I Want To Remember: One Sunny Quiet Afternoon

 

I want to remember the sun flooding this half-peeled dining room this afternoon as the breeze came and went through the open windows... gentle folk-y music and the sound of the baby monitor my only companions as I worked to peel another stretch of striped wallpaper... Strangely at peace, happy with the moment and the task at hand. 

I want to remember Noah's head dropping to my shoulder for a few moments as we sat side-by-side on his short little toddler bed and read stories before his naptime... His room peaceful, his mind engaged in the stories, his little body so perfectly settled next to mine. 

(a bit before naptime, he played so intently and happily with Moon Dough while I began the wallpaper project... God bless moon dough.)

I want to remember Lucy's chuckles through her bottle as I changed her pre-nap diaper and kept poking her belly button and saying, "Be bo!" She was so ready to sleep and in her "zone", but each poke from me would snap her out of it and she'd laugh around the bottle in her teeth and our eyes would meet. And it made me laugh back at her every time. 


I want to remember how she settles so readily in my arms as I rock her and sing to her before her nap... And how as soon as I put her in her crib, she rolls to her tummy, tucks her arms and two loveys under her, wiggles her bum in the air a bit, and smiles as I cover her with a blanket and whisper, "night night..." She is so ready to settle to sleep. 

I want to remember the peace of a sunny afternoon of solitary wallpaper-stripping... Almost as enjoyable as the times this past week I've done it with good company and great conversation. The task itself, not great, is still oddly satisfying as progress is made but with no imminent deadline to the end of it. Just sunshine, music, and a messy task I have all to myself. 

I want to remember the satisfaction of getting the edge of that elusive BIG piece of paper, the one that keeps going, bigger, longer, without a break........ ahhhh! A perfect wallpaper-removing moment. The Holy Grail of peeling.

I want to remember the anticipation of getting to the end of the section at hand, finally done with it, ready for a break, a rest, a snack.... The feeling of cleaning up and stepping back to see the work done, happy to have done it, but happier to be done for now. 



I want to remember the snack-- a "doodlesnap" cookie made this weekend by my dad and Noah, a perfect mix of gingersnap and snickerdoodle, one allowed for my carb count, if I pair it with the third of a Snickers bar leftover from earlier today... The sweetness of both paired with the secret weapon treat of my gestational diabetes-- Atkins chocolate shakes (guilt-free chocolate milk I have come to love and look forward to daily)... A perfectly sweet snack in a world where not much sweet is allowed, and a perfect stretch of time to enjoy it in peace... music still playing, babies still sleeping... sun still flooding the room... breeze still wafting in.

I want these days to stay with me, if only because I remembered to be mindful of them in their moments, and then remembered, once in a while, to write them down. 

Tell me, what do you want to remember?

(Post inspired by a far better writer than I, Katrina Kenison at her "Ordinary Days" blog, who was, in turn, inspired by THIS post, who was, in turn, inspired by Ali Edwards.)