Weekend Open Thread

We’ve been having the sweetest — albeit it way-too-early — mornings around here lately. Joanie typically wakes up around five, Drew gives her a bottle and then either puts her back in her crib to doze or, more frequently, hands her to me while he takes a shower. She and I will snuggle in bed for a little bit and then Jackson will crawl in and join us. We’re typically flanked on either side by the cats. (Simone is especially sweet with the kids, a surprise to everyone who has ever spent a few seconds in her presence as she hasn’t always been the most gentle of beings.) Jackson, to no one’s great surprise, I think, is such a good big brother — very loving and protective of his baby sister, and she, in turn, adores him.

Those minutes of the early morning, before the chaos of getting everyone fed and cleaned up and clothed and out the door, before packing the diaper bag and Jackson’s back pack, and emptying the dishwasher and emptying the litter box and starting the first of what will be several loads of laundry for the day, are my favorite. I wouldn’t mind if they started a little later, but I know years from now — years that will go too fast — when I can sleep in as last as I want and I won’t have to wipe anyone’s butt anymore or pack anyone’s lunch and I can go out without scheduling and paying a sitter, I will miss these mornings so much — when my babies were still babies, my cats were still with us, and I got to start each day with all this love around me.

Happy weekend, everyone. Enjoy the love you’ve got around you, in whatever form it takes and whatever time of day it greets you.