It is a rare occasion when I truly make the deliberate decision to create a harbor for Sean and I to have time alone while the girls are at home and awake. Tonight as I was getting dinner ready I asked Sean if he wanted to have a snack in the kitchen or in front of the news. Shrugging his shoulders he said, “Makes no difference to me.” Not missing a beat I said, “We’ll probably be able to talk more if we stay in here,” so we did.

Snacking on chips and salsa we talked about the day and worked out hiccups we’d both had. Before long I had the girls’ dinners dished up and cooling on the table.

“Let’s just eat dinner now,” he said, a mixture of mischief and eagerness in his voice. We laughed and chattered on as we dined on leftovers and slices of fresh cucumber and carrot sticks. We were laughing about something when Briar scooted in, cheeks glowing and eyes twinkling. She clambered up into her seat and began crunching on a cucumber as she watched us, her head swiveling back and forth like a tennis spectator.

“Hey guys!” She exclaimed breathlessly.

We turned and smiled at her, “What sweetie?” Sean asked.

“Avery’s sleeping in the chair,” she squealed as she crammed a handful of macaroni and cheese with peas into her mouth.

We nearly dropped our silverware as the reality of the time (7pm) and the implications of a sleeping toddler with a normal waking hour of between 3 and 4am hit us.

Shit.

We dashed to the living room to find Avery, limp and chapters into a serious state of REM. Her chest rose and fall as gentle crescendos of snores slipped from her parted lips. After a few moments of watching her, Briar looking on proud that her declaration had been met with such delight, I scooped her in my arms.

We went, as Briar would say, “like a family” into the kitchen to sit down to dinner. Avery stayed awake, planting kiss after cheesey kiss upon my face and neck between bites. She’s upstairs now and I am sure my wake up call will come much closer to 3 than 4 tomorrow, but it was worth it.

Dinner with Sean, squeals of satisfaction from Briar and sleepy kisses from Avery…I am blessed indeed.