Lap Time

Our twins are absolutely amazing.  They are each a really great baby -- there are two of them, which is hard, but neither one of them is a "hard to handle baby."  We continue to be so fortunate.

Also, Tracey, as well, has adjusted really well to having younger siblings.  Yes, we had some hard weeks, but, Praise God, her difficulties were never directed at Howard or Caroline.

All of that being said, I am learning that each child needs daily "lap time."

For as wonderful and easy-going as each Howard and Caroline are, there is a time of each and every day when each baby wants to be held.  It's rarely at the same time (Praise God!), but at some point of every day Howard... and then Caroline will not tolerate being set down and absolutely insists on being held.

By the same token, pretty much every day, there is a time when Tracey will come over to me and ask to be picked up.  Sometimes I'm holding or feeding a baby at that time, and so she says, "Baby down," "Ow-lard down," "Airoline down."  At some point of each and every day, she wants to be held and cuddled.

I have started to think of this as lap time -- time when each child needs to be on my lap/in my arms -- or in Hubby's arms, but most days the need occurs when he's at work, and the more it occurs, the more I have noticed that it is not just the children.  Lexie will frequently find the one moment that I'm sitting down without a child in my lap -- and she will take that opportunity to lay in my lap.

Lloyd doesn't fit in my lap, but he, too, tries to curb out a little of my time for one-on-one petting.

All of our dependents require daily physical contact from me and/or Hubby, which is such a cool thing to realize!  All three of our babies don't care if I've run the vacuum, how fancy the meal is on the dinner table, or if I even got a shower that day -- they care that they were given individual, physical attention when they asked for it and that they felt loved.  Being the Mom and Dad is so amazing when you can make your child happy simply by holding him or her!  There may be days when I really don't get anything done -- but all three children have had their needs met -- not just fed and cleaned, but have felt physically secure, loved, and cherished, and so my day was a success.

Then, the more I thought about this daily lap time that is happening in my life, the more I realized that Hubby and I need this in our marriage just as much as our children need it from us -- obviously not being picked up or sitting on each other's lap... but that end of the day physical contact -- a hug -- to just touch base and reaffirm our love and unity in this crazy, wonderful journey of life.