That happened last night.
Mikey woke up screaming - literally SCREAMING - "MOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYY!" at 4:30am.
I jumped out of bed and ran to his room. He was sitting up in his bed crying and screaming.
I gently rubbed his back and head asking, "What's wrong, sweetpea?"
"Mommy! I heard a lightning storm in my room and I was scared!"
"Oh, bud. Nope. There's no lightning storm."
"No? No lightning storm. No lightning storm in my room. Outside. Lightning storms only outside....."
He laid back down and snuggled into his blankets.
"That's right. Lightning storms are only outside." I gently put his Thomas fleece blanket back on.
"Outside.....Mommy, I'm really hunnnnggrrryyyyyy. I hearrrrdddd a ligggghhhhtttning storrr........."
And he was back to sleep.
I waited about 5 minutes and then snuck out of his room.
I took the opportunity to sneak a peek in on Katie for the second time that night.
You see, I got a call from the school nurse yesterday afternoon.
Katie fell down some wet stairs at school while leaving the computer lab. She managed to get her hands down in time, but did end up scraping her forehead on the concrete. She was officially on "concussion watch". She was also soaking wet and had to borrow a change of clothes.
When she got home, she regaled me with the tale of her tumbling down the stairs and her subsequent visit to the nurse's office.
Here is a picture that she drew upon her return to class depicting the drama as it unfolded:
It was almost as if she was proud of her feat - getting her hands down in time so that she didn't crack her skull, which almost surely would have killed her. Those are her own words by the way.
And even though she was quite fine for the rest of the day, I still had to check in just one more time to make sure everything was okay.
I made it back into bed (after eating a banana and cheese stick - I was starving) and then laid there for a while.
Day in and day out it seems like the kids and I go through the same routines and the same schedule. We even have the same fights about the same dumb things ("GET DRESSED!" "GET YOUR SHOES ON!"). It gets to be a bit monotonous. And it's easy (at least for me) to get into a "same old, same old" state of mind.
It can be a bit boring and, uh, static. You end up wondering what exactly you are contributing to their lives besides either being a constant nag to get stuff done or their personal servant ready to wipe a butt or retrieve a snack at a moments notice.
I know today, we'll be back into the "schedule". I'll have to remind Katie to use the potty this morning when she wakes up - just like every day. I'll have to rush everyone out the door to make the bus - just like every day. I'll make three different dinners for my one family so everybody'll eat - just like every day.
But, every once in a while, a spotlight will shine through the growing haze. The fog clears and, just for a moment, I can see the importance I play in their little world. I feel like a Mommy.
Sometimes things like that happen at 4:30am.
