saturdays.

saturdays are quite long.
it often means a 12-14 hour day
with just me and the littles
in all their banchiness
and hungry mouths
and questions and 
unrelenting quest for my time and attention
sigh.
I can't promise I give it my all [every time]
but I'm trying
the more I realize these saturdays
 are special
and I won't get them back
nine thirty rolls around
my cheek cooled with Nathan's lingering 
morning kiss
littles clamber in my bed 
and shove their little bodies
as close to mama 
as they can
I rub sleep from my eyes
[haven't been sleeping well 
with this third little somersaulting
in my womb]
they are cheerful as sunshine
alive with laughter and snuggles
they kiss my face and burrow under the covers
under my arms
and then they beg me for breakfast
as if they've never been fed
starving little buggers
it takes me forever to get my brown feet 
on the floor
but its nice that we're in no rush
and we've got nothing but time today.
I've got 4 dark brown eyes
that mirror my own
a son and a daughter
and I have been gifted to be their mother.
It is privilege that I get so much time with them
and I need to not squander it.
Yes,  i often lose my patience
or take extra long in the bathroom
if only to find a moment of peace
but that is quickly eradicated with the pounding on the door
and the screeching on the other side
demanding my refereeing.
i am reminded to once again
see what I have been given 
as a gift.
To change my attitude from drudgery and exhaustion
to gratitude and appreciation.
I love it when I hear little feet scurrying across the wood floors
and to my delight 
a little girl with curls 
and tiny fingers looks up at me and says
"upeese?"
And I love when my sweet and tender son
is so excited to show me a picture he just drew of a steam engine
or an airplane
or some word he learned to write,
I am amazed at how fast his mind absorbs and learns
he really is brilliant
and I need to recognize that more.
Even now, the evening has long since arrived
Nathan is working hard at a wedding
and i've got my littlest tucked away in bed,
but on Saturday nights,
little Benjamin gets a special treat of 
sharing a pillow next to mom.
I could use this time to be alone and wind down,
but there's 6 other nights for that
Benjamin lays quietly next to me
leafing through his Bernstein Bear book
his elbow shoved into my back
and my heart is at rest
and thankful for these 
long saturdays..