matters.So when he races around the park yelling, "Mommy pay!!!! (play), Mommy pay!!! (play)" I shake off my sleepy, tired, state, and run after my small boy with big feelings. Because really, we need more of each other these days, not less...and more days at the park, and more days as just a little family.