Last night we kept the kids out to a truly insane hour. The older two generally place their heads on soft pillows of awesome sleep patterns by 7:30. On the very rare occasion that they somehow are awake past that time, I pretty much want to pull my own hair out while the disobey, get sassy and hide for no reason at all. But last night we were in the church building when that time came and went and by that point I’m pretty sure Gideon has dissolved into tears no fewer than three times. The kid was exhausted. Piper was having a fantastic time with one of the girls from the youth group that she loves. If a girl she admires is playing with her she could probably stay awake for days. She’s an extrovert. It’s her deal. Her brother, on the other hand, is our introvert and he is also a fantastic creature of habit. He was so over all of the activity and pressure required to keep himself together. He stopped keeping himself together. He cried.
Upon arriving home all three were hurried off to bed. All three woke up during the night. All three slept just a little bit beyond where they usually do. All three were a little bit out of it today.
I knew this would be the case so we covered all of our school subjects with speed, no tears, but plenty of time laughing. Being silly and fun is the only way to get over all the complaining about having to sit up and do things properly. In spite of the loss of sleep he read the following today:
sam sat.
a cat sat.
a rat sat.
He was excited about it all. He was shouting the words, actually. I’m so glad that I get to be there for those moments. It feels like he is walking for the first time all over again, only this kind of walking will be the key to him learning every other thing he ever needs to know (or at least until he discovers tutorials on Youtube). I hope he goes back in time and falls in love with one specific part of history. I hope he travels into the depths of the ocean to learn all about those underwater volcanoes he loves so much and the magma he can’t seem to stop dreaming about. I hope he loves reading and understands how it is the key to gaining knowledge and the key to keeping his mind sharp when his years get long.
When we finished all our lessons for today, I didn’t even bother putting the books away. We just played and waited for the baby to wake up from her second nap. Then we high tailed it for the park. Three people walking and one tiny person loving her umbrella stroller makes the walk incredibly enjoyable. Gone are the days of wrapping the littlest one and pushing the middle girl. I am so thankful. Piper filled the walk with observations and exclamations and by the time we made it to the sand, she was shouting about how hot is was outside. She was right. It was hot.
We played for over two hours out there. Running and climbing and digging and pushing the baby around and swinging and more and more running. It was a long hot afternoon. We walked home. We showered up. We ate leftovers for dinner. We kept their stories short. They’re all sleeping now. Soundly. I’m right behind them.
