Parenthood...Priceless

This morning I woke up with the just the little boy by my side. His arm and leg imprisoned me to the bed while he continued to sleep peacefully. As I carefully made a move in an attempt to get up, he woke up, gave me the sweetest smile ever and rubbed his nose on mine. The nose to nose gesture is our version of the secret handshake.

As for hubby and our little princess who are naturally early birds, they’ve already gone down to the living room. The bedroom door was ajar so I can hear the little girl screaming numbers to her dad who seem to be inside the bathroom, “Daddy, 57 na!” Is that NBA game she’s watching? Oh no, a basketball convert?

This is one of those mornings that I love to wake up to. Some days are better than this, some days are not so heavenly with kids crying (in unison) when they realize mommy’s not beside them anymore.

There are days when I totally regret mornings with whining kids. They just cry for no reason at all and won’t let me go to work. In moments like this I just think that ‘this too shall pass’ and I close my eyes and imagine them as teenagers retreating to their own corners with their gadgets and without a care for Mom or Dad.

Then I begin to appreciate again their ages right now, 3 and 5 and wish teenage life will not come so soon. When they get older,  I will miss the clinging on my leg like a koala, the horsey play on the bed, the hide and seek which Sam is very good at and the dancing moments (they both love swing).

They will not be toddlers forever. Sophie right now is showing more interest in girly stuff. I miss the time when I fuss over her head-to-toe outfit or when I watch and sing Barney with her. Now, she chooses her own outfit and if I interfere it’s another argument between us. We now argue like she just turned 18 and so grown up. Can’t imagine how it’s gonna be when she’s actually 18 years old.

Sam will always be a baby to me although he refused to be called that. He even refuses to bring ‘gatas’ (milk bottle) to school saying it’s baby stuff and teases his classmates who are still in their diapers and drinks bottled milk to school. Mind you, when he gets home, he takes off his shoes and the first thing he asks for is his ‘gatas.’

Our household is never dull and I that is not to say that it’s always all fun and games. If you have kids at home you’ll know. Just recently, we frequented the doctor’s clinic because of on-and-off fever, cough and colds.

Sometimes when things just get too toxic at home, like everyone wants a piece of me and I seem to have nothing left, I have that tendency to mentally go to a place where I am without family and kids. Will it be more peaceful? Definitely! I’d have more money now. Heck, I’d probably be blogging now from somewhere else in the continent or in my Tagaytay resthouse.

Then again, I wouldn’t exchange the NOW with all those what would have beens. The moments we have every morning, the exciting chaos during kids' birthdays and enrollment, the playtime on weekends and my kids’ witty one liners and funny observations in life…P.R.I.C.E.L.E.S.S.