My eyelids slowly lift to see it’s another gray, cloudy day outside. I have just been woken up by my alarm clock. It’s not a typical alarm clock. There’s no obnoxious sound blaring in my ears until I’m jolted out of sleep. Instead, I feel 30 pounds lay over my arm and a soft, pillowy cheek cuddle onto my own as the sweetest sound in the world says, “Mama! Good morning Mama!”
“Good morning, baby,” I say with a big smile as I roll over to cuddle him and cover his big, fat cheeks with kisses.
“Mama, you watch Mouse?” he asks. He’s two and half and refers to himself as “you.” By “Mouse” he means Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which has been on repeat in our house for a solid year and half. His interest in it gives no sign of wavering, despite our greatest efforts.
“Sure, buddy. We can do that.”
“You wanna cuddle you?” He calls himself and other people “you.” How on Earth could I resist that request? I thank God there’s no reason I need to.
“Of course, baby!”
We settle in and cuddle up real close. A half an hour passes by and I know we should probably start getting up and ready for the day. But we don’t. We cuddle instead.
An hour passes by. An hour of tv to start the day? Probably not the healthiest thing to do. I know I should make us get up now. But I don’t. We stay cuddling instead.
Finally we get up and do our morning routine. After we take a walk and eat breakfast, we find ourselves sitting on the couch together. I feel like I should start stimulating his mind in some way, or start making a plan for the day. But the couch is so inviting to both of us, so we just sit there and cuddle instead.
Eventually he gets up to play with toys. I decide to get a couple of things done around the house. I don’t get too far before I find myself joining in on the fun of crashing monster trucks into each other and putting the alphabet puzzle together for the hundredth time. When he tires of his inside toys we move to the backyard to get some fresh air. Since the sky is gray and the air is cold, it doesn’t last long. We go back to the couch to watch a movie. I convince him to watch Monster’s Inc instead of Mouse, major mom-win. We settle in close and cuddle once again.
As the movie plays, I feel the eyes of all things not done in my house lasering into me.
I should finally deal with that giant pile of laundry on the floor, especially since we’re not busy today. But I don’t. I cuddle my baby instead.
I should get up and do the dishes. He likes to help me, so it’s really an activity we could do together. But we don’t. We cuddle instead.
We should probably both move our bodies more today. But we don’t. We cuddle instead.
I should get up and get some books to read to him instead of letting him watch yet another hour or two of TV. But stay cuddling instead.
I know I’m going to cuddle him to sleep for nap time in a few hours, so I should really be using this time to do things that I need or want to get done. But we cuddle instead.
There are endless reasons why we should be doing so much more with our day. Endless things that need to get done. Endless to-do lists. Endless “shoulds.” But on this day, I choose to disregard all of it. Every day gives an opportunity to fulfill all of the “reasons” and all of the “shoulds.” But it’s not every day that we’re able to lay around together and snuggle up close and just enjoy being with one another. And it’s not every day that we want to, either.
These days that are filled to the brim with cuddles are only given to us mothers every so often. You never know when it’s going to happen; it’s not something you can plan for. So when it’s given to you, you take it. And you let everything else in the world fall to the side, where it belongs for the day. Because the only thing that matters in those moments is the already immense love between you and your baby somehow growing even deeper.
And that’s the mom tea.
With love,
Jennelle