Pillow Talk

My nearly-20-month-old is at that stage where children start to mimic all kinds of words. I say, "Evan, say banana." He responds, "na-na." Nick says, "no Evan!" He responds, "no ni-na." Shawn says, "damn it!" He responds, "nah nit!" The only thing that he will not, under any circumstance, repeat is, "love you". I lie, he did say it once... to my mother! Therefore, I say it doesn't count and it was just a fluke. Otherwise, I really do enjoy this stage. He's becoming far less frustrated because he's able to communicate better. We're better able to know what he wants or needs. This is a win-win all around.

This past Saturday Shawn had to work and my folks were up in the mountains. I was home alone with the boys. We had a lovely morning out yard-sale hopping (my grandmother would have been so proud, I got a lovely picnic basket, red plaid blanket and all, for $2) and visiting with a friend and her baby. I stopped for happy meals on the way home and survived through lunch with no major melt downs. I really am getting good at this mommy stuff.

Anyway, lunch is over and we're preparing for nap time. This is when I'm braced for my worst battles of the day. Mommy vs. 2 over-tired children who are in denial about how tired they truly are. Mommy will win this battle, the question usually is, at what cost. I am a big fan of warning children prior to whatever horrible fate awaits them (ie, we're leaving the park in 5 minutes, yes you're getting a needle but it will only hurt for a second and the like). This particular Saturday I give them the 5 minute warning and get no response. I believe it's because they're far too engrossed in Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 to pay any attention to what I'm saying to them. A minute or so later, Evan wanders over to where I'm sitting on the couch and puts his arms up in the air in the typical 'pick-me-up' way all toddlers do. I picked him up and was shocked when he immediately wrapped his little arms around my neck and said, "ahhh ohhh" (which sounded a lot like Love You!!!!). My heart melted and I decided in that moment that the children deserved to stay up all afternoon with no nap, all the ice cream and cookies they wanted and we would move their beds out to under the swing set as soon as Shawn came home! My children were the bestest children in the whole world! My little guy just hugged me and told me he loved me!!! It was right after those decisions that I was smacked in the back of the head with the throw pillow that was on top of the couch behind me. Turns out he wasn't hugging me as much as reaching past me to grab the pillow. Also turns out that a nearly-20-month-old saying pillow (or many other 2 syllable phrases) can sound a lot like 'love you' to a mother who desperately wants to hear it.

I s'pose I learned that even a toddler knows he must be missing out on some magical world while sleeping during nap time and, once they learn how to better communicate their needs with their parents, they're also able to communicate how much they don't want to take a nap by smacking their mommy in the back of the head with a pillow. Of course, I changed my tune once I was fully aware of his intentions, decided ice cream and cookies were out of the question, no nap for them meant no relaxation for me and mattresses and swing sets do not mix under any circumstance.

At this point 5 minutes have passed, I straighten my back and announce that 5 minutes are up and it's naptime; catch the over-tired, hyper little men; wrangle them into bed; play relaxing music on their cd player and snuggle into bed myself for a much needed rest. Evan may not have verbally told me that he loved me that afternoon, but the way he rests his hand against my cheek just before passing out told me everything I needed to know.