A favorite moment...

Our days are busy.  Often it feels like my job is to rush the children from one place to another.  From the moment I rouse them from sleep until their heads return to the pillow, we're moving. That's why the last 5 minutes of our day together are probably my favorite. Nearly every night, the last thing the boys ask is to hear their lullabies.

2005

Let me explain.  I personally am not musical. But I love music - it speaks to that deep inner part of me, and there's nothing like a song to make me cry.  As long as I could remember, my dad and I have had "our song" - "Little Miss Magic" by Jimmy Buffett.  When it would play on our record player at home, my dad would sing along and swing me around the room.  We danced to it at my wedding, and I loved that we always had our song. I wanted the same for my future children.

When my oldest was born, I tried out all the traditional lullabies, but none of them really worked for us. I was bummed - lots of great songs, but they were either WAY out of my vocal range, or they felt like they didn't quite send the message I wanted my amazing firstborn to get from our song.  Then, when he was about 6 months old, the Dixie Chicks came out with the song, "Lullaby" which starts simply:

They didn't have you where I come from
Never knew the best was yet to come
Life began when I saw your face
And I hear your laugh like a serenade

How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up

That was it.  It was perfect.  Everything I wanted to say.  And nearly every day for the last 4 and half years, I have sung him his lullaby before kissing him goodnight.

2007

When his little brother was on his way, the perfect song search was on again. I almost settled on the John Denver song, "For Bobbie", which I love. We even tried it out until he was about 3 months old, but every time I sang it, he cried louder.  But the first time I sang John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy", he looked up with his big blue eyes, and I melted.  I will confess that I sub out "daddy" for "mama", and if I'm singing to both boys, the song becomes plural. The line, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" is the best reminder at the end of the day to slow down and enjoy the moment we're in.

Laying in bed with my boys, sharing just how much I love them.  I can't imagine much better.  That's my heaven.


The dirty dishes and ungraded papers can wait.