Sleep With Your Babies...

Some of the best advice I can give to new moms (and dads) is this...

Sleep. Sleep with your babies.

At some point all children fight naps. And it may seem easier to throw in the towel, avoiding arguments, or be more convenient to do chores. But one day you will open your eyes. The cool summer breeze will be blowing back the curtains, an animal will be curled at your feet. Sometimes dog. Sometimes cat. You'll see your three year old, long, skinny arms and legs, tangled in the blankets. You'll free her gently and she'll sigh as you brush her damp hair off of her forehead. You'll wonder when she magically changed from baby to child. Then the baby beside you will stir. Fat, dimpled arms and bowtie lips reaching for mommy. You'll snuggle her closer trying to get those last 15 minutes of the calmest peace. Her eyes will open for just a second. Seeing you, they'll close and she'll easily fall back to sleep. When you see the dreaming smile cross her lips, gone in but a moment, you'll feel so special knowing that that fleeting moment was captured by you alone. You won't be able to sleep because this moment is too perfect. You'll inhale the air, feel the soft rise and fall of their gentle breathing, try as hard as you can to burn this perfect image into your memory.

As your babies sleep, whether you close your eyes and sleep with them, or just slow down and breathe in this moment. Lie with them. Remember that it is gone too soon. Time will take these babies from you. Enjoy naptime. Sleep with your babies. They may not remember it. But you will. Dream. And forget the world.

I have been thinking a lot lately about mindfulness, connectedness, and finding and enjoying the special little moments in the hectic life of parenting small children. I lie down to nap with my kids just about every day. Naptime is sacred here. Sleep is sacred. To read more about finding spirituality in parenting, see Molly's (Talk Birth) article on breastfeeding and parenting as a spiritual practice here. She does an amazing job of describing it in a way that I often can't.