Simple Things

It's the simple things, isn't it?

More and more I know this to be true.

Our bodies and minds are still a bit tired from our holiday.  This afternoon Sasha discovered that the little gift she thought she bought at a cheesy souvenir shop in Orlando didn't make it back with us.  It was for her most special friend at school.  There were big juicy tears on her cheeks as she muddled over her predicament.  All of my ideas and suggestions were met with sadness and some anger.  (Her only verbal response was wondering if we could just order another sand castle "sand globe" online.  Ah - if only all of life's mishaps were solved with such simplicity.) We ate lunch but the sadness remained.

I was tired.  I knew Sasha was too.  I invited her to my bed with our "magic blankie" (that's our name for it anyway - it's soft and warm and you instantly want to nap when you're snuggled beneath it).  We covered ourselves up and chatted about the lost gift, and what we could do or give her friend instead.  She said, "I feel so tired".  It was music to my ears.  I rubbed her back and curled up against her and soon her breathing was soft and slow and her body was still.  I let my breathing match hers and before I knew it, it was 2 hours later with me and my little girl still snuggled together under that magic blankie.  We lulled and dozed a little more until it was time to throw the blankie off and rejoin the land of the living.

It didn't seem quite so dark or sad on the other side of those two hours curled up together.

The moral of the story is this:  there aren't many things that back rubs, warm blankets and long afternoon sleeps on cold winter days don't make a little better.