A Perfect End to an Imperfect Weekend

It's not that it was a bad weekend, just crazy. We met my mom, bro and sis-in-law, and niece at a hotel near the zoo Friday night. They didn't get in until late, and the boys were not about to go to sleep before they got to see Nana. We spent Saturday morning at the zoo and headed back to our place for a busy afternoon of shopping and playing to be capped off with dinner at a Japanese steak house. I knew I had pushed too hard when Hobbes, who usually loves all things exciting, burst into hysterical tears at the flaming onion tower.

Oh, but the night wasn't over yet. Imagine two three-year-olds, a toddler, a well-loved Nana, and four parents in a tiny...I cannot over-emphasize that word...tiny three-bedroom house. Bathtime and bedtime chaos abounded last night. Hobbes ended up being fussy and spending almost the whole night in our bed, waking me up just about on the hour. Calvin kept his uncle, who was sleeping on his floor, awake until nearly midnight jumping from his bed to the mattress on the floor and "sharing" his pillow and blankets.

I was a grump this morning, yelling at the boys and generally feeling crabby about my lack of sleep all the way to church. Somehow, after we all took a two hour nap, I was crazy enough to feel like going out again. We did spend a lovely evening over dinner at my sister-in-law's new place, but my husband's family has a knack for lingering over dinner, and wine, and dessert, and popcorn...I have learned to bring the boys' pajamas with me whenever we are having dinner with the family, hoping that they will get in the car all ready for bed and fall asleep on the way home.

We arrived home at 9:30 to a house full of dirty breakfast dishes, piles of towels and sheets, scattered toys, and mattresses on the floor. Not that my family didn't help clean up. They did. We just weren't home long enough to get it all done. I hate entering Monday with a messy house, and I grumped on my husband on the way home about all the stuff I needed to do and how late we had stayed. To top it off, Hobbes woke up when I had to change his diaper.

So what is the point of this rambling? There I was, with two very awake boys, dishes to wash, laundry to start, a house in shambles, exhausted and grumpy, and frustrated with myself for grumping on my husband and boys when the world suddenly came into focus. As I lay on my bed with Hobbes, helping him to get to sleep, he put his little hand up to my face and said, "Mama" in the sweetest voice he could muster. After his "beh" (bear) and "dah" (dog) had kissed me on the nose and we had giggled a bit, I began to sing. I sang song after song as long as he asked for "mo" until, his blue eyes closed and his strong hands holding tight to "beh" and "dah", he feel asleep on my pillow. Then I heard Calvin in his bed, where Daddy was helping him to sleep, "How much do you love me?" (We had just read Guess How Much I Love You.) It was way too late when both boys fell asleep. The house is still a wreck. Monday is coming way too soon. But as my husband came out of the boys' room after a sweet bedtime conversation with Calvin, he said, "My heart is full." Mine is too.