The Bright Moments

So, I had another one of those moments tonight. You know...those epiphany moments that make you want to change your life (and hopefully actually do it).

Maddy is feeling a little sick tonight. She had a little bit of fever today and didn't feel too great this morning. But she made it through and by the time I went to get her from school, she seemed her normal self. Maybe a little clingy. Maybe a little tired. But my growing, surprising daughter nonetheless. We got home and had our dinner (a banana, green beans, and the juice from on of her mandarin orange cups...I ate the oranges, she wanted the juice). She danced to "Bad Boys, Bad Boys" as Cops came on. As I started watching some other inane television show, she began running around to the other side of the couch. I made to grab her hands, thinking she was going to keep running (like usual). Oh no...her little hands found mine and I was swooping her over the back side of the couch her giggling the whole way.

But wait...that's not the good part.

Shortly after putting her to bed and eating my own dinner (down the hall from where she was sleeping) I started to hear her cry. Not something unintelligible or daddy, but "mommy" (which, as you've probably guessed, is her mother as well as myself...I'm just going with it). So, in the spirit of a military general or the CEO of a major corporation, I made a plan before I went in. Well aware that she would be up until all hours of the night, I knew immediately that I was going to bring her out, sit her down on the couch with me, and watch the shows I recorded. Granted, she would be running around looking for things to do (read: things to get in to), but I wanted to be able to comfort her and make sure she was feeling OK.

So, here we are. Two minutes out of the bedroom. On the couch. I try and lay her down on a fluffy pillow so she can maybe think about sitting there with me until she feels sleepy again. Oh no...she's having none of that. She's on her elbows and knees, head down on the fluffy pillow, a small, sad, tired cry escaping her.

Here's the good part...

I pick her up in my arms. She looks at me. Slowly slides her head down on to my shoulder and starts breathing deeper and deeper. I have her little blanket over her and I'm rubbing my hand up and down her back while she sleeps on my shoulder. And I wonder to myself how something so small can be such a bright and shining point in my life.

That's the way to watch TV.