Early in the morning, my son creeps into our room. I lift him into our bed. We snuggle until it's time to get up. He throws his leg over me, pokes his foot into my side. His hand slides up my back or my sleeve. He traces the shape of my ear with a finger.
Once he decides it's time to get up, he climbs out of bed and pulls away my covers, starting at the top and working down until my feet are uncovered.
As we go about our morning routine, there are little hugs and kisses. He'll come lean against me, climb into my lap, play with my eyebrows, pull at my ring.
We head off to school. Invariably he wants to be carried part of the way. He leans his head on my shoulder, plays with the straps of my backpack, slides his hand up my sleeve. Sometimes he sneaks an arm into the top of my shirt, patting my breast, his comfort from early breastfeeding.
On public transit, we sit next to each other. He moves all around, looking out the window, at the ads, at the people. I keep my arm out to protect him from sudden lurches and stops. Sometimes he clings to my arm, climbs into my lap, tries to squeeze by my legs.
Walking the last couple blocks to school, I carry him part of the way and put him down so he can run the last bit. He holds my hand up the stairs, but is ready to pull away when we reach his classroom. Still I always get my kiss and hug before leaving.
Later that afternoon, he throws himself into my arms with a heartfelt "Meema!" If I take some time to chat with his teachers or other parents, he tugs on my hand.
Our ride home reflects our morning ride. Often as we walk home, we play a game in which I walk ahead a little bit and then he runs to catch me, crashing into my butt with his head. Or he pushes me along, hands on my back, leaning his weight into me.
Throughout the evening, more kisses and hugs, cuddling on the couch, hand-holding. For story time, he crawls into my lap in the glider-rocker. I sit there for a little bit as he settles into bed, his hand seeking out mine. Another kiss.
After he's asleep, before I can end my day, I sneak back in and lay my hand on his chest. Now I can sleep.
4 comments:
I love this post. I don't know if I have any comment, actually, but I just wanted to say - love it.
what a snuggly post. loved it.
This is beautiful.
Thanks, everyone. I guess in some ways I wasn't quite done thinking about the discussion of physical love for our children. This had been percolating for a while.
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