Most of my at-home evenings look the same. They involve my husband relaxing upstairs, watching his favourite sports team lose (Toronto Raptors, Toronto Maple Leafs, Canada’s Rugby Team) and me pfaffing on my laptop in our library, sometimes writing, sometimes tweeting, sometimes chatting with Kelly from Dances with Chaos.
The second part of this routine involves William. He’s always been a night owl compared to his sister. Once she’s asleep, William creeps past her bed, commando crawls past the room where my husband is yelling at the TV, and tip toes downstairs. I know because I’ve spied on him.
To complete the third part of our nightly ritual, William steals a piece of fruit from the bowl. He usually eats it on the landing, then comes to visit me.
“Mom,” he says, edging forward, “can I have a li’l cuddle?”
I shut my laptop and place it on the floor. “Come here,” I say, feigning disappointment, but secretly welcoming the start of the fourth part of my nightly routine, the mother-son extended cuddle mix.
William climbs onto my lap, then shifts endlessly. At first, I think he’s trying to get comfortable, like a sunbather wriggling on his towel in an attempt to get the sand to mold to his body.
But that’s not it.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Nothing,” William answers, offering the plea of guilty six-year-olds the world over.
I watch him reach behind his back, adjust the waistband of his pajamas, and pull out a piece of fruit.
I say this:
Apparently, this is the funniest punch line ever if you’re a boy in Grade One.
Laughter ensues, William wriggles some more, and he crunches the apple like he’s found Eden.
*
Funny story, good post. But you might want to wash that apple. 😉
Ha. I don’t wash anything. Not since I found William sucking on the stroller wheel in Bangkok’s airport when he was 7 months old.
Apparently my friends from Bangkok claim that living in the city automatically grants you the immune system of gods. This has yet to be disproven.
There might be something to that.
Tonight I said “Isabelle, check your sister’s nose. Is that a blackberry up there?”
Turns out, yes.
Brilliant. And hilarious.
Stupid Leafs. Dumb Raptors. LOL.
Curling is the way to go these days for winning CDN teams. haha.
My twins aren’t really saying silly or clever things just yet, but the best line I’ve heard all week was from a Doctor Who episode:
“Always bring a banana to a party.”
Words to live by.
x
Words to live by, indeed.
And I watched the curling. It helps that I know one of the guys on the team. Plus, I’m a bandwagon fan.
If William gets out of bed and steals things, you should be grateful he’s only stealing fruit. Before long it could be the car.
For this reason, I’m never getting a car. Only a minivan. I figure a teen wouldn’t steal a Loser Cruiser, right?
Awe… I like your routine!
Thanks. It works. Sometimes.
Oh, those nighttime mama-son cuddles are really the best – and even better with smuggled fruit! Great story…. 🙂
Thanks. The cuddle is one of my favourite moments of every day. Thanks for commenting.
Love this moment.
Also enlightening to your mutterings about Will on the steps
Enjoy this time.
My latest phrase? (to Lil Diva) “We don’t eat pill bugs off the floor. That’s icky!”
Loved hearing Will story as Viv usually steals show with quips.
And I’m mentioned! So cool. 🙂
I have muttered about Will on the steps, haven’t I?
Thankfully, Will’s my cuddler. Vivi’s my squirmer. Cuddling her is like cuddling a cat who doesn’t want to be in your lap. But I still take it.
Any statement involving the word “underwear” would be a big hit with our grade one boy. And his three younger siblings. Great “Thing” picture.
Underwear. Is it a guy thing?
This is the stuff, Mama. THESE are the moments that he will remember fondly and the ones that will keep you from murdering him when he DOES sneak downstairs to steal the car keys.
LOVE this post!
Thanks, Belly. The car keys. Sigh.
Hilarious! How can I get my six-year-old to start smuggling fruit instead of Hershey kisses? Not only because they’re healthier, but also because they don’t melt into horrifying messes…oh, wait, that’s just chocolate. Whew.
I hide the chocolate. Thankfully I’m tall. I’m hoping my kids didn’t get the tall gene.
But melted chocolate – unless it’s in your mouth – is unpleasant.
Too cute… Is that an apple you’re hiding in there, or are you just happy to see me? 😉
Funny. This post could go another direction, I suspect.
I love this! I’ve got a little boy who isn’t even two yet… but I can totally see Gabe hiding apples in his pants. He’s already putting crackers in his diaper!
Crackers in his diaper? Hilarious. A little hands-free carrying case.
I would probably be excited my kids are feeding themselves so that I no longer have to cook dinner.
Good point. I didn’t cook dinner that night.
Love this. And apples.
(you make me smile.)
Bet you don’t like apples in underwear. Maybe you do. Never mind.
Cheering for Toronto teams is a losing proposition…ask my brother the Leafs fan!
I love that William still wants to cuddle with his mom…maybe you should get him some pyjamas with pockets so he doesn’t have to use his underwear to store the apple!
Very cute post, Leanne!
Wendy
Well, the Jays are doing well this year, but there are only a kazillion games left.
Pajamas with pockets = fab idea.
i love this post! 🙂
funny thing i said today, to my husband:
“tuppins [our cat] just left a trail of doody nuggets on the floor.”
i would much rather have to pick up a trail of apples…
I think I’m with you on that one: I too would rather pick up apples. I hope you delegated.
Awesome post and once again you inspire me as a parent: always capitalizing on the best moments. Can you believe 15 year olds can still pull something similar? When the 12 yr old is asleep, she stealthily slinks out past her sisters door, knocks on ours and jumps in between us (yes I’m so not kidding LOL) and tells us stuff about her day that Soph just ‘wouldn’t understand.’ I LOVE it…because I know she’s not far away from heading out the door to university/college!
To quote one of my fave Country music artists (Garth Brooks) “I’m much too young to feel this damn old”
Reba, that gives me hope, more than you know. I worry about the finite number of cuddles and moments. Nice to hear there may be more in my future.
My son is turning eighteen this week, and he still sneaks into the library while I’m working with something to eat, and wants to talk…enjoy the cuddles while you can.
Another story that gives me hope. Please, may my son want to chat when he’s a teen!
My mom is funny, more deadpan than most. I think I know a little how William feels sometimes when you drop these lines on him. So don’t blame him if he pees a little. Especially if there’s maybe some fruit in there.
Aha. So you get your humoUr from you mom. Clearly, behind every funny kid is a funny mom. Or so I like to tell myself. Fruit of the loom.
Apparently, I am a boy in Grade 1?! Who knew?
Laughing!
The perfect start to what will be a long day… the Kid dragging as we ready for school, the pile of tasks to get through bigger than my spirit, but I think these words will help. (And thinking I need to get a white board for my teen.)
White board for your teen = risky, I suspect, but fun. And I get “the pile of tasks to get through bigger than my spirit” – you phrase that well. Sending you strength!
Just started reading your blog and am really enjoying it. I have 2 boys, oldest a few months away from being 18 and the youngest is 10. The oldest “seeks” me out when he is home and chats…if I am up when he gets home from work or from being out I know he will come right in and sit with me and we have great chats. Of course, loving our late night late chats when everyone else is asleep. I try to be up when he gets home, to soak up any thing we can share as he gets older and closer to leaving the nest. I want to savour these moments…they are dwindling and of course, my heart hurts when I think about that fact! I still get hugs and cuddles from both boys, thankfully Some might think it’s odd that my soon to be 18 year old will still cuddle but I have to clarify, the cuddles are different from when he was 6!!! It’s more of just sitting side by side on the couch and talking, that’s the extent of the “cuddle” but I will take it, hands down! I have learned over the years, no matter what you are doing in that moment if your child wants a hug or a cuddle, do it…they need it and so do you!!!
Your 18 year old and mine sound very much alike. Occasionally, we’ll be sitting on the couch watching a movie, and I’ll realize he’s holding my hand…Boys who can show affection to their mother make great husbands, (at least I’ve heard someone say that once!)
Both of your comments make me stand a little straighter when I think of the future. You’ve done something very right. And I love the saying “Boys who can show affection to their mother make great husbands.” I wonder if there have been psychology studies done on that. It is perfectly logical, at least in my brain.
this is such a good post.
For potty training, we used a squisky foam seat that fits over the regular toilet set. I had to say “Stop biting on it! We don’t eat potty seats!” phrases you never thought would come out of your mouth
I am laughing, Kristin. Don’t eat potty seats? Wow. On a good day, I couldn’t make that up.
Hi Leanne. As usual, I had a great time reading William and Vivan’s stories here. William’s sachet for hiding the fruits reminded me what Mazdak did this afternoon when he was playing Wii. One of his favourite Wii games (out of the total of three games he can find in the house) is Wii Fit Plus with lots of exercise-based games including his favourite, Run Plus game. It simulates you running in a park, with the Wii Remote in your hand acting as a pedometer. But Mazdak doesn’t like holding anything in has hands while running and sometimes asks me to shake the remote while he’s still running, which is quite a funny scene. However, he really surprised me this afternoon when I saw him running in front of TV with no Remote Control in his hands, and nobody around to shake it for him. When I asked him what happened to the Remote, he said “It’s under my underwear”, while passing and waving to other Wii characters on the screen